In the News

The new speaker of the Mississippi House on Friday announced his leadership team for this four-year term, making a significant change by choosing a new chairman who supports his wish to consider Medicaid expansion. Speaker Jason White appointed fellow Republican Sam Creekmore of New Albany to lead the House Public Health and Human Services Committee. […]

As to how to improve the state’s quality of health care, Ledbetter floated the idea of expanding Medicaid with a privatized approach, saying that discussions on the idea among Legislative leaders were ongoing. Ledbetter said they’d tasked an economist to research the idea, and that he had received a report recently that showed some promising […]

Some feel the new state administration could also mean a change in the direction of the Mississippi healthcare crisis response. Robert Johnson III, D-Natchez, who represents Mississippi’s 94th District inclusive of Adams, Franklin, and Jefferson counties, said it could mean further consideration of Medicaid expansion as one of the solutions to save hospitals on the brink […]

Medicaid is a public health-insurance program for Americans with limited income and resources, including eligible low-income adults, children, the elderly, pregnant women and people living with disabilities. The U.S. government and states jointly fund the program. Redeterminations of eligibility are conducted annually, but they were suspended in March 2020 for three years due to the […]

Federal regulators are cracking down on the growing number of procedural disenrollments during ongoing Medicaid redeterminations, warning that states could lose federal funding and face fines if they fail to follow federal requirements, according to a CMS interim final rule published Monday. The rule, which takes effect on Wednesday, allows regulators to force states to submit a corrective action […]

If Mississippi alongside the other six southern states affected by the surge in HIV cases expanded Medicaid, the program would provide more federal funds for the poorest people, including making pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, more widely available, a daily pill that’s been touted as a game changer because it’s so effective at preventing HIV. The decision […]

Mississippi House Republicans have nominated Rep. Jason White, R-West, to serve as the new House speaker in the 2024 legislative session. He has expressed an openness to considering Medicaid expansion—a policy outgoing Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn has long opposed. In a statement after the Mississippi House Republican Caucus nominated him during a meeting at the […]

To qualify for Medicaid under the new guidelines, a single person can make up to $20,120 annually in pretax income, while a household of four can make up to $41,400 for an adult to benefit. McBane, who lives alone and has gone nearly 18 years without health insurance, is now searching for a job that […]

Low-income families that need safety-net services, such as food and cash assistance, have become collateral damage in the bureaucratic scramble to determine whether tens of millions of people still qualify for Medicaid after a pandemic-era freeze on disenrollment ended this spring. These are people whose applications and renewal forms have been delayed or lost, or who, like […]

Up to 30 million of the poorest Americans could be purged from the Medicaid program, many the result of error-ridden state reviews that poverty experts say the Biden administration is not doing enough to stop. The projections from the health consulting firm Avalere come as states undertake a sweeping reevaluation of the 94 million people enrolled […]

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves’ disparaging tone when referring to Medicaid as “welfare” was a political theme we could’ve done without in this year’s gubernatorial race. The Republican governor began using that negative characterization of the Medicaid health insurance program when polling showed that Democratic challenger Brandon Presley was within only a few percentage points of […]

Medicaid expansion has been at the forefront of the race for governor this year. If enacted, what could we expect to see in terms of enrollment and costs? How would it impact access to care, health care outcomes and rural hospitals? Let’s dive in. Medicaid is a government-run welfare program that provides taxpayer-funded financial aid […]

Despite Medicaid’s positive impact, the Mississippi Division of Medicaid’s monthly enrollment reports show that nearly 20,000 children – and 50,000 Mississippians in total – have been dropped from Medicaid this year, following changes in COVID-19-era regulations. To ensure Medicaid’s effectiveness, it is vital that our government leaders accurately implement these policy changes that disenroll newly ineligible individuals. […]

More than 10 million people were disenrolled from Medicaid over the past six months, according to the latest data published by a KFF tracker. The tracker has collected data on Medicaid enrollment since the first states began redetermining eligibility in April, after the expiration of the federal requirement of continuous coverage during the Covid-19 public health emergency. As […]

Gov. Tate Reeves, the state’s most powerful opponent of Medicaid expansion, repeated a familiar claim at Wednesday night’s gubernatorial debate: that the program wouldn’t save the state’s failing hospitals. But health care experts say that was always clear, that the governor’s argument is missing an understanding of the challenges facing the state’s health care system […]

Most children are accident-prone. They are susceptible to various germs and viruses at school where they slap high-fives and shake hands after sneezing and sit in desks with gum stuck to the edges. They are our little bundles of vulnerable joy. We know we can’t be there to caution their every step, but at the […]

The lecture series provided an opportunity for the faith community to get involved in the conversation around health care access. It’s also significant because Galloway is the home church of Gov. Tate Reeves, the state’s most high-profile opponent of expanding Medicaid. Dr. Dan Jones, former chancellor of the University of Mississippi, and one of the weekend’s lecturers, said […]

Gov. Tate Reeves has long struggled to justify his opposition to Medicaid expansion. Numerous economic experts say the expansion program would bring $1.5 billion in new revenue to Mississippi in year one, create more than 10,000 new jobs per year, and provide health insurance to at least 200,000 working Mississippians who can’t otherwise afford it. […]

More than a year after Mississippi Medicaid announced it was contracting with three companies to manage the care of their beneficiaries, those contracts have not been awarded. That’s because two companies that weren’t chosen say the selection process was unfair. UnitedHealthcare and Amerigroup, two for-profit managed care companies, were not chosen by Mississippi Medicaid as one of […]

Presley said an additional 230,000 people could receive Medicaid coverage if the program were expanded. Reeves used a higher estimate. And, as he does frequently, Reeves on Thursday referred to Medicaid as “welfare.” “Adding 300,000 able-bodied adults to the welfare rolls is not the right thing to do,” Reeves told reporters after his speech. The […]

Kimberly Hughes, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s government relations director, stressed how critical insurance coverage is in the fight against cancer. Mississippi has one of the highest cancer mortality rates in the nation. “Cancer is curable if it’s caught early, and it’s only caught early if it’s screened for, and screening requires appropriate health insurance,” […]

For years, a cycle has repeated itself at the state Capitol: Democratic lawmakers file legislation to expand Medicaid coverage to additional Mississippians, Republican leaders kill those efforts and Democratic legislators cry foul. Across the state, voters keep reelecting the same Republicans to office who oppose Medicaid expansion. But the trio of legislators on Wednesday said […]

An event aimed at improving health care and expanding Medicaid in Mississippi is making its way to Jackson Thursday.   Together for Hope, a nonprofit working with the poorest counties in America, teamed up with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in Alabama and Mississippi this year to host “Better Health Summits” throughout the two […]

“Roy Mitchell, executive director of the MS Health Advocacy Program, emphasized the urgency of the situation, saying, “it’s time for our lawmakers and policy leaders to listen to us and act accordingly. The health of the people in our state cannot wait. We can no longer stand by and watch while families and communities experience […]