State Senate Medicaid Committee Chair Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, is not the first politician to look to Arkansas as an example of how to provide health care coverage to more Mississippians. “No, I don’t believe in it,” Blackwell said of Medicaid expansion after a recent legislative hearing on the financial crisis facing Mississippi hospitals and their […]
In the News
Fact check: Feds not slated to end Medicaid expansion funding
Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney recently told members of the media he supports the expansion of Medicaid, but that the program most likely will end in 2025. That statement is inaccurate. Robin Rudowitz, vice president and head of the Medicaid team for the Kaiser Family Foundation, said the program is not slated to end and […]
Louisianans on Medicaid expansion can get care across river at Natchez hospital
Just across the Mississippi River bridge from Natchez are the Louisiana towns of Vidalia, Ferriday and other communities where there are people who have health care coverage through the expansion of Medicaid. Those Louisianans, if they are in the correct Medicaid health care network, can obtain medical services across the bridge in Mississippi at Merit […]
Reddit AMA recap: Medicaid expansion in Mississippi with Senior Political Reporter Geoff Pender
‘What’s your plan, watch Rome burn?’: Politicians continue to reject solution to growing hospital crisis Studies have shown and advocates have long touted the benefits of Medicaid expansion, but state leaders remain steadfast in their opposition. As such, Mississippi remains one of only 11 states in the country not to expand the federal-state program. Mississippi Today launched […]
Mississippi moms and babies suffer disproportionately. Medicaid expansion could help
During her 14 years working as an OB-GYN in Greenville, Dr. Lakeisha Richardson has seen five patients diagnosed with breast cancer during their pregnancies. Most of them did not have health insurance prior to pregnancy, so going to the doctor for annual checkups was neither affordable nor routine. They missed out on clinical screenings and […]
Mississippi leaving more than $1 billion per year on the table by rejecting Medicaid expansion
Mississippi would receive $1.61 billion in federal funds for the first year of Medicaid expansion and $1.64 billion in the second year, according to a study authored by the state economist’s office. The state’s top economists forecasted that Mississippi would collect $1.36 billion in year three, $1.38 billion in year four, and increasing by smaller […]
Who’s opposed to Mississippi Medicaid expansion and why?
While running for governor in 2019, then-Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves was quizzed at a Capitol Press Corps luncheon whether his opposition to expanding Medicaid coverage to working-poor Mississippians was softening. “I am opposed to Obamacare expansion in Mississippi. I am opposed to Obamacare expansion in Mississippi. I am opposed to Obamacare expansion in Mississippi. I […]
How Medicaid expansion could have saved Tim’s leg – and changed his life
Tim Floyd has never been one to sit still. After being forced to leave community college to move home to Guntown to help his mom pay the bills, he landed a job driving a truck in his early 20s. But three or four years later, he was diagnosed with sleep apnea, a dangerous condition for […]
Opinion: Medicaid expansion would bring jobs too
The Mississippi state legislature quickly rubber-stamped a $247 million incentive package that Gov. Tate Reeves put together to land a major aluminum plant in Mississippi’s Golden Triangle area. The deal was presented as a no-brainer: a $2.5 billion investment by the so-far-unnamed company (at the time) and a thousand additional jobs at an average salary […]
Here’s what experts say about expanding Medicaid in Mississippi
Perhaps no other federal-state policy has been studied and debated more than Medicaid expansion per the federal Affordable Care Act, including its potential impact on Mississippi — one of just 12 states that has not expanded the program. A Kaiser Family Foundation report notes there have been more than 400 studies on the topic nationwide. […]
Medicaid expansion would bring jobs, too
t’s a good bet that come Wednesday, the Legislature will quickly rubber-stamp the incentive package that Gov. Tate Reeves has put together to land a major new plant (or dramatically expand an existing one) in Mississippi’s Golden Triangle area. The deal will be presented as a no-brainer: a $2.5 billion investment by the so-far-unnamed company […]
State’s health care woes ignored by some, but not all at annual Hobnob
“Only positive Mississippi spoken here,” a phrase coined by former Gov. Kirk Fordice, was the theme for the most part of the politicians at the annual Hobnob event sponsored by the state’s Economic Council. But two politicians – Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney – devoted much of their speech at the […]
When Adults Sign Up for Medicaid, Kids Can Benefit
FRIDAY, Aug. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Some adults who sign up for Medicaid also bring their unenrolled but eligible kids into the system, a new study reports. For every nine adults who gained access to Medicaid in Oregon due to a special enrollment lottery, one previously eligible child was added to the rolls as […]
Plan to help poor Mississippians with health insurance stripped from latest federal bill
In Mississippi, studies have estimated that between 200,000 and 300,000 primarily working Mississippians could qualify for coverage if the state would expand Medicaid. If Mississippi were to expand Medicaid under current law, the federal government would pay 90% of the health care costs with the state paying the remainder. Gov. Tate Reeves, House Speaker Philip […]
Medicaid expansion discussion return as Mississippi hospitals face financial struggles
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – More Mississippi organizations have come out in favor of Medicaid expansion in recent months. But state leaders haven’t shown any interest in changing course. Still, it’s part of conversations on how to keep hospitals up and running. It’s not a new explanation about why the Mississippi Hospital Association believes Medicaid expansion is […]
Incoming state health officer: Postpartum Medicaid extension is ‘easiest thing to do’
JACKSON • The doctor who will soon lead the Mississippi State Department of Health is openly supporting giving poor mothers in the state access to more Medicaid coverage after they give birth, a policy that some Republican lawmakers have rejected. Dr. Daniel Edney, the incoming state health officer, said in an interview on conservative statewide radio […]
Mississippi officials did what South Dakota leaders couldn’t — block Medicaid expansion
The South Dakota Republican leadership, like many of their counterparts in Mississippi, oppose accepting federal funds to provide health insurance for primarily the working poor. In South Dakota, the Republican leadership tried to prevent approval of an upcoming citizen-sponsored ballot initiative that would mandate the expansion of Medicaid if passed by voters in November. In […]
Falling through the gap: Moms, advocates discuss need for postpartum Medicaid extension
At first, Alexandria Garner was just tired. The Shannon native, 27, had given birth to her second daughter, Charleigh. For the first three months afterward, Garner was mostly sleep deprived from having to constantly pump breast milk. She brushed off her exhaustion as the normal “baby blues.” The turning point came on suddenly. One day, […]
Mac Gordon: Delta Council endorsing Medicaid expansion
Most Mississippians wouldn’t know the Delta Council from the Council on Aging, the Mississippi Economic Council or the Pushmataha Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America. However, the organization based at Stoneville in Washington County has played a huge role in Mississippi’s economic position, that of keeping agriculture alive and well. That’s been no […]
Letter to the editor: Medicaid Expansion is Crucial for Mississippians
Dear Editor, As a 5-diagnoses cancer survivor, and as a long-time advocate for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, I am well aware of the financial burden of those less fortunate who have limited resources, many of whom are non or underinsured. Having cancer is scary enough. I can’t imagine having to worry about […]
As Gulf South lawmakers fight over Medicaid, new moms weigh in: ‘Safety nets do save lives’
Unlike 39 other states, Mississippi and Alabama have not opted to expand Medicaid to more people. Pregnant women, however, have always been eligible to get Medicaid, even in non-expansion states. Recently, anyone able to enroll in Medicaid could not lose coverage as long as the federal COVID-19 public health emergency was in effect. But as early as […]
Delta Council Urges Medicaid Expansion
The Delta Council Health & Education Committee has unanimously approved a resolution supporting Medicaid expansion. Wade Litton of Greenwood led a special subcommittee reviewing the issue and brought it before the full committee for approval. The Delta Council Health & Education Committee, chaired by Dr. Cass Pennington, Tim Moore, President and CEO of the Mississippi Hospital […]
‘It makes it hard to work’: The real cost of not expanding Medicaid in Mississippi
Briana Wright has worked all her adult life. The 27-year-old Kosciusko resident has been a crew member at McDonald’s for three years. Before that, she worked for Tyson Foods, where she mostly hung chickens for processing. Wright is stuck in what is commonly referred to as the healthcare coverage gap. She is one of the 300,000 or […]
Medicaid expansion would boost economy significantly more than Gunn income tax cut, studies show
Expanding Medicaid would provide a significantly bigger boost to the Mississippi economy than the far-reaching tax cut proposed by House Speaker Philip Gunn, according to studies from the non-partisan state economist’s office. The studies reveal that expanding Medicaid would create more jobs and grow the state’s population and wealth more than would Gunn’s tax cut […]