Medicaid expansion dies in Mississippi Legislature

Despite months of work from both House and Senate lawmakers to expand Medicaid, the legislation that could have given about 200,000 working poor Mississippians healthcare has died. After House and Senate negotiators agreed on a compromised iteration of House Bill 1725 Monday, and after both chambers sent the bill back for further negotiations on Wednesday, the Senate members did not sign the House’s final proposal that was hand delivered Thursday morning. That inaction killed the bill by an 8 p.m. Thursday legislative deadline. That final version was presented to the Senate Thursday morning after House Speaker Jason White announced his team was submitting a voter referendum to the Senate, which would have allowed lawmakers to put Medicaid expansion on the November election ballot. It also would have included an option for voters to decide if that program should include a work requirement. However, that idea was met with a cold shoulder from Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who said about an hour later that the idea was shot down by several members of the Senate.