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 proposal that has passed the House and is pending in the Senate.
The Legislature is currently contemplating major tax legislation. The House plan, championed by Gunn, would eliminate the income tax, which accounts for about one-third of general fund revenue, cut the cost of car tags in half and reduce the tax on groceries from 7% to 4% while increasing the sales tax on other retail items from 7% to 8.5%.
The Senate has proposed a more modest plan that would cut the income tax and grocery tax and eliminate a $3 to $5 fee on the cost of car tags. Gov. Tate Reeves has proposed eliminating the income tax.
Neither the House nor Senate this legislative session is seriously considering Medicaid expansion, which would provide health coverage to at least 225,000 Mississippians. This projection mostly includes coverage for people who politicians often refer to as the “working poor” — Mississippians who are employed but cannot afford health insurance.
An analysis compiled in February by State Economist Corey Miller and Sondra Collins, a senior economist at the University Research Center, looks at Gunn’s House tax cut plan. This analysis has not yet been released publicly, but has been delivered to legislative leaders.
A September 2021 analysis was conducted by the same two economists to determine the impact of the state expanding Medicaid as is allowed by federal law and paid for in large part by federal funds.