Senate Medicaid ‘expansion light’ would insure fewer than House plan, turn down federal money

The Senate draft proposal would: Cover working Mississippians up to 99% of the federal poverty level. For an individual that would be an annual income up to $15,060. For a family of four that would be an annual income up to $31,200.  Not cover those making between 100% and 138% of the FPL — not even through a private-care option. A plan that doesn’t cover people making up to 138% is not considered “expansion” under the Affordable Care Act, meaning Mississippi wouldn’t qualify for the 90% federal match rate that the ACA grants to new expansion states, nor the additional, two-year 5% increase in match rate the federal government provides to newly-expanded states under pandemic relief spending passed by Congress. Instead, as was the case with Georgia, Mississippi would only get its regular federal Medicaid rate of about 77%. Leave the health insurance exchange, the online marketplace that offers federally subsidized plans to people who make between 100% and 138% of the FPL, intact.