JACKSON — Republican Gov. Phil Bryant wants to create more health care jobs in Mississippi, one of the poorest and most medically under-served states in the nation. He also opposes putting more Mississippi residents on Medicaid under the federal health care law that Democratic President Barack Obama signed in 2010, even with the federal government paying most of the cost. Are these two positions contradictory? Bryant says they’re not. Yet, even the toughest fiscal conservatives in the Legislature could start feeling pressure from health care providers who see Medicaid expansion as a way to pump money into the state to support their livelihoods and improve people’s well-being. “I absolutely think the state should proceed with expanding Medicaid,” Chris Anderson, CEO of the Pascagoula-based Singing River Health System, said at the Capitol last week after he and administrators of other hospitals appeared before a Senate Public Health panel. “If we do not expand, we are taking taxpayer dollars from the state of Mississippi and we’re giving it to other states,” Anderson said. Health care as economic development — just what the governor says he wants. But Bryant has dug in so strongly against Medicaid expansion that turnabout is practically unthinkable. A new study shows that for every $1 Mississippi would spend on Medicaid expansion, the federal government would spend $14 in the state, on everything from colonoscopies to blood pressure medication to nursing home care. The study was conducted by the Urban Institute for the nonpartisan Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Rachel L. Garfield, senior researcher and associate director of the Kaiser Commission, discussed the findings last week in Jackson at a breakfast hosted by the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program. The study estimates about 288,000 newly eligible people could be expected to enroll in Medicaid if Mississippi does an expansion. More than 600,000 are enrolled now, in a state just shy of 3 million. The study says another 57,000 who are eligible for Medicaid under current standards could be expected to sign up. The study estimates that with expansion, Mississippi would pay about $1.2 billion more for Medicaid, stretched over 10 years, and would collect more than $15 billion in federal money. Medicaid eligibility is based on income, and each state sets its own threshold. The federal poverty level is around $11,000 a year. In Mississippi, an adult’s income must be less than half of that to qualify — one of the lowest levels in the nation. Federal law says states have the option of expanding Medicaid eligibility to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $15,000. “There’s a very large body of research that shows that having health insurance makes a big difference in how people interact with the health care system,” Garfield said. “When they have coverage, they are more likely to seek preventive care, they are more likely to catch a diagnosis of a serious illness early on.” Rep. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, called the Kaiser numbers “eye popping.” “I don’t know how we can say no to this,” Baria said. Bryant spokesman Mick Bullock said the governor’s staff hadn’t seen the Kaiser study. Bryant relies on research from the Milliman firm, which shows larger potential enrollment and substantially larger state expenses. “The federal and state costs associated with the health mandate come from the same place — taxpayers’ pockets,” Bullock said. “Gov. Bryant does not support a huge tax increase, which a Medicaid expansion would necessitate, or directing additional state resources to the program that could otherwise be spent on core government functions like public safety and economic development.”
Editorials
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DOJ’s seizure of phone records is appalling
By The Vicksburg Post:
In today’s Department of Justice, the ends seem to justify the means.
And it is sickening. -
Bryant tantrum on education major standards was misguided
By the (McComb) Enterprise-Journal:
That was quite a tantrum Gov. Phil Bryant pitched at the College Board recently, criticizing its members for voicing concerns about his effort to increase standards for education majors. -
Legislature to City Hall not sure move
Five Mississippi House members are running for mayor this year, and while name recognition might provide some advantage, lawmakers have had a mixed record in trying to go from the Capitol to City Hall.
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Nation’s economy improving, but state’s still lagging
By The (Jackson) Clarion-Ledger
It’s been a long time coming, but finally there are bright economic signs nationally that seem here to stay a while. -
Armed teachers dangerous idea for school safety
By (Columbus) The Commercial Dispatch:
The Mississippi House of Representatives sent back to the Senate a bill that would arm teachers.
Before sending it over, the House, by a 70-46 vote, amended the Senate’s bill in two major ways. Actually, the House did more than amend it. They neutered it. -
Not every bill grabs headlines
The first two bills that Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed during the 2013 legislative session dealt with money.
House Bill 19 gave more cash to the agency that coordinates a program to put all emergency offices under the same digital communications system. House Bill 20 moved money from the car tag reduction fund to the Budget Contingency Fund. Lawmakers use the contingency fund to cobble together cash for the overall state budget. -
Transparency key to ‘best watchdogs’ oversight
By The (Tupelo) Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal:
Rep. Jerry Turner’s effort to require open meetings of water associations and notice of meetings in which members of boards of directors will be elected remains alive in the Legislature. It should be enacted in the interests of transparency in the running of the nonprofit associations providing water for a significant percentage of Mississippi’s population. -
Miss. makes news, good news, this time
By The (Columbus) Commercial Dispatch:
Generally, when Mississippi makes national news — especially of late — it is not the sort of notoriety we welcome. ...
So March 3, when Mississippi again made national news, we braced ourselves for the embarrassment that was sure to follow.
Only this time, it wasn’t anything to be embarrassed about.
Imagine that. -
Ag’s legal expenses top $2.4M for year
An ongoing lawsuit challenging Mississippi’s foster care system has cost the state at least $4.4 million in legal expenses and fees since 2008.
Expenses continue to rise as the plaintiffs and the state work toward a telephone status conference scheduled for April 25 with U.S. District Judge Tom S. Lee. The price tag this year is $1.35 million. -
Ag’s legal expenses top $2.4M for year
An ongoing lawsuit challenging Mississippi’s foster care system has cost the state at least $4.4 million in legal expenses and fees since 2008.
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