Republican Leaders Complain, Do Nothing Constructive

Once again, Mississippi Republicans continue to show us they do not care about our state's increasing poor population and those without health insurance.

At its budget hearing Friday, the state's Medicaid director requested additional funds to help pay for new enrollees in the program. Many of these enrollees were added as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

As expected, Republican leaders like Lt. Governor Tate Reeves and House Speaker Pro Tempore Greg Snowden huffed and puffed at Medicaid's request. Oddly enough, they would rather the state pay 100 percent of the costs associated with covering the new enrollees as opposed to 10 percent, which the Affordable Care Act allows. We've said for years that the state will save money if it expands coverage, but that has fallen on deaf ears in the Capitol.

For all of their complaining about the rise of Medicaid's costs, Republican policy makers have not advocated for policies to address the underlying problem: poverty. Rather than be proactive, Republican leaders continue to play catch up to the problems of chronic poverty in our state. Let's not forget that Mississippi has the second-highest unemployment rate in the country, currently at 7.9 percent.

We can hope, because we have yet to see any evidence that they will do anything productive, that the Republican majority in the legislature will advance legislation such as tax reforms to help move 22.5 percent of Mississippians out of poverty. Mississippi can and must do better, and the solutions are staring us in the face. Our policy makers simply need to accept reality and reasonable solutions.

State Auditor Stacey Pickering (R) releases report on rural hospitals; future "bleak"

A dozen days ago, State Auditor Stacey Pickering (R) released his office's report on the health of Mississippi's rural hospitals.  If you've been paying attention to this blog for the last 18 months or so, you won't be surprised at the findings in Pickering's report: those rural hospitals are dying on the vine.

You also won't be surprised as to the main reason the rural hospitals are suffering:  reductions in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to those hospitals under the Affordable Care Act.  

The Mississippi Business Journal published an article on this today worth reading.  In it, there are some pretty heavy predictions from Mendal Kemp, director of the Mississippi Hospital Association’s Center for Rural Health.  From the article:

Gov. Phil Bryant and legislative leaders refused the expansion knowing the risk of losing the money but have indicated they do not believe the federal government will ultimately remove the money. They cite the Obama administration’s two-year extension of a deadline to begin lowering the Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments. 

Kemp and others say the threat of losing DSH payments is real and should be seen as a promise that the ACA requires the government to keep. 

“Year two is going to surprise a lot of folks,” says Kemp, referring to the end of the two-year extension of the close of the federal government’s 2015 fiscal year. 

“Without some help… I see the future looking very bleak.”

The only real question left isn't whether the federal government will follow through with DSH cuts. They will.  The question is will Mississippians re-elect politicians in 2015 who stubbornly refuse to accept repayment of our own tax dollars to protect our hospitals?

Here's how the Mississippi House voted on the question of allowing all Mississippians to participate in the healthcare exchange

Read 'em and weep, y'all:

Mississippi House of Representatives vote allowing all Mississippians to participate in healthcare exchange

Mississippi's Legislative Special Session is now live:

Watch it here. Feel free to comment below.


EDIT: While they are in committee, please follow along with Cottonmouth's twitter account. Tweets by @cottonmouthMS

EDIT: Map of Health Exchange Map (which counties will be left off from tax credits from federal program) Many thanks to Rep. David Baria for posting this:

Report: Health Department lays off 40 workers to privatize maternal and infant health care

Word is that the State Health Department laid off 40 social workers Monday, some with up to 24.5 years of state service.  They reportedly did this to privatize maternal and infant health care, a move that the Legislature had refused to sign off on this session.  Apparently, they believe they can do this administratively.

There's also word that the benefactor of the privatization would be Magnolia Health Plan.  Magnolia spent $240,000 on the lobbying services of Clare Hester and Henry Barbour in the last two years.

WARNING: BOOK LEARNIN' PEOPLE INVOLVED - Harvard study shows Medicaid expansion improves health

In a study sure to be derided by our Mississippi Republican cognoscenti (here's a link so they can look that word up) as something from the northern-librul-iv'ry tower-socialist-smarty pants gays, Harvard researchers have documented a decline in death rates in New York, Arizona, and Maine, three states that expanded Medicaid coverage in 2001.  From the Bloomberg article:

Three states that expanded Medicaid in 2001 and 2002, New York, Arizona and Maine (BSTIME), collectively saw a 6.1 percent decline in the death rate for people age 20 to 64 compared to neighboring states, according to the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, led by assistant professor Benjamin Sommers, found larger reductions among minorities and low-income people.

Medicaid expansion good for Mississippi's economy

The Mississippi Economic Policy Center, to whom I have linked many times, has some excellent analysis of the effects of the proposed Medicaid expansion.  Here are three posts to read to help combat the GOP hype machine, which is stuck in overdrive on this issue:

4 Reasons why Medicaid Expansion is Good for Mississippi’s Economy

Rejecting Medicaid Expansion would create coverage gap for Mississippi’s most Vulnerable Working Families

Health Care Jobs become Critical to Mississippi’s Economy

The bottom line is that the federal government is looking to pump money into a vital portion of Mississippi's economic equation, and we'd be foolish to refuse it.

House Dems on Medicaid expansion: Saying "no" is not good enough

In a press release issued Saturday, House Democratic Caucus Leader Bobby Moak (D-Bogue Chitto) made the following statement:

Mississippi House Democratic Caucus Press

Contact:          Rep. Bobby Moak

                        (601) 359-2860

Impact of Affordable Care Act on Medicaid eligibility for Mississippi children

June 30, 2012

Jackson, MS- Moments after the United States Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, Mississippi Republicans promised to block any effort to extend Medicaid coverage to Mississippi children.

“Saying ‘no’ is simply not good enough,” said House Democratic Caucus Leader Bobby Moak (D-Bogue Chitto).  “When our young people can’t access doctors it limits their educational opportunities and prevents them from achieving the level of success they deserve.”

Moak added, “The new Medicaid options available to children under the Affordable Care Act will come at zero cost to Mississippi taxpayers for the next three years.  Refusing these additional medical options for our most vulnerable citizens would be a horrible black eye for our state.”    

Moak added, “In light of yesterday’s ruling, the legislature should act quickly to make sure that all qualified Mississippi children receive the same Medicaid options that are now available throughout the country.  We cannot allow Republican leadership to wage a partisan war against Washington on the backs of Mississippi kids.”

“To play childhood education against adequate healthcare is not leadership, it’s political theatre. We are charged as elected officials with making the best decisions for all our citizens and we owe them the sweat equity to work through challenging problems that confront our state,” Moak said.

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