Does Medicaid expansion in Mississippi have a chance? See what MS lawmakers say

Only four weeks into the state’s 2024 legislative session, lawmakers have already filed 21 bills aiming to change the state’s policy on Medicaid, and according to several legislators, expanding it could be on the table.

Republican Rep. Sam Creekmore, serving Union County, who chairs the House’s Public Health and Human Services Committee, told the Clarion Ledger he is open to the idea of expanding Medicaid in the state.

His first step toward that will be forming a taskforce of fellow lawmakers to seek information related to the pros and cons of expanding Medicaid and looking at other alternatives for expanding healthcare insurance availability for the state’s working poor.

“My plan is to form a task force to plans that have been done and then lay it all on the table,” Creekmore said. “We'll just see what we can do to craft something that makes sense.”

Fellow Republican Rep. Missy McGee, who chairs the House Medicaid Committee, declined to comment beyond stating she and her committee plan to explore several options for healthcare expansion.

“I don’t have anything to say about that at this time,” McGee said. “The Speaker (Jason White, R) has made it a priority to provide health insurance for the working poor and that’s a priority for this committee. It might not even be Medicaid.”

Last year, McGee was also one of the leaders in changing a state law to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from two months to a full year.

Medicaid was first established in 1965 as the United State’s first federally funded public insurance program for families on limited income. The program was heavily expanded in 2010 by the Affordable Care Act, which provided coverage to people making 138% of the federal poverty rate and established tax credits for impoverished families to lower the cost of care.

The law also established funding for states to expand their own programs.

Mississippi is currently one of 10 states yet to expand Medicaid. Mississippi, through the state's Medicaid division, currently provides one in four state residents with some health benefits from Medicaid. Most of those residents are families with small children as well as mothers who have recently given birth, and some disabled people.

Who would benefit from expansion?

Under the expansion, the federal government would pay 90% of the cost to expand coverage to an estimated 230,000 new potential Mississippi beneficiaries, while the state would cover 10%, according to a 2021 University of Mississippi report by State Economist Cory Miller and Economist Sandra Collins. That same report stated expansion would unburden hospitals and possibly create around 11,000 new jobs and provide an additional $44 million a year to the state general fund.

According to MDM, those who receive full coverage must make no more than between 135% and 250% of the state’s poverty rate, depending on the coverage sought. According to the Hope Policy Institute, the state's poverty rate is $24,000 for a family of four and $19,000 for an individual.

Roy Mitchell, Executive Director for Mississippi Health Advocacy Program, which helps connect people with Medicaid coverage and other medical services, said expanding coverage could close the state’s coverage gap, giving people who make too much for full Medicaid coverage but not enough for private insurance or other government subsidies, a chance to receive full benefits.

“That's the population that would benefit most from a Medicaid expansion," Mitchell said. ?These are people that are just the backbone of our economy, especially in Mississippi, where we have a large agricultural community, we have a lot of service industries. We have a lot of construction workers who fall into that category too who make too much for Medicaid, but not enough for subsidies.”

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Do legislators support expansion?

Democratic Representatives Justis Gibbs and Chris Bell, who represent Madison and Hinds counties, respectively, both said there are Medicaid bills being introduced they support, but the overall expansion of Medicaid in the state is their goal.

“You think about people who are who can't get treatment because they are in a job that doesn't provide health care, and they make too much money to get on Medicaid,” Bell said. “I mean, we are killing our constituency, we are killing hospitals, we are killing jobs by not expanding Medicaid.”

Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R, who chairs the Senate’s Medicaid Committee, said he is willing to look at expanding coverage to the working poor and for expectant mothers, but would not vote for an outright expansion of Medicaid in Mississippi.

“We did postpartum (expansion) last year, so we got the back end of the pregnancy, and now we need to get the front end,” Blackwell said. “…The states that have expanded (Medicaid) have all missed the mark. If they say they're going to be to under 250,000 additional folks, it'll end up being 500,000 to 600,000 additional people, and it's a drain on the taxpayers. You are basically becoming a welfare state, and I don't support that. Now saying that, I'm not opposed to us having a hearing, taking a look at it, listening both sides pros and cons from the people involved.”

Sen. David Blount, D, representing Hinds County, told the Clarion Ledger he already submitted a bill to expand Medicaid eligibility to expectant mothers to receive pre-natal care. However, he would also support expanding coverage outright.

“It's very important that those expecting mothers get access as quickly as possible to quality prenatal care and presumptive eligibility,” Blount said. “Full Medicaid expansion is something different. Medicaid expansion is the most important issue facing the state of Mississippi and something we desperately need to do for our health care providers and for the working Mississippians who don't have health insurance.”

Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: MS Medicaid expansions options on the table in 2024 session