Lawmakers end session at impasse

The Sun Herald, 8/5/8

Mississippi lawmakers have ended a marathon special session without resolving the Medicaid funding impasse, allowing the governor to proceed with his plan to raise taxes on hospitals to generate money for the program.

But some legislators say Gov. Haley Barbour’s plan to subject hospitals to higher gross revenue assessments, set to go into effect Sept. 1, may draw a legal challenge.

Barbour had called the special session May 21 to cover multiple issues, but legislators have met only sporadically since then.

Mississippi’s Medicaid program has been the sticking point.