SALTER – Medicaid program again squarely in political quagmire
Budget negotiations at the state Capitol are slowly grinding toward stalemate as House and Senate leaders are as yet unable to overcome old arguments about the Medicaid program.
Gov. Haley Barbour and the Division of Medicaid maintain the posture they’ve held consistently for the last several years – that the state’s hospitals should help fund Medicaid with $90 million in provider fees, commonly referred to as the “hospital tax.”
The House leadership several years ago refused to discuss the “hospital tax” at all, calling it “a tax on the sick.” But in the current economy, House leaders and the Mississippi Hospital Association leadership that has their ears apparently have decided that while it’s not acceptable to “tax the sick” at a $90 million annual rate, taxing them at a $53 million annual rate wouldn’t be so bad.
Senate negotiators and Barbour say that’s because the House hospital tax proposal actually expands the Medicaid program – substantially negating the value of the House version of the “hospital tax” compared to the Senate version.
House leaders say their version provide needed funding for Medicaid while allowing the state’s hospitals to survive the stagnant economy.
Clarion-Ledger
5/20/9
Magnolia Tribune
