Will health care be cheaper without the hospital tax?
Few public policy initiatives in Mississippi have generated more heated arguments than the so-called “hospital tax” or provider assessment as a means to fund Medicaid – the federal-state program that provides health care for the poor, the blind, the disabled and children.
Gov. Haley Barbour has spent the last several years battling the House over a $90 million “hospital tax” that he says will help shore up Medicaid finance by forcing state hospitals to “pay their fair share” of providing public health care.
The Mississippi House and the state’s hospital association counter that other health care providers – doctors, pharmacists, drug companies, nursing homes, etc. – are not being asked to provide a similar “fair share” and that it’s not the responsibility of hospitals to help fund Medicaid.
Clarion-Ledger
6/3/9
Magnolia Tribune
