Mississippi Dems: We Were ‘Bamboozled’ On Medicaid
With just two days to spare, and with plenty of political drama, Mississippi lawmakers approved a plan late Friday to renew Medicaid for another year.
The joint federal-state program, which provides health insurance to some 700,000 poor Mississippians, was set to expire Sunday night.
Democrats had pushed hard to expand coverage to 300,000 more people, under a provision of the federal health law.
Republicans, including Gov. Phil Bryant, opposed the expansion, saying it would be too expensive, while Democrats countered that the federal government would pick up the tab for the new recipients. The partisan divide over Medicaid expansion led to lawmakers finishing their regular session in April without a plan to keep Medicaid running past the end of this month.
Bryant reacted to the approval of the existing Medicaid program with satisfaction.
MBB
Magnolia Tribune
