The who, what and how much of Mississippi Medicaid
Chairman Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, chairman of the Senate Medicaid Committee, acknowledges misconceptions about Medicaid beneficiaries exist.
“I think when most citizens and legislators hear the word Medicaid, they definitely think of Obamacare,” Wiggins said…
…”Medicaid pays for people like our disabled, and in Mississippi, we have a huge disabled population,” Wiggins said. “Eighty percent of our costs are driven by 20 percent of the population, which is the disabled population. I’ve heard different people and groups say we just need to get rid of Medicaid. OK, are we not going to take care of our grandmother and grandfather who (are) 90 years old in the nursing home? Medicaid pays for the nursing home.”
Wiggins said he is against the idea of a “welfare state” but questioned the idea of ignoring the needs of the “less fortunate.”
“Are we going to (let) our less fortunate who have no means whatsoever or are in dire situations really just fall by the wayside?” he asked.
“The cynical stretch far. People need to understand what all we have to deal with.”
Clarion Ledger
6/28/17
Magnolia Tribune
