Turning the tables on Republicans and adopting a strategy recently employed by Republicans in Congress, Mississippi democratic leglislators are threatening to deauthorize the entire Medicaid program if state Republicans do not allow floor debate and a vote on the ACA Medicaid expansion, which the Republicans oppose. Even though the Democrats widely support the program and the expansion, they sense their only option to force exploration of expanding the program to Mississippi’s poor, uninsured is by creating an untenable position of unwinding the entire program. Such a move would have dire political consequences for the Republican majority, and be unlikely to see the light of day.
Medicaid is an important safety net program for state residents and a financial boon for a resource-starved state. According to the Governing Magazine, approximately 750,000 of Mississippi’s 2.9 million residents are enrolled in Medicaid, and the program pumps more than $4 billion annually into the state’s economy. But the ultimate decision on the expansion will have major consequences, too: About 19 percent of the state’s population is uninsured and more than 300,000 would gain insurance coverage through Medicaid under the ACA. The state’s uninsured population exceeds the national average of 16 percent. Moreover, the ACA is projected to pour an estimated $15 billion in federal dollars into the state over the next 10 years.
What’s more likely is that the state legislature will strike some sort of compromise that fits the state’s politics. Perhaps something akin to Arkansas’ deal with HHS that allows for Medicaid expansion dollars to go towards private insurance purchases on the Exchanges. In that way, Mississippi would only have to expand its program to the 100% of FPL.
