Despite opposition from the governor, the Mississippi State Medical Association adopted a resolution to search for options to expand Medicaid, according to an Oct. 1 article by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.
Some of the options the group is pursuing are a Medicaid waiver program and amending the state's Medicaid plan to provide more citizens with healthcare access.
According to the article, Mississippi is one of 12 states that have not expanded Medicaid, even with the federal government picking up 90 percent of the cost.
The Mississippi Hospital Association also supports expanding Medicaid. President Tim Moore stated in the article that doing so could help rural hospitals. Six rural hospitals in Mississippi have closed in recent years, and almost half of all rural hospitals are at risk of closing.
He also said that hospitals in Mississippi spent more than $600 million on uncompensated care in 2019.
House and Senate Medicaid committees will have four meetings on Medicaid in October.
Republican Gov. Tate Reeves opposes the expansion because of the cost to the state, as did his predecessor, Phil Bryant.
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