HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra told a Senate panel that rural health outcomes would improve if more states expanded Medicaid, The Hill reported April 16.
There are 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the ACA. Mississippi is one of them. One of the state's senators, Cindy Hyde-Smith, told Mr. Becerra that she is worried about maternal care deserts caused by hospital closures, according to the report. She said the state has some of the worst maternal health outcomes in the country and often leads the country in infant mortality.
Mr. Becerra said that while telehealth access is important and Congress should continue HHS' pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities, the women of Mississippi would be better served under Medicaid expansion, according to the report.
"Many of the women who are having bad outcomes could have qualified for earlier care had they been eligible for Medicaid," he said, according to the report. "I think if we expand Medicaid in some of the states that haven’t yet done it, about a million and a half more Americans, many of them women who want to deliver a baby, would have access to earlier care and not wait until it’s a difficult circumstance in the delivery."
Mississippi lawmakers are currently working on Medicaid expansion legislation. Both the state House and Senate have passed bills that would expand Medicaid with work requirement provisions. Mississippi Lt. Gov Delbert Hosemann and House Speaker Jason White have selected conference committee members to iron out a compromise, the Clarion Ledger reported April 16. The legislation is expected to be vetoed by Gov. Tate Reeves, who is staunchly opposed to expansion under the ACA.
North Carolina is the most recent to expand Medicaid. The expansion went into effect in December and more than 400,000 people have since enrolled in the program, according to an April 1 news release from the office of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.
The state's expanded Medicaid program has provided more than 705,000 prescriptions for things like heart health and diabetes, and covered more than $11.2 million in claims for dental services since the Dec. 1 launch, according to the release.