Posted on 06/13/2004 6:46:05 PM PDT by WKB
JACKSON, Miss. - In 1999, when the economy was robust and Mississippi's budget was flush, lawmakers voted to expand the state Medicaid program.
Instead of allowing coverage only for people with incomes up to 100 percent of the poverty level, legislators stretched the upper limit to include people with incomes up to 135 percent.
It was, lawmakers said, the right thing to do in one of the poorest and unhealthiest states in the nation.
Now, with a sluggish economy and an ever-tightening state budget, Mississippi is cutting Medicaid eligibility back to 100 percent of poverty level, amid protests from some lawmakers who say the changes are cruel and heartless.
Using current federal poverty guidelines, that means the income cutoff is $9,310 for one person at 100 percent of poverty level instead of $12,569 for one person at 135 percent.
Dr. Warren Jones, executive director of Mississippi Medicaid since January, acknowledged the changes will be difficult for many people but said they're necessary to keep the program financially solvent.
"When we used to have a $150 million surplus in the Medicaid program, we could say we want to expand that population, give them additional services," Jones, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, said in an interview with The Associated Press last week.
"Now we're running a $200 million per year deficit. So we've got to find a way to really continue to provide those essential services and still make this program available," Jones said.
The changes are set to take effect July 1, and 65,000 Medicaid recipients have been sent letters saying they're being removed from the program. Medicaid is paid by state and federal dollars and provides coverage for the needy, aged, blind and disabled and for low-income families with children.
About 60,000 of those people will be covered by Medicare, which is paid completely by federal funds, but there are widespread concerns that the Medicare prescription coverage will leave some with burdensome out-of-pocket expenses.
Barbour says he's seeking federal waivers to let Medicaid keep covering the other 5,000 people. But the state won't know until after July 1 whether the waivers are approved. That's the first day of the state budget year.
Barbour also is asking federal permission to guarantee continued Medicaid coverage for four groups of patients: those who have undergone organ transplants, those with end-stage kidney disease who need dialysis, cancer patients who are taking chemotherapy or radiation and people on anti-psychotic drugs.
The bill passed by lawmakers and signed by Barbour specifies the need to continue coverage for transplant, dialysis and cancer patients. Jones said Medicaid officials made an administrative decision to continue coverage for those on anti-psychotic drugs.
Kathy Snyder of Leakesville received one of the cutoff letters and told lawmakers last week she doesn't know how she'll manage. After working at discount and grocery stores all her adult life, she says she has undergone back surgery and two hip replacements and has had heart problems.
She takes 13 prescriptions, seven of which are paid by Medicaid and six paid by her children.
"Are we all supposed to walk to the highest cliff in Mississippi and jump off?" a tearful Snyder asked during a meeting of the House Public Health and Human Services Committee.
Legislators approved the Medicaid changes during the final days of their regular session last month, but some now say they regret doing so.
Most House members say they want Barbour to give them a chance to keep those 65,000 people on Medicaid - but it's looking unlikely that Barbour will back off the moneysaving measure.
"I am not sure exactly how it happened, but I apparently have a new physician," Kathy Jean Brown of Tupelo, who's losing Medicaid coverage, told lawmakers at the Capitol last week.
"Without actually accessing the medical records which chronicle the schizo affective disorder I have, Haley says that if I cannot afford to pay for the necessary medications and office visits on my own, even though it is the only way I am functionally 'normal,' then the state of Mississippi will not help me, either," Brown read from a letter she had written.
Rep. Mark Formby, R-Picayune, says he voted against expanding Medicaid five years ago. But like many in Barbour's own party, Formby now wants to keep benefits for everyone who's been on the program.
Formby said he "took a lot of abuse" over voting against expansion of Medicaid in the late 1990s.
"Certain things are predictable," he said. "If you spend more money than you have, you're going to get in trouble."
However, Formby said he believes it's wrong to take away benefits people have come to rely on.
"It's cruel," he said. "It's giving a kid a new BB gun for Christmas and then the next day taking it away."
sum-ma-rizev. review, compile, shorten, to state in a summary
I know what the word means sir.
I meant to find a better word.
Now you try it. I'll start the sentence and you finish it
Mississippi is an armpit because ...........
Mississippi is an armpit because ...........
OK here goes
Mississippi is an armpit just like CA because of Rats.
BUT there are some wonderful people living in both states
that do not like to be called names and grouped with them.
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