Mississippi Today
House panel holds hearing on previously taboo topic: benefits of Mississippi Medicaid expansion
Experts told a panel of lawmakers Tuesday that expanding Mississippi Medicaid would bring a large influx of federal dollars — costing the state nothing for the first two years and little in the years after.
In providing health coverage to poor, working uninsured Mississippians, it would also boost the economy, generate thousands of jobs and help struggling hospitals.
It's nothing that experts, health providers and economists haven't been saying for years — but it's the first time in recent years House Republicans have offered them a platform to speak.
The House Medicaid Committee heard from speakers from the Hilltop Institute, a nonpartisan research group that partnered with the Center for Mississippi Health Policy on several Medicaid economics reports.
“I thought it was an excellent presentation by the Hilltop Institute … We are seeking information right now to make the best policy decisions that we can,” Medicaid Chairwoman Missy McGee, R-Hattiesburg, said.
The hearing marks a sea change for the Mississippi Legislature.
Republican legislative leaders are for the first time in a decade are at least considering Medicaid expansion. Mississippi remains one of only 10 states not to expand the federal-state program to cover hundreds of thousands of Mississippians who cannot afford private insurance. The issue has been a political third rail for Republicans in Mississippi. GOP state leaders, including former House Speaker Philip Gunn, blocked even serious discussion or hearings on the issue in recent years.
Republican Gov. Tate Reeves has remained steadfast in opposition to what he calls “Obamacare” and “Welfare” even as polls show a wide majority of people in Mississippi support expansion.
Reeves on Tuesday in a social media post criticized Republican lawmakers for considering the program, and said “for those wondering how I feel, I offer you the words of President Trump” — with a screenshot of a Trump post saying “Obamacare Sucks!!!”.
New Republican House Speaker Jason White – who replaced Gunn this year – has been outspoken about the state's health care crisis and has authored a soon to be made public expansion bill. Republican Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said the Senate has drafted its own Medicaid expansion plan, which would likely also include people paying premiums through a private care option and a work requirement.
During Tuesday's hearing, Data scientist Morgan Henderson outlined the results of a 2021 study on the economic effects of a hypothetical expansion program in Mississippi. He covered three sets of impact: cost to the state, impact on the state economy, and impact on state hospitals.
The study estimated:
- There would be about 210,000 new enrollees from expansion.
- Of these, 95% are expected to be newly eligible and not currently insured – despite critics predicting that expansion would incentivize people to get off private insurance and move to Medicaid.
- The first two years of adopting the program would cost the state nothing.
- The third year would cost the state roughly $3 million.
- For state- and locally-owned hospitals, which make up about 40% of Mississippi hospitals, there would be a reduction in uncompensated care costs by about 60% each year.
- Expansion would stimulate the economy, putting about $1.2 billion into circulation that the state would not otherwise see.
- Expansion would create an additional 11,000 new jobs.
- Expansion would improve hospital aggregate performance by up to 2.4%
The study was based on a traditional expansion model, as opposed to one including a private care option – first modeled in Arkansas and which has gained traction as conservative lawmakers consider expanding Medicaid in several Southern states.
House Democrats, in the minority, recently unveiled an expansion plan that included a private care option that would allow Mississippians who make up to twice as much as the federal poverty level to qualify for Medicaid.
The House Republican bill authored by White, and the Senate expansion bill both had yet to be assigned to committee or publicly posted late Tuesday, but leaders in both chambers said they were filed before a Monday night deadline.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1896
MAY 18, 1896
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-1 in Plessy v. Ferguson that racial segregation on railroads or similar public places was constitutional, forging the “separate but equal” doctrine that remained in place until 1954.
In his dissent that would foreshadow the ruling six decades later in Brown v. Board of Education, Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote that “separate but equal” rail cars were aimed at discriminating against Black Americans.
“In the view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens,” he wrote. “Our Constitution in color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful. The law … takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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Mississippi Today
Renada Stovall, chemist and entrepreneur
Renada Stovall sat on the back deck of her rural Arkansas home one evening, contemplating life when she had a life-altering epiphany…
“I gotta get out of these woods.”
She heard it as clear as lips to her ear and as deep as the trees surrounding her property. Stovall's job as a chemist had taken her all over the country. In addition to Arkansas, there were stints in Atlanta, Dallas and Reno. But she was missing home, her parents and friends. She also knew, she needed something else to do.
“I thought, what kind of business can I start for myself,” said Stovall, as she watered herbs growing in a garden behind her south Jackson home. Some of those herbs are used in her all-natural products. “I know when I lived in Reno, Nevada, where it's very hot and very dry, there really weren't products available that worked for me, my hair, and my skin suffered. I've got a chemistry degree from Spelman College. I took the plunge and decided to create products for myself.”
In 2018, Stovall's venture led to the creation of shea butter moisturizers and natural soaps. But she didn't stop there, and in December 2022, she moved home to Mississippi and got to work, expanding her product line to include body balms and butters, and shampoos infused with avocado and palm, mango butter, coconut and olive oils.
Nadabutter, which incorporates Renada's name, came to fruition.
Stovall sells her balms and moisturizers at what she calls, “pop-up markets,” across the state during the summer. She's available via social media and also creates products depending on what of her ingredients a customer chooses. “My turmeric and honey is really popular,” Stovall added.
“The all-natural ingredients I use are great for conditioning the skin and hair. All of my products make you feel soft and luscious. The shea butter I use comes from West Africa. It's my way of networking and supporting other women. And it's my wish that other women can be inspired to be self-sufficient in starting their own businesses.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1954
MAY 17, 1954
In Brown v. Board of Education and Bolling v. Sharpe, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the “separate but equal” doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal treatment under the law.
The historic decision brought an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation, ruling in the case of student Linda Brown, who was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.
In Mississippi, segregationist leaders called the day “Black Monday” and took up the charge of the just-created white Citizens' Council to preserve racial segregation at all costs.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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