Mississippi Senators Fail To Pass Emergency Bailout of Medicaid Program

The Mississippi Senate on Feb. 28 rejected an emergency bailout of the state's bankrupt Medicaid program, "raising the possibility" that providers will not get paid this week, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. Senators voted 32-12 against a plan that would have given the program $158 million through June, the end of the current fiscal year. The state House had approved the proposal earlier on Feb. 28. The bill rejected by the state Senate would have taken $103 million from the state's tobacco trust fund, raised certain beneficiary copayments -- not specified by the Commercial Appeal -- and limited the number of prescriptions beneficiaries could fill per month (Branson, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 3/1). The measure also would have reduced payments to Medicaid providers by 5% and placed new fees on pharmacists, nursing home beds and hospital beds (Elliot, AP/Memphis Commercial Appeal, 2/28). Some lawmakers who opposed the measure did not want to tap the tobacco fund, while others said they did not want to penalize doctors who serve Medicaid beneficiaries or hurt smaller pharmacies. Barring a "significant turnaround" by the Senate, the state will not send checks out this week to providers serving Medicaid beneficiaries. The state's Medicaid director, Rica Lewis-Payton, said that because the bailout effort failed, she would not have the authority to spend more state funds or use federal matching funds to pay Medicaid claims this week. Lewis-Payton one year ago warned state lawmakers that Medicaid spending in this fiscal year would "far outpace" the $250 million that the Legislature had appropriated (Memphis Commercial Appeal, 3/1). Earlier this year, she had said Medicaid would run out of money by the end of February (AP/Memphis Commercial Appeal, 2/28).