Mississippi Medicaid Director Questions Provision Requiring Program Budget To Balance Quarterly

Despite the agreement state officials made last week to keep Mississippi's Medicaid budget "financially stable," Rica Payton, the program's executive director, said the budget still could "tilt ... into the red," the Associated Press reports (Wagster, Associated Press, 4/27). On April 9, Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D) vetoed the Medicaid budget bill, saying the amount lawmakers allocated was too little, but the state Legislature overrode the veto on April 12. Last week, Musgrove and lawmakers met to address fears that the program would have a shortfall beginning July 1, the first day of the new fiscal year. In part, they agreed to require the state Division of Medicaid to implement cost-containment measures and to create an oversight committee that would "monitor and reexamine" the Medicaid program. Lawmakers and Musgrove also agreed to hold off until September calling a special legislative session to deal with the anticipated shortfall (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/24). Musgrove earlier had said he would call a special session in July. Despite the agreement, Payton said she is concerned about a provision in the approved budget that Medicaid cannot spend more than one-quarter of its budget in any three-month period during the fiscal year. Lawmakers had implemented that provision to make the program more accountable, the Associated Press reports. But Payton said that health costs are difficult to predict, adding that even expensive medical procedures, such as surgeries, for just a few beneficiaries could put the program over budget. Musgrove said that Payton would work with lawmakers to "restructure" the program to make it more efficient. Musgrove and Payton have said they would like to make changes to the program, but the administration has not offered details (Associated Press, 4/27).