Mississippi Medicaid Faces Funding Shortfall

Mississippi lawmakers and advocates say that if additional funding for the state's Medicaid program cannot be found, tens of thousands of beneficiaries could be dropped from the program and services could be cut, the AP/Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. Mississippi lawmakers on Wednesday convened the 2008 legislative session, and Medicaid funding is a priority this year, according to the AP/Commercial Appeal.

Medicaid Executive Director Robert Robinson has asked for an additional $168 million to run the program for fiscal year 2009, as well as a deficit appropriation of $87 million to maintain operations for FY 2008. State budget writers have suggested a smaller increase for FY 2009, and lawmakers have appropriated $513 million to the program for FY 2008.

Gov. Haley Barbour (R) said the funding problems stem from federal policy changes that affect the way Mississippi generates federal matching funds. The state also has been using one-time funding, including millions of dollars for Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, to fix current budget gaps (Byrd, AP/Memphis Commercial Appeal, 1/7).