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Chair advances deficit bill to cover $35 million Medicaid shortfall and related gaps
Summary
A committee advanced a deficit appropriation bill that includes $35,000,000 for Medicaid and additional funding requests for special judge appointments, child protective services, animal health and ACA penalty reimbursements; the chair promised follow-up numbers on Medicaid scope.
The committee advanced a deficit appropriation bill that includes a $35,000,000 supplemental for Medicaid as well as targeted funding for judicial appointments, child protective services, animal health and ACA-related reimbursements, the chair said.
The chair summarized the package: "This does include something we've already passed. It's the $35,000,000 in deficits for Medicaid," and listed another $156,121 for special judge appointments, a $10,000,000 request for child protective services (the department had requested more than $20,000,000), $5,234 for the Board of Animal Health tied to a recent bird-flu outbreak, and $678,385 for ACA penalty reimbursements related to the Veterans Affairs Board. The chair also said the deficit bill contains a reverse repealer provision.
Committee member Centra Hill pressed for context about Medicaid spending across state and federal requirements, asking, "For Medicaid, can we get this is 35,000,000 ... what would be the difference between the total of Medicaid spending if the state of Mississippi provided only the services that the federal government requires versus the services that Mississippi does provide?" The chair responded that the legislature had put $60,000,000 into last year's budget and said he would provide a comparison figure before the bill reaches the floor.
Why it matters: the supplemental funds would pay for ongoing service shortfalls in Medicaid and several state programs; the committee said it will continue discussions with affected departments, notably child protective services, to refine requested amounts. The chair pledged to provide a breakdown of how much of Medicaid spending is driven by state-added services versus federally required services ahead of further consideration.
Next steps: the committee voted on the motion to advance the deficit bill and the chair recorded that "the ayes have it." No individual roll-call vote totals or member-level votes were recorded in the transcript.
