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Medicaid expansion ballot initiative groundwork underway in Mississippi
Medicaid expansion ballot initiative groundwork underway in Mississippi By Courtney Ann Jackson | April 9, 2021 at 10:04 PM CDT - Updated April 9 at 10:41 PM
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Many Mississippi politicians continue to push back on the idea of Medicaid expansion. But efforts are ramping up to put it to a vote by the people.
President and CEO of the Mississippi Hospital Association, Tim Moore, along with Hattiesburg pediatrician Dr. John Gaudet and advocate Dr. Nakeitra Burse formed the non-profit Healthcare for Mississippi.
They’ve now filed the paperwork for Initiative 76.
Friday morning, the Mississippi Hospital Association’s board of governors voted to partner with the non-profit on the effort. Signature collection should start next month with a goal of getting the ballot initiative on the 2022 ballot.
JACKSON ⢠After Mississippi s Republican-controlled Legislature again refused to seriously consider Medicaid expansion this year, a new nonprofit says it s time for voters to decide.
The group of state health leaders filed paperwork in February for a Medicaid expansion ballot initiative. If Initiative 76 is approved, it would tap into billions of dollars worth of federal health care insurance money over the next several years.
Those funds would be used to cover possibly hundreds of thousands of working, low-income Mississippians who cannot afford health care. Mississippi Today first reported Monday on the existence of the initiative effort.
Mississippi is one of 12 states that have refused to accept Medicaid expansion money dating back to 2014. Advocates estimate the state has missed out on roughly $1 billion per year since.
The organization is backing an option to expand health care access for Mississippians where 90% of funding would come from the federal government, and the remaining 10% required match would be funded by a self-tax paid by hospitals. They want the support for this plan from the state legislature. When you look at what happened when Medicaid was not expanded, the amount of hurt and pain, suffering, that occurred across Mississippi is not just a health issue that s a moral issue,
Bishop Ronnie Crudup, of New Horizon Church International,
said Wednesday, standing in the Capitol rotunda.
The timing is paramount as the pandemic has added an additional layer, leaving thousands of other Mississippians unemployed disproportionately affecting minorities and working poor. As a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill passed in Congress on Wednesday, and is headed to President Joe Biden to sign, Mississippians spearheading efforts of Medicaid expansion see this as an apt time to
Faith leaders and Working Together Mississippi call for action on Medicaid expansion
Faith leaders and Working Together Mississippi call for action on Medicaid expansion By Courtney Ann Jackson | March 5, 2021 at 7:25 PM CST - Updated March 6 at 6:31 AM
JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Medicaid expansion attempts at the State Capitol continue to be unsuccessful but Working Together Mississippi and a new set of voices are stepping in to say the cost of inaction is too high.
Healthcare is an issue that transcends religions. And several faith leaders gathered for a press conference Friday to say they’re realizing they need to voice that.