Jackson Free Press

Sept. 8, 2008

Mississippi's Medicaid shortfall is solved for the moment, according to a statement released today by Gov. Haley Barbour. Thanks to a refund of approximately $58.9 million from the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the state's Medicaid budget will be balanced for the 2009 fiscal year.

According to the governor's statement, the Mississippi Department of Medicaid began overpaying Medicaid funds in 2003, due to a miscalculation in the number of Mississippians eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. DOM discovered the discrepancy in May 2008 and notified the federal agency. In his statement, Barbour blamed the administration of former-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove for the mistake, calling it "irritating."

"We're pleased that it appears that we've found enough money in our state budget for this fiscal year," said Rep. Dirk Dedeaux, D-Perkinston, who is chairman of the House Medicaid Committee.

While the state's Medicaid budget is balanced for the 2009 fiscal year, Barbour cautioned that the federal funding was a temporary solution to the state's Medicaid woes. Dedeaux said the House would still be willing to compromise to reach a more permanent solution.

State Democrats have proposed funding Medicaid with an increased cigarette tax, but Barbour, a former tobacco lobbyist, has threatened to veto such a plan and cut state funding for hospitals. Barbour is proposing, as an alternative, a plan that would tax hospital patients.