The nation’s poorest state — Mississippi— has traditionally been the recipient of more federal dollars per capita than any other. We’ve lived off the federal spending spigot for most of our lives.
That’s despite the state’s elected public officials consistently haranguing the federal government about one thing or another, almost nonstop since statehood.
From elementary school on, children of my antiquity were told an invasion of Mississippi by federal troops was imminent. Martial law statewide was an enduring possibility.
Our relationship with the federal government has always been fragile, due to our distrust of Washington. But, we’ve always taken their money when offered.
Gov. Tate Reeves is having none of it, however, balking at the feds’ benevolence with hard-line recalcitrance toward expanding the Medicaid healthcare program.
Reeves has held that stance before being elected governor in 2020. He obviously believes “federal” and “government” and “money” are dirty words. His implacable stand persists despite constant calls to reconsider from lawmakers, healthcare advocates, citizens and the media.
Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program provide health and long-term care coverage to over 90 million low-income children, pregnant women, adults, seniors and people with disabilities. However, several options are under consideration in Congress to significantly reduce Medicaid spending to help pay for an extension of expiring tax cuts.
The Legislature took a step toward expansion last year, but even if the measure had passed, they still would’ve had to override a Reeves veto to make it law. That was unlikely considering the Republican majority in both legislative chambers.
There’s mixed views on where President Trump stands, but the Politico website reported on Jan. 31 that Trump “pledged not to cut Medicaid, save for fraud and abuse — a vow that puts him at odds with Republicans in Congress hoping to use changes to the program to help finance a massive legislative package to enact the president's domestic agenda.”
Mississippi Republicans' refusal to expand Medicaid is largely because the 2010 expansion plan was initiated during President Obama’s administration, chiefly through the diligence of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Both are anathema to the Mississippi GOP.
Expansion would add adults earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level — about $21,000 annually for one person and slightly more than $44,000 for a family of four to the rolls. It would help about 200,000 needy Mississippians.
The act provided states with a higher federal matching rate for their expansion populations. Mississippi’s matching rate is (vastly) higher than all others. It’s also argued that Mississippi is subsidizing other states’ programs with its contrariness.
There’s little doubt Mississippi is leaving millions of dollars on the table by not expanding. Research by the healthcare-oriented Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows state spending on Medicaid is far outweighed by long-term savings on healthcare spending and new revenue, but Reeves is not moved by such data.
During his recent State of the State address, Reeves defended his adamant stance against expansion, saying:
“My friends, America is over $36 trillion in debt. We now have an administration in Washington that is dead set on reducing spending and getting us closer to a balanced budget. Medicaid changes, for example, are coming. What they will be, we do not yet know. But there is a large possibility that those changes will result in a greater spend by states who have enacted this type of welfare expansion.
“With all of the good things happening in Mississippi — especially when it comes to workforce development, and economic development, and job creation — now is not the time to expand welfare in our state. It’s actually the worst possible time to do it.”
Mac Gordon, a native of McComb, is a retired newspaperman. He can be reached at macmarygordon@gmail.com.
