Sunday, May 26, 2019

Hospital Assn. Wants to Pay Part of Medicaid Expansion Costs

The Mississippi Hospital Association issued the following press release:


Mississippi hospitals have announced a proposal, Mississippi Cares, to help cover the almost 300,000 Mississippi adults in our state who have no health insurance and are not currently eligible for Medicaid. The proposed plan would be a public-private partnership between the State of Mississippi, Mississippi hospitals, Mississippi True, and its plan members to create a healthier and more productive Mississippi, to sustain access to hospital care for Mississippi communities, to reform the Medicaid payment and delivery models, and to stimulate Mississippi’s economy.

Mississippi Cares would cover non-disabled adults age 19-64 earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level (currently approximately $17,000 for an individual or $35,000 for a family of four). Due to the foresight of Republicans passing the Restore Hope Act in 2017, Mississippi already has a process in place to ensure compliance with these income standards. This proposal emphasizes personal responsibility and healthcare consumerism. Plan participants would contribute $20/month in premium payments, with a $100 co-pay for non-emergency use of a hospital emergency department if there is a federally qualified health center, rural health clinic, or urgent care center within 20 miles of the hospital. Other co-pays and plan benefits will mirror traditional fee-for-service Medicaid, with the exception of non-emergency transportation services. Dental and vision benefits will also be included. Non-employed plan members must enroll in a job training, education, or volunteer program, with certain exceptions.

“Uncompensated care costs in Mississippi are exceeding $600 million annually. Mississippi is among the highest in the country in medical debt. Not because our costs are too high – we rank in the bottom third in the country for health care expenditures per person – but because our need for healthcare is so great and our means to pay for that needed care is so low,” said Timothy H. Moore, President/Chief Executive Officer of the Mississippi Hospital Association, the state’s trade association for hospitals. “Healthcare is a quality of life issue. Many working adults have no health insurance coverage in our state. If Mississippi is going to improve the quality of life for our citizens, we can’t continue to do the same thing the same way and expect a different result. Plain and simple, what we’re doing, particularly in our Medicaid program, isn’t working. We need Medicaid reform.”

Under a special Medicaid waiver request, Mississippi hospitals would make an additional investment in the premiums needed to fund insurance coverage through a hospital-owned provider-sponsored health plan, Mississippi True. Due to hospital and participant investment, this plan will not cost the state any additional dollars. Hospital investments and personal premiums from plan members would fund the needed 10% state share to match the 90% federal share.

In 2015, the Mississippi legislature overwhelmingly passed Senate Bill 2441 to create Mississippi True with overwhelming Republican support. The bill recognized that provider-sponsored health plans are a vehicle for improving the delivery of Medicaid in our state, currently monopolized by out-of-state, for-profit companies. Mississippi True has already obtained a license from the Mississippi Department of Insurance. Well-established provider-led plans have demonstrated that they can improve health outcomes and spend less on their own administrative costs.

This plan will pump more than $1 billion dollars each year into Mississippi’s economy, create 19,000 jobs, improve personal income by over $600 million, and increase general fund revenue by $50-100 million. This proposal is a win-win situation for the state of Mississippi. It reduces uncompensated care costs for hospitals, helps Mississippians access the healthcare they need when they need it, and sustains access to hospital care, particularly in our rural communities. Most importantly, this proposal will result in a healthier and more productive workforce in our state.

For more information about the proposal, please visit www.MississippiCares.com.



26 comments:

Cynical Sam said...

I'll be right back. Heading out to stock up on popcorn.

Anonymous said...

Reads a lot like a scam in a Grisham novel

Anonymous said...

1) Where do they get this kind of money?

2) What's up their sleeve?

3) This sounds like the casino fronting me $25 and crab legs if I'll come in and belly up to the poker table. You know...'goodness of their heart' type thing.

Kingfish said...

What is left out of the discussion of failing hospitals is the huge costs of the software programs required by Obamacare. You can look at the financials of MBMC and Singing River and see the cost for yourself.

Anonymous said...

As a former upper leve manager at on of the big three we were expected to give to the pac of ms Hospital Association anuaually ( sorry , that almost came out anualy “)

Rod Knox said...

Maybe MHA is getting ready for Bernie to take the White House in 2020 and they want to be ready.

Anonymous said...

I like my Medical Record online and available to my doctors.

Anonymous said...

...and wants you to pay the rest.

Anonymous said...

Wasn’t Obamacare support to REQUIRE health insurance? What happened to that?

Yeah, Barry fu*ked over America in that too...

Anonymous said...

As a medical administrator who is willing to accept the MHA for what it is - a lobbying organization for the State's hospital I would offer the following. Kingfish's 8:10 pm comment is spot on, yet no one wants to discuss this cost. As far as the MHA and this "plan" is concerned, this falls into the "if it is too good to be true" category. The promise of 19,000 jobs reminds me of the beef plant fiasco.

Anonymous said...

Without some more help, one of the two hospitals in my county may have to close.

Anonymous said...

@ Kingfish

What is left out of the discussion of failing hospitals is the huge costs of the software programs required by Obamacare. You can look at the financials of MBMC and Singing River and see the cost for yourself.

Ha! And the Great State of Mississippi has bought, paid for, and not using those software too! Now that's what you should really be pissed off about. Medicaid staff were trained in the updated program, former Medicaid employees were consulting with the vendor. Then presto - Feel shut it down when the lawsuit was successful and Mississippi did not have to join "Obamacare"

Anonymous said...

THAT is some fuzzy math. They said it's uncompensated healthcare is presently costing the state $600 million (probably more), but they're going to generate a $1 billion for the economy?.....so there's that glaring discrepancy. The plan would essentially be an insurance plan paid for by the hospitals.....uh, no. That would be some backdoor state funding for sure. Whoever dreamed this beauty up is likely connected and cocky that, as usual, Mississippians love hearing about and seeing millions talked about without questions where all the nickels and dimes actually come from, and who they actually benefit. This is a first rate shell game scam.

Rod Knox said...

Isn't it all so very fuzzy 7:37. But fuzzy math and shell games in this state are so popular and successful

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/haley-barbour-budget-fact-check/

Governor Barbour's efforts to redefine taxes went right over the heads of Mississippi voters as did most anything other than trashing then current POTUS.

Anonymous said...

Kingfish @ 8:10

What do Singing River and MBMC have in common? Chris Anderson I believe. Baptist tried a product called Horizon and then succumbed and spent even more to install Epic.

St. Dominic invested heavily in Cerner for their IT system and now with them being acquired by the Our Lady of the Lake System, they will follow Baptist with Epic as their IT system. That's two huge expenses.

Anonymous said...

"personal premiums from plan members would fund the needed 10% state share"

How are people with an income near the poverty rate supposed to afford paying even $1 towards a premium?

Sarcasm Sam said...

But it's for the children.

Anonymous said...

Rod Knox....thanks for the link. What that story reeks of is the decomposing armadillo stench of how the members of the Mississippi legislature, and whoever ends up being Gubner, work together to "pass" laws that are self serving and perpetually robbing the citizens of their hard earned taxes.

Why? So they can all perpetually campaign for their next office. Unbelievable that a critical mass of Mississippians isn't on to all the no-talent retread hicks they keep re-electing over and over and who then move up instead of out. I blame the media for taking a soft position on not uncovering the flat out corrupt nature of it all. Mississippi truly needs an enema, but if the bulk of folks are ignorant to fact that they're standing on the soft edge of a cliff (i.e. they're #1 in dependency on Federal tax dollars - over $7 BILLION - that's non immigration related expenses - and Mississippi STILL can't take care it's people? Well then to paraphrase Joseph de Maistre, Mississippians will get the government they deserve - and THAT is a dark, and hellish future when the next economic winter comes around.

Rod Knox said...

Re online medical records, etc., the VA's HealtheVet is a grand work of self aggrandizement that offers little to the vets. More and more the VA is growing to be hollow fiefdom like so many federal entitlement programs. Mostly they seem to want to ensure that vets check in with them just before they check out permanently. I handed over 30+ years of my medical history to enroll and they don't know where it was sent. Maybe they'll find it in time incinerate it with me.

YGTBFSM said...

$1 billion/year into Mississippi's economy? Redistribution of wealth? Robin Hood play book?

Who wrote this fairy tale? AOC?

Anonymous said...

Any healthcare provider in the country can you AthenaHealth for literally zero dollars up front (its model is a small percentage of collections).

I use it in my practice. It’s great. Not perfect but better than Epic!

Anonymous said...

How's UMMC doing financially since they rejected the terms set by Blue Cross Blue Shield? Asking for a friend....

Rod Knox said...

If there's a $billion deficit for healthcare in the state do you vote to let the poor die, YGTBFSM? Can I assume that Jim Bakker and Pat Robertson endorse that?

Anonymous said...

We don't need the Mike Pence Plan in Mississippi.

TLKRR2c said...

Rod Knox: Will you please limit your posts to the English language?

Rod Knox said...

No comprende TLKRR2c.



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