JACKSON - The House and Senate must go back to work on a proposal to streamline Mississippi's Medicaid program.
On Thursday, the House rejected a compromise plan to cut back the program to keep it financially solvent for the rest of this fiscal year. Earlier, the Senate had approved it but reconsidered and went back for more negotiations.
House members complained Thursday during more than two hours of debate that thousands of Medicaid recipients would lose some coverage Jan. 1, 2006.
Negotiations won't resume until next week. The House and Senate adjourned Thursday until 4 p.m. Monday.
Gov. Haley Barbour was disappointed.
"This solution was critical to the future stability of this important program," Barbour said in a statement. "This legislation was also critical to keeping Medicaid solvent until the end of the fiscal year despite a $268 million deficit."
Barbour said passage of the bill might have saved $28 million in Medicaid over the next few months by the passage of today's legislation.
"That expectation is now in question, and Medicaid recipients are faced with yet another uncertainty. The House's action calls into question whether they are serious about controlling spending in Medicaid - a program that has doubled in cost in five years," he said.
The bill was meant to complement a bill adopted last weekend by lawmakers during a special session to address Medicaid's $268 million deficit this fiscal year. The House and Senate voted to take $240 million from the health care trust fund and repay it over seven years with 5 percent interest.
The plan would have ended coverage on Jan. 1, 2006, for 63,000 people in the optional category for the Poverty Level Aged and Disabled, or PLAD. Some PLAD beneficiaries will be fully covered by Medicare, a federal program. Others would not.
House Public Health Committee Chairman Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, said thousands of beneficiaries could have to pay $800 or more for deductibles if hospitalized. He said it would cost the state more money to provide the benefits.
Medicaid provides health coverage to 780,000 elderly, disabled and needy Mississippians. The program's growth has exceeded state resources and lawmakers are searching for ways to curtail the spending.
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