Petitioning starts for plan to expand Mississippi Medicaid
Associated Press 3 days ago By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS, Associated Press
MADISON, Miss. (AP) Health care professionals on Tuesday became the first people to sign petitions to put Medicaid expansion on the November 2022 ballot in Mississippi.
Organizers of Initiative 76 have a year to gather more than 106,000 signatures. But to reach the ballot in 2022, they must finish gathering signatures before the Legislature meets early next year.
Medicaid is a health insurance program for the needy, aged, blind and disabled. It is paid by federal and state money. Mississippi has about 3 million residents, and Medicaid already covers more than 763,500 people. That is 25% of the population.
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Not a political issue, a human issue : Miss. health advocates want Medicaid expansion on the ballot Sarah Haselhorst, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
After a decade of the state Legislature averting Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act, in a state notorious for poor health care, Mississippi advocates say it s time for voters to decide.
They want Medicaid expansion, estimated to cover over 200,000 Mississippians, on the 2022 ballot.
A coalition of Mississippi medical experts, patients, small business owners and nonprofits initiated a statewide campaign Yes On 76 Tuesday morning at the Mississippi Hospital Association s offices in Madison.
The campaign kickstarted with a petition in support of ballot Initiative 76 that will need to amass over 106,000 signatures by October to make their 2022 goal. Over 21,000 will need to come from each of the five congressional districts as they existed in 2000.
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Medicaid expansion could become a reality within two years. Exactly what that expansion looks like â and how easily it will be to adjust the system in the future â largely depends on whether lawmakers finally do it themselves or leave it up to voters.
The Mississippi Hospital Association is backing a ballot initiative to expand Medicaid with a constitutional amendment. If an amendment makes it to the ballot, voters are almost certain to pass it.
There is one big caveat: the Mississippi Supreme Court is currently hearing a challenge to the ballot initiative process. If they throw out the process, then all talk of a ballot initiative is moot something many lawmakers would welcome.