Senate approves Medicaid funding

But vote kills attempt to expand program

JACKSON — State senators approved June 28 funding for Mississippi’s Medicaid program but killed the prospect of expanding it to include 300,000 working poor citizens.

By a 30-19 vote, largely along party lines, senators defeated an amendment to Medicaid reauthorization legislation that would have expanded the state’s Medicaid program from 642,000 enrollees as allowed under the federal Affordable Care Act.

Republicans have characterized a vote in favor of expanding Medicaid as an endorsement of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, often called Obamacare.

After the expansion amendment failed, senators approved the traditional Medicaid funding bill with no dissenting votes.

“After good, lengthy debate, the Senate reauthorized and funded Medicaid without expanding under Obamacare, just as they did in the regular session,” Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, the Senate’s presiding officer, said in a statement after the votes were taken.

Earlier in the day, senators approved Medicaid reauthorization with only two “no” votes.

The votes mean that Democrats failed in the House and Senate to expand the federal-state health care program to include working Mississippians who don’t earn enough money to afford private insurance but make too much money to qualify for Medicaid.

Legislators deadlocked over ex- pansion during their regular session that ended in April with no agreement on reauthorizing Medicaid or funding the program past the current fiscal year that ended at midnight Sunday.

Gov. Phil Bryant called legislators into a special session last Thursday and limited the call to only reauthorizing Medicaid and determining how to pay for Medicaid.

House members, with only one dissenting vote, sent the Senate legislation reauthorizing Medicaid for the 2014 fiscal year that began at 12:01 a.m. Monday.