Tupelo Daily Journal. May 3, 2023.
Editorial: Medicaid expansion is popular among voters. Who knew?
A recent poll told us what most people already knew and only a handful of state leaders truly fear: Expanding Medicaid to help bolster Mississippi’s suffering health care system is popular among voters.
The Mississippi Today/Siena College poll found that 66% of Mississippians support “lawmakers voting to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid.” That’s two-thirds of the state’s population. In an election, that would be what we call a landslide.
Given that Mississippi is one of the most conservative states in the nation, having two-thirds of the population supporting anything means it has to be bipartisan. That’s exactly what the poll showed. Eighty-two percent of Democrats were in favor, alongside 52% of Republicans.
Of course, this comes as no surprise to anyone who has been following the Medicaid expansion debate. Over the years, support for expansion has grown across the country. Most of the earlier adopters were blue states, and the results were good. A few red states joined in, and the results were good. Then a few more red states joined in, and the results were good.
In fact, in every state that has adopted Medicaid expansion, results have been good.
And here’s the kicker: Not every state expanded in the same way. Some states simply took the federal funds, expanded the program as is and moved on. And the results were good.
Other states created public and private partnerships, where private insurance companies and hospitals helped pay the increase in the state-match to the federal funds. And the results were good.
Anyone seeing a trend here?
So, where were the results bad? Well, that’s the problem with those arguing against Medicaid expansion. Over the past nine years, 39 states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid, and not a single one has faced dire fiscal consequences as a result.
Here in Mississippi, Medicaid expansion enjoys bipartisan support among lawmakers. Mississippi Today polled state lawmakers on their support. Just 18% of House members and 38% of state senators opposed Medicaid expansion. Yet even some of those said they would still consider expansion if it included public-private partnerships like in Arkansas, Arizona, Kentucky and Indiana.
In fact, the two biggest opponents of Medicaid expansion have been Gov. Tate Reeves and Speaker Philip Gunn.
The speaker is retiring, and his likely successor — Rep. Jason White — while opposed to outright expansion has said he likely would support a hybrid approach.
“Whatever we’re going to do to fix it and fix this issue with folks that are working full time, 40 hours a week or more and don’t have health insurance, it’s going to come from the people in this room because my Republican colleagues are not going to come from a straight up Medicaid expansion package. But they would consider something if the private business would get involved in that conversation, whatever it is,” White told the Daily Journal in a March interview.
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann has never endorsed Medicaid expansion either, but he has expressed sentiments. Hosemann routinely talks about the need to increase access to health care for the working poor, which is what Medicaid expansion would do.
As for Reeves, the office of governor doesn’t matter in legislative matters. Yes, he could veto it, and who knows if the votes would be there. But first he has to be re-elected. He will face Democrat Brandon Presley in the November general election. Presley is making Medicaid expansion a key tenet of his campaign; Reeves is not shying away from his hard opposition to it. That single issue won’t decide the race, but it could have an impact.
And after another year of debating Medicaid expansion, one can only theorize that support will continue to grow. If history is any indication, that’s exactly what will happen. Perhaps by the time the next legislative session rolls around in January 2024, new blood in the Legislature will finally do the right — not to mention popular — thing.
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Greenwood Commonwealth. May 5, 2023.
Editorial: Good News For Mississippi Kids
There was some recent good news about Mississippi children that didn’t get much notice: The state’s rate of screening children for developmental problems has greatly improved.
Mississippi Today cited rankings by the National Health Foundation that said the percentage of children receiving these screenings was the lowest in America in 2016. But thanks to a $17 million federal grant and the work of a state project known as Mississippi Thrive!, many more children are being tested for problems such as hearing loss that can affect speech capabilities.
In percentage terms, far too many children still aren’t being screened. But Mississippi’s improvement over the five-year period is nonetheless impressive.
During that time, the state has almost caught up with the national average for early childhood screenings. It shows how public health can benefit when people put their minds to it and get some government support.
In 2016, according to the National Health Foundation, the parents of only 11% of children in Mississippi between the ages of 9 months and 35 months were completing a standardized developmental screening tool that pediatricians could use to determine whether to test for a health problem.
But for the two-year 2020-21 period, parents of 34% of children in the same age group completed the screening tool. That percentage ranked 33rd nationwide. As a sign of how much more screening is needed in the entire country, only Oregon hit 50% in 2020-21.
Mississippi’s rate compared favorably with its neighbors. Tennessee, with a 44% screening rate, was the only state higher than Mississippi. Other numbers included Georgia at 33%, Alabama 32%, Arkansas 28%, Louisiana 24% and Florida 20%.
Mississippi Thrive! was an effort by the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the Social Science Research Center at Mississippi State University. Their mission was to educate pediatricians, nurse practitioners, social workers, child care providers and parents on the importance of developmental screenings.
The five-year program focused on 31 doctors in six clinics between Jackson and the Gulf Coast. Pediatricians performed most of the screenings, guided by information from parents. All told, 85% of their patients were screened for developmental problems.
That’s a fine number, but it only involved part of Mississippi. The obvious challenge is to expand the program to the entire state.
The five-year federal grant has expired, but it showed what is possible. Renamed the Early Childhood Development Coalition, directors have enough money to keep working while seeking more funding. It’s a worthwhile cause: Mississippi will be held back if too many of its children are slow to develop basic skills.
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Vicksburg Post. May 5, 2023.
Editorial: Thank a teacher this week and every week
It’s Teacher Appreciation Week, which not-so-conveniently falls on state testing week.
This coincidence considered, it’s more important than ever to take time out of our days to thank a teacher — whether they’re someone who guided you through high school or your child or grandchild is in their classroom.
It doesn’t have to be a large gift or a grand gesture. It costs zero dollars to say, “Thank you.”
Perhaps you can call a teacher, or write a note of thanks on their Facebook wall. Several local businesses are offering discounts this week and specials on products for teachers.
Teachers love our children like their own and devote hours of their days to making students’ lives better and arming them with the knowledge to succeed. They go the extra mile for our children, spending Saturdays at the ballpark or dance competitions. Even after school, many can be found tutoring students who need extra attention.
Tell our teachers you appreciate them, but go one step further: Make sure they know you’re on their team. Show them that what they do every day means something — that they are worthy of the praise they’re getting this week and every week.
Teachers aren’t just babysitters in front of whiteboards. They’re referees, judges, juries, coaches, advocates, friends, inspirations, role models and much more.
And between our local public and private schools, the Vicksburg and Warren County community is blessed enough to have some of the best teachers out there.
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