Daily Mississippian

Mississippi hospitals could potentially pay millions of dollars in additional taxes each year as a result of the Mississippi Legislature's seeking a way to fund a $90 million deficit in the Medicaid program.

The Legislature is still debating on how to fund the large deficit; the House of Representatives is urging that tobacco and alcohol taxes be raised to compensate for the funds, whereas Gov. Haley Barbour, and the Senate wants a $155 daily tax placed on every hospital bed that is not occupied by a Medicaid patient.

One problem lies within the uncertainty of whether the hospitals will be reimbursed for the additional taxes, said David Barham, vice president of financial operations for Baptist Memorial Health Care.

"We don't have the final answer on how this will affect the hospitals," Barham said.

The Mississippi Hospital Association (MHA) recently removed support of a bill that was originally designed to implement a committee that would give hospitals veto power over certain changes made to the Medicaid program.

The MHA removed support once the bill was altered to remove any legislative language that gave hospitals any influence in the Medicaid program.

The Mississippi Medicaid progam is a "federal/state hybrid," said Francis Rullan, director of communications for the Mississippi Department of Medicaid (MSDM).

The federal government provides 75 percent of funding for the program, with the state compensating for the other 25 percent, Rullan said.

Rullan added that the MSDM does not make Medicaid policy; they only follow it.

The dispute in the state Legislature will require Barbour to call a special session to resolve the matter of funding the deficit.

"The program has always had a politically contentious heritage because of the large amount of money it receives," Rullan said.

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