Based on signals coming from the leadership in both chambers of the Mississippi Legislature, Medicaid expansion in this state will have to wait for at least another year.
Both House and Senate leaders have indicated they see no point in trying to work out their differences, which couldn’t be resolved last year, on the issue until they have a better idea of what the Trump administration’s attitude will be toward Medicaid expansion and Medicaid in general.
Shaping that attitude could be Mississippi’s own Drew Snyder, who headed the state’s Division of Medicaid for nearly seven years and, according to reports out of Washington, is in line to be tabbed to lead the federal Medicaid office.
Snyder, a lawyer by training, drew generally high marks during his tenure as Mississippi’s Medicaid director. He kept its budget balanced, despite record enrollments, while reducing the agency’s staff size by 10%.
Given that he served under two governors, Phil Bryant and Tate Reeves, who staunchly opposed Medicaid expansion, one would anticipate that Snyder is no fan of the idea either, but who knows.
He knows better than many how rural hospitals had been struggling to say afloat in this state, in part because of Mississippi’s stubborn refusal to expand Medicaid, as 40 other states have done. He was receptive in 2023 to changes that significantly increased the payments from Medicaid supplement plans, which have proven to be lifesavers for many of these hospitals.
He knows how the cost of routine medical care can skyrocket when it is provided at emergency rooms rather than in non-hospital settings because those who are sick don’t have the insurance coverage that can get them seen in non-hospital settings.
He also knows how hard it would be for poor states such as Mississippi to handle their share of Medicaid costs if the federal government reduced its portion, as some around President-elect Donald Trump are proposing.
Should Snyder go to Washington and advocate for less enrollment and less federal help, it would go against the grain of his experience in Mississippi. Let’s hope he won’t do that.
