Reporter Richard Lake of WJTV reports that the Mississippi State Senate counter-offer on Medicaid Expansion is a “private option” styled like the current implementation that Arkansas uses for Medicaid Expansion:
Arkansas basically does this already.
It is more expensive for the state and federal government. It probably does not matter much, if at all for beneficiary health and financial outcomes.
The Biden Administration would, in my opinion, approve this waiver in thirty three seconds flat.
The big hold-up is the insistence on adding work requirements to the program which will not be approved by the Biden Administration.
Jess
I really don’t get how they can demand a work requirement with a straight face. If someone is seriously sick or injured, how can they be expected to work? But I guess this Catch-22 is a feature rather than a bug.
rikyrah
They are absolutely ridiculous
Ruckus
@Jess:
@rikyrah:
Both of you are absolutely correct.
Jess, they want to look good without being good.
rikyrah, you always bring the truth…
TBone
@Jess: that’s why they want the children to work
https://mississippitoday.org/2024/04/26/mississippi-company-listed-among-the-dirty-dozen/
TBone
As an aside, when hubby was answering questions when he was admitted to ICU after surgery, I was there and the nurse asked if he had any religious or cultural preferences, to which he replied, simply, “No.” Yesterday, before his breakfast and I finally arrived on scene, a nun appeared to administer communion. So his first solid food was a communion wafer. Apparently, way back when, he put Catholic on one of his forms? He is lapsed but said it comforted him nonetheless. I noticed they pulled that when they knew I wouldn’t be there… it’s not comforting for me to know he got a nun before any solid food.
Fake Irishman
@Jess:
They can demand one until they are blue in the face. The key is whether they’ll accept it without getting one. Dave has written a lot about how Democrats care about the core of Medicaid expansion and are willing to tolerate a considerable amount of “Conservative performance Art” to get it. That can be slightly odd benefit designs, a loud demand for work requirements (response “no”), occasionally a small copay for non poverty applicants, or whatever the shiny object is in consultant circles that week (“HSAs, but with anti woke space lasers”).
Overall, this is really good news.
David Anderson
@Fake Irishman: “(“HSAs, but with anti woke space lasers”).”
I am sort of kind of curious what DALL-E would do with this prompt
But yeah, the Democratic Party is willing to concede quite a bit on the margin to get Medicaid Expansion through as it sure as hell seems to be a one way ratchet (see Kentucky 2015 Governor’s election and subsequent 4 years of policy)
Doug
Thanks for highlighting this!
Brachiator
It’s typical that conservatives gnaw on this work requirement none. They miss the obvious point that people are more likely to get work if they have access to health care.
Martin
I wonder how any state can with a straight face make any of these arguments when CA has no work requirement, no asset requirement, no citizenship requirement and has 3x the GDP growth of either of those states.
They keep trying to make economic arguments for moral goals, when there’s plenty of economic evidence to show they’re completely wrong.
Martin
@TBone: ‘God will provide sustenance when the land fails to provide’ implies that God can see all things except for the pudding refrigerator behind the nurses station. Surely that new information can be put to good use.