Medicaid talk continues

BY Fredie Carmichael
editor@themeridianstar.com

For those of you following the Medicaid issue, you may have noticed a story about Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant discussing the possibility of an October(ish) special session ... and how a possible vote on a tobacco tax increase may be included in that call.
The lieutenant governor's office said Bryant is not proposing an increase on the tobacco tax as a cure-all for Medicaid. But Bryant believes an increase in the tobacco tax is likely. The governor's tax study commission is expected to release its report by the end of the month. That report is expected to include a proposal to raise the tax on tobacco products. Gov. Haley Barbour has said he, too, expects the commission to propose such an increase ... and he said he wouldn't oppose it.
The revenue the tax generates, however, will be a hot topic in Jackson this fall. Word on the street is that a proposal may soon surface that would include at least a portion of that new revenue to be used to fund Medicaid.
I'm sure other lawmakers have other plans on how to use it. All that should make for an interesting fall. Oh yeah, and there are some elections going on, too.
While the governor's plan to solve Medicaid by bypassing the Legislature seemed to do the trick, the buzz around the state capitol is that the issue is far from dead. Some hospitals are already complaining that the governor's proposal will hurt them too much.
We'll see how that shakes out.