Government

Mississippi plugs Medicaid budget hole

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 13, 2008

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A $90 million deficit in Mississippi's Medicaid program for fiscal year 2009 was erased last month with $92 million in refunded overpayments the state made to the federal government for dual eligibles' Medicare Part B premiums. The payment errors began when the state implemented new payment software.

The $92 million represents overpayments Mississippi made between April 1, 2006, and June 30, 2008, said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services spokeswoman Mary Kahn. The state actually overpaid Part B premiums starting in October 2003, but a federal rule restricts the recovery period to the last two years, she said. Mississippi has averaged 130,000 dual eligibles over the last three years, said Mississippi Division of Medicaid spokesman Francis Rullan.

But the state still faces an ongoing Medicaid funding deficit. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has supported increasing taxes on hospitals to fill that gap, while Democrats in the Mississippi House prefer increasing the state's tobacco tax to erase the Medicaid deficit completely. Barbour is open to raising the tobacco tax, but not if the money is designated for a specific purpose, said the governor's spokesman, Pete Smith.

The Mississippi State Medical Assn., meanwhile, has adopted positions in favor of fully funding Medicaid and increasing the tobacco tax, according to MSMA President J. Patrick Barrett, MD.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/10/13/gvbf1013.htm.

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