JACKSON — Legislative leaders tentatively reached an agreement Sunday on the state budget, but they still had details to work out for Mississippi’s Medicaid program, said Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant.
“We are continuing our work to fund Medicaid at a reasonable amount. This is the last step in completing the budget process before the end of the fiscal year,†Bryant said in a statement issued last night. “I appreciate the hard work and dedication of the Senate and House budget chairmen through this very challenging process.â€
Bryant — who presides over the Republican-controlled Senate — noted the Legislature will reconvene when the governor calls them back to give final approval to the state budget for the fiscal year.
House Speaker Billy McCoy said an agreement in principle reached over the weekend for a Medicaid hospital tax should clinch the budget deal that has been snagging negotiations for weeks between the House and the Senate.
“It’s a huge step,†said McCoy, who presides over the Democratic-dominated House. “We think it’s a reasonable compromise.â€
The agreement calls for a $60 million hospital tax that could increase to $90 million once the state stops receiving federal stimulus money in 2010. In return, the hospitals could save nearly $100 million by reversing previous budget cuts and prohibiting future ones, said Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, one of the negotiators.
Bryan said he and House Medicaid Chairman Dirk Dedeaux, D-Perkinston, signed the agreement.
The tax is needed to help cover the costs of the state’s deficit-plagued Medicaid program, which has an annual budget of about $4 billion and provides health care for about 560,000 people.
Gov. Haley Barbour must convene legislators for a special session to pass budget bills. He’s said he wouldn’t do it until he and House-Senate leaders reached a budget agreement. The Republican governor has said Medicaid services will have to be cut if lawmakers pass an amount less than his proposed $90 million hospital tax.
Barbour press secretary Dan Turner said this morning the governor will probably issue a statement later today about the budget and calling legislators back for the special session.
McCoy said “there’s just no reason not to†reach a deal before the new budget year starts in nine days.
Mississippi hospitals were taxed to help pay for Medicaid for about a dozen years. In 2005, the federal government blocked Mississippi from using the tax as it was then structured.
Hospital executives had been fighting against the tax, but Mississippi Hospital Association President Sam Cameron said the latest proposal “is something that we can live with.â€
“If the hospitals are going to pay these taxes, the hospitals need assurances that the governor is not going to come in and make cuts in the form of reduced reimbursements and a reduction in coverage,†Cameron said.
Paying the tax will impact rural hospitals more severely than some other facilities. He said the association was exploring ways to ease the burden on the smaller facilities.
Bryant said the Legislative Budget Office has reviewed the overall budget agreement to ensure it’s accurate and balanced. It totals nearly $6 billion in general state funds. With other state funds and federal dollars included, it amounts to more than $18 billion.
“This budget has taken a lot of hard work and time, but it has been worth the fight,†Bryant said. “The three principles that I have continued to talk about are a cornerstone to this balanced budget. Principles for a balanced budget include a need to use real numbers, does not force the governor to make further cuts in basic services for 2010 and setting aside $60 million for 2011.â€
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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