When H.R. 1 or “The One Big Beautiful Bill” was proposed in Congress during the last legislative session, it outlined budgetary cuts to a number of programs including Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
Concerned about how the projected cuts may impact Mississippi hospitals, the Mississippi Hospital Association lobbied for changes to steer the budget cuts toward something more manageable, CEO and President Richard Roberson told the Rotary Club of Columbus on Tuesday.
“The bill initially started off with some pretty bulky things that would have been really, really, really bad for Mississippi health care,” Roberson said during the club’s weekly meeting at Lion Hills Center. “To our delegation’s credit, they were able to get some of that stuff walked back. … And we were able to walk back some of the things that would have been incredibly detrimental to hospitals and other health care interests across the country but (that were) particularly bad for Mississippi.”
Roberson spoke with Rotarians about the current state of Mississippi’s health care and about ways the state is looking to curb some of these potential issues from federal budget cuts to programs like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
The concern now, especially for rural hospitals in Mississippi, Roberson said, is declining Medicaid funding for the Mississippi Hospital Access Program, the state directed payment program.
The program helps to supplement costs hospitals incur when treating Medicaid patients, Mississippi Department of Medicaid’s website said. Because Medicaid reimbursement rates often fall below the actual cost of care, MHAP provides supplemental payments to hospitals to help offset the losses.
The program reimburses hospitals near the average commercial rate of care, which had previously been considered the federal ceiling for Medicaid reimbursements in managed care. However, under recent changes, funding will be capped at 110% of the Medicare rate instead of reflecting true market value, Roberson said.
Medicare is the U.S. federal health insurance program for those 65 and older and its payment rates, which are typically lower than the cost of care, are being used as a benchmark to lower Medicaid spending.
“Medicaid has said that in today’s terms if everything else stays the same, we’re going to start losing about $160 million as we start stair stepping,” Roberson told The Dispatch.
One of the primary issues currently facing Mississippi hospitals, Roberson said, is low revenue.
While daily expenses for hospital care, outpatient and inpatient costs have remained low in Mississippi compared to other states, Roberson said many hospitals still only break even on revenue most years.
“Is it cheap? No. But is it less expensive than anywhere else? Yes it is, and that’s a testament to these folks that do a great job running their hospitals with very modest margins, and sometimes, some years, no margin, and just making all that work,” Roberson said.
Roberson said a lifeline in H.R. 1 that has given hospitals hope is the Rural Health Transformation Fund. The fund has $50 billion to be awarded across the country over the next five years starting in Fiscal Year 2026 to approved states, which include Mississippi, RHTF’s website said.
“(It will go) to pay for things for rural communities and … nearly all of Mississippi is considered rural under federal definition,” Roberson said.
The program allows for rural areas to apply for funding for things like telehealth programs, facility improvements and covering uncompensated care before these cuts become more of a problem for hospitals starting around Fiscal Years 28 and 29, Roberson said.
Roberson said Mississippi should receive a minimum of about $100 million a year through the program.
“Our hospitals do a great job taking care of their patients,” Roberson told The Dispatch after the meeting. “They’re open 24/7, they can’t always predict how many people and with what condition they’re going to come to them, but they try to be there to help whoever comes in the door on any given day. … If we don’t support them, they’re not going to be there for us.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 48 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
