What consequences will Trump’s victory have on health care in Mississippi?

The winning side has often boasted that elections have consequences.

Donald Trump’s victory and return to the White House could have a major impact on health care in Mississippi, especially Medicaid expansion.

In theory, Trump’s election should finally make it easier for states to enact Medicaid expansion to provide health insurance to the working poor.

The 2024 Mississippi Legislature will likely try to pass Medicaid expansion, in part because some Republican leaders have argued that individuals must be functioning in most cases to qualify for Medicaid expansion. Efforts to do so ended in failure.

The work requirement stalled in the Mississippi Legislature because President Joe Biden’s administration had not approved a work requirement to qualify for Medicaid expansion. As a result, Medicaid expansion was ultimately scrapped. Some expansion supporters believed that mandating work requirements was a kind of poison pill — after all, lawmakers could say they voted to expand Medicaid, but in reality they weren’t changing people’s health care options. They did not pass a bill to expand it. poor people.

However, it is generally believed that President Donald Trump’s administration may seek to approve work requirements and require them in the 40 states that have already expanded Medicaid.

President Trump is poised to take back the White House in January and supports Medicaid expansion, but those who opposed the work requirement in the 2024 Mississippi Legislature will acquiesce in the 2025 Legislature. is likely to be accepted.

At the end of the day, expanding Medicaid with work requirements is probably better than not expanding Medicaid at all.

Based on that assumption, a bill to expand Medicaid, which provides health care to Mississippi’s working poor, would likely pass Congress during the 2025 session, which is fast approaching.

However, there may still be obstacles.

One major potential obstacle is Gov. Tate Reeves. The two-term Republican governor has staunchly opposed Medicaid expansion throughout his long political career.

At issue during the next 2025 session will likely be Medicaid expansion with work requirements, but the legislative process will get the two-thirds majority needed to override a potential gubernatorial veto. I guess the question is whether it can pass.

Reeves to block Medicaid expansion in Mississippi even if the Legislature were able to secure the necessary two-thirds majority in each chamber and override a potential governor’s veto. may still be active.

Will the governor personally lobby the Trump administration to reject the Mississippi Medicaid expansion plan by not approving work requirements?

Richard Roberson, chief executive officer of the Mississippi Hospital Association, said that in 2020, before the coronavirus outbreak, the first Trump administration proposed a type of Medicaid expansion program that included work requirements. Point out. Roberson said the proposed Healthy Adult Opportunity Waiver might not work in many of the 40 states that have already expanded Medicaid, but work requirements that were offered but ultimately ended during Medicaid’s lifespan. “It would be very closely aligned” with the Medicaid expansion program, which has a 2024 Mississippi State Legislature.

At the very least, President Trump’s health insurance proposal is inconsistent. He has occasionally campaigned to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which includes the Medicaid Expansion Program, and even tried to repeal it in his first election. He also previously said he would not try to repeal the ACA again.

It’s unclear what President Trump’s Medicaid policy will look like in his second term, or whether Congress will block some or all of his plans. Remember, in his first term, he was unable to get repeal of the ACA, including Medicaid expansion, through the Republican Senate. That could happen again this time, with several Republican senators poised to oppose some of his proposals.

There has been speculation that Mr. Trump will try to reduce the amount of money sent to states for Medicaid. If successful, such a proposal could impact Medicaid expansion in Mississippi.

Either way, there will be many question marks regarding health care as the Mississippi Legislature begins its 2025 session.

These potential answers are largely a result of the recent presidential election.

Will those results improve Mississippi’s already dismal health outcomes, or will they make them even worse?

After all, behind these outcomes are people whose lives are at risk.