Medical advisory panel recommends creation to Congress after Mississippi Medicaid director says the agency needs more time to study policies that would make it easier for poor mothers to receive timely medical care announced that it would hold a meeting in January to decide whether to do so. .
However, with only a few days left this month, the committee has not yet met. And documents show the board and the agency have been aware of the policy of presumptive eligibility for pregnant women for months, if not years.
State Medicaid Director Drew Snyder and Memorial Health System CEO Kent Nickard announced the effort to make a decision regarding the pregnancy presumptive eligibility recommendation at the December meeting of the Mississippi Medical Advisory Board. I prevented it.
Presumptive pregnancy eligibility allows you to receive medical care while pregnant, even if you do not receive Medicaid, because you are presumed eligible. This facilitates access to timely medical care and is an important part of a safe pregnancy and birth. In Mississippi, most births are covered by Medicaid.
According to Mississippi Medicaid, you can qualify by proving your pregnancy, but many doctors and pregnant women believe a pregnancy test by a health care provider is required to be covered. Some doctors won't see patients without health insurance, and those who can get an appointment with Medicaid coverage must pay copays until their Medicaid application is approved.
The Mississippi Medical Advisory Board is comprised of 11 individuals appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the House of Representatives and advises the Department of Medicaid.
Lawmakers say they will move forward with granting presumptive pregnancy status regardless of bureaucratic deadlock, but the committee is influential. Last year's recommendation to Congress to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage helped pass the bill.
At the December conference, two physicians presented research showing that presumptive eligibility of pregnant women positively impacts perinatal health in Mississippi.
Mississippi remains one of the most dangerous places to give birth in the nation, according to the latest maternal mortality report, and is one of only three states that has not expanded Medicaid or established presumptive eligibility for pregnant women. It is one of the Research shows that low-income people are less likely to have preterm births if they live in states with presumptive eligibility and expanded Medicaid.
But Snyder, the attorney who was reappointed by Gov. Tate Reeves, suggested at the meeting that his agency needs more time to examine the policy. Nikau, one of Reeves' biggest donors, then pushed for a January meeting to discuss presumptive eligibility.
“Twenty minutes of discussion between two presenters on this complex issue is not enough,” Snyder said at the meeting.
But documents show the Medicaid office had sufficient time to investigate the pregnant woman's presumptive eligibility.
Rep. Missy McGee (R-Hattiesburg) sent an email to the board and Medicaid officials on Aug. 31, 2023, a records request revealed.
“I have come to believe that presumptive eligibility would be of great benefit to the health of both pregnant women and infants in our state,” she wrote. “I have contacted the Medicaid Medical Advisory Committee today to request input on this issue and to add this to the agenda at its next meeting. As we begin preparations for the 2024 Congress, , your input would be very helpful.”
The board had heard about the action long before McGee's August email.
Dr. Anita Henderson, a Hattiesburg pediatrician and one of the presenting physicians at the December meeting, spoke to committee members about the benefits of pregnancy presumptive eligibility at the 2022 and 2023 meetings.
And a report released by the Mississippi State Department of Health in January 2023 recommended granting presumptive eligibility to pregnant women.
The 2017-2019 Maternal Mortality Report states, “State leaders have implemented presumptive eligibility for Medicaid and expanded Medicaid to help people get pregnant with the insurance and primary care they need. This can facilitate early initiation of prenatal care.”
It is unclear whether Medicaid has the authority to establish presumptive eligibility on its own or whether the policy would require legislative action. Snyder previously said the Medicaid agency would not use presumptive pregnancy eligibility unless directed by Congress.
The next meeting of the Board of Directors has not been scheduled. The terms of the current board members expired at the beginning of the year.
“Once the new appointment is made, the Medicaid department will facilitate scheduling the next meeting,” said department spokesman Matt Westerfield. It is not clear when new commissioners will be elected.
Regardless of the committee's action, McGee, who was recently named chair of the House Medicaid Committee, reintroduced a bill this Congress to establish presumptive pregnancy eligibility.
“We believe there is strong support for this bill in the Mississippi House of Representatives and look forward to taking up this bill in the coming weeks,” she said.
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Mississippi Today Written by Devna Bose
January 29, 2024
This article first appeared in Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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