Sep 20, 2023
Greenville, MS – Elected officials and health care workers gathered at Greenville Higher Education Center for a round table and criticized Tate Reeves for his refusal to expand Medicaid. In August, Greenwood Leflore Hospital went up for lease for the second time in two years and hospital administrators said that the hospital only has enough cash to pay employees through September.
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September 20, 2023
“I Want To See Hospitals Stay Open” State Rep. Hines Pleads As Tate Reeves Refuses To Expand Medicaid
Greenville, MS – Elected officials and health care workers gathered at Greenville Higher Education Center for a round table and criticized Tate Reeves for his refusal to expand Medicaid. In August, Greenwood Leflore Hospital went up for lease for the second time in two years and hospital administrators said that the hospital only has enough cash to pay employees through September.
Last week, Supervisor Reggie Moore slammed Reeves for treating the Delta like a third world country, he said, “There’s no healthcare, and there’s no plan,” he said. “It’s almost criminal, isn’t it? Because it is 2023, and every citizen … deserves access to good health care. We’re not a third world country, but the Delta is turning into a healthcare desert. And no one seems to be concerned.” Last month, Greenwood Mayor McAdams warned that hospitals across the state are “on the chopping block” because of Tate Reeves’ failure to expand Medicaid.
“For too long, we’ve had issues around the expansion of Medicaid, now on the caveat of hospitals closing, infant mortality rate continuing to rise, we lead the nation in all of the health disparities. I’m deeply concerned and as a policy maker,” said State Representative John Hines. “I want to see the astronomical, greater uncompensated care in this state go down. I want to see people who get up every day and go to work have access to health care. I want to see women stop having babies in distress. I want to see people who have diabetes and cardiovascular heart disease and other things, receive quality care. And I want to see hospitals stay open. Ultimately, we’re responsible for the health and quality of life for Mississippians.”
“Speaking just for our patient population, we have a huge uninsured group that comes and uses our ER,” said Stephanie Patton, Executive Director, Health System Development at Delta Health System. “We want to help them and we are going to help them we're not going to turn anybody away that shows up to the ER, but for 2024 just the Greenville hospital is already budgeting to pay over $25 million in uncompensated care. So before we even get $1 in we know that $25 million is going to go to uncompensated care. If we were to have some sort of Medicaid expansion, it would cut that in half.”
“I had a front row seat looking at healthcare for a number of years in public health,” said Dr. Melody Fortune. “The reason why you have southern states like Mississippi and Alabama, that are the poorest states in the union that will not pass Medicaid Expansion is because it is associated with the former President. Mississippi has lost millions of dollars from not passing [Medicaid expansion]. As a result of that, many of these small areas have suffered.”
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