Hospital group won’t oppose tax to fund Medicaid

JACKSON — The leader of the Mississippi Hospital Association says his group won’t fight renewal of a tax his members pay to help fund Medicaid.

The association protested in 2009 when then-Gov. Haley Barbour pushed for the hospital tax.

Now, the association’s president and CEO, Sam Cameron, says the tax gives hospitals predictability in their expenses.

Medicaid is a government health insurance program for the needy. For every dollar Mississippi puts into it, the federal government pays almost three.

Some of the state funding comes from the hospital tax, which based on a complicated formula and is set to expire June 30.

Gov. Phil Bryant says he supports renewing the hospital tax because the state can’t afford to replace the Medicaid money that would be lost if the tax disappears.