Mississippi Medicaid Requests Additional $47 Million

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi Medicaid is requesting more money to get through the state budget year that ends in June. It has made similar requests in recent years, and those have been at least partially fulfilled.

Legislators say writing the Medicaid budget is challenging because it’s hard to predict, months in advance, how many prescriptions, doctors’ office visits or other services the recipients will use. Medicaid is a public health insurance program for the needy, and it covers about 1 in 4 Mississippi residents.

Because the state is poor, the federal government pays about 75 percent of the cost. The state pays the rest. Director David Dzielak presented his request to legislative budget writers Friday. Medicaid started the current year with $919 million in state funding and is requesting another $47 million.