FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 2, 2004

GOVERNOR HALEY BARBOUR PRAISES PASSAGE OF “OPERATION: STREAMLINE” MEDICAID LEGISLATION IN SENATE
“TIME TO REFORM MEDICAID IS NOW”

(Jackson, Miss.)—Governor Haley Barbour today praised the passage of his “Operation: Streamline” Medicaid legislation out of the Medicaid Subcommittee of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee.

“By passing this legislation out of committee, the Senate has taken a big step towards providing quality health care to those who cannot afford it, in a sustainable way that is affordable to taxpayers. The current Medicaid program is not sustainable – it relies on one-time federal money that will not be there in the future. The time to reform Medicaid is now.”

The legislation focuses on four key reform areas:

• It allows the Division of Medicaid to use bulk purchasing power to negotiate lower acquisition costs;

• It authorizes Medicaid to actively re-determine the eligibility of each beneficiary to help establish a “health care home” and disease management for patients;

• The legislation shifts the cost of care to the Federal Medicare Program for those that are “dual-eligible;” and

• The legislation maximizes federal matching funds by adjusting the nursing home bed tax by $2. (This would not be a tax increase, since the nursing homes recoup the increase in the form of higher reimbursements.)

“The legislation before the Senate today focuses on health care problems and solutions,” said Governor Barbour. “It’s good for Medicaid, and it’s good for Mississippi.”

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