JACKSON, Miss.–Following last week’s special session that came with the funding and reauthorization of the state’s Medicaid program and not expansion, Gov. Bryant was seen on Bloomberg TV over the weekend telling the audience of “Capital Gains” why he believes Obama Care will ultimately be a train wreck.
At least in Mississippi, Bryant said Obama Care’s allowance for the expansion of Medicaid would create huge budget woes and that he is not comfortable with the Obama administration’s assertion that federal dollars would cover what Mississippi would not with expansion.
As the host pointed out that other Republican governors had opted to take the federal money and expand, something Mississippi Democrat lawmakers have urged Bryant to consider, he asked the governor what he knows that those other governors do not.
“I know Mississippi’s budget,” said Bryant. “I know that this is going to hurt jobs in Mississippi. I know that Medicaid has gone up $200 million since 2009 while education has gone down about the same amount. So it’s a choice. If you’re gonna expand Medicaid in Mississippi, you’re gonna have to cut Public Safety, Education. Even without expansion it’s gonna cost us $360 million between now and 2020.”
Bryant said that believing the feds will continue to provide the money for an expanded Medicaid after seeing signs that Obama Care is already not working in some respects will put Mississippi in “fiscal peril”.
