Tupelo Daily Journal. February 25, 2023.
Editorial: Pathetic show of ‘leadership’ on maternal health care debate in Mississippi House
Leaders in the Mississippi House of Representatives are putting on a pathetic show of leadership over crucial health care debates.
First, the Medicaid Committee has yet to meet this session, negating most any effort to pass legislation that would extend postpartum care from 60 days to one year.
Then, when lawmakers tried to propose amending spending bills to include a postpartum extension or other items aimed at maternal health care, various House Republican leaders worked in concert to cut off any discussion of the issues.
How feeble of a leader must you be to block debate on issues this critical in a state with some of the worst maternal health metrics in the nation?
Who cares if children born in Mississippi are more likely to die before their first birthday than in any other state in the nation? Who cares if doctors, counselors and health care experts have all recommended extending postpartum care to one year? Who cares if Mississippi is one of only two states that have failed to provide this or equivalent coverage?
After all, Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, has promised to make Mississippi the best state in the nation to give birth in the post-Roe world. And to prove it, his chamber passed tax credits and special funding for crisis pregnancy centers.
Mothers can go to these for health care, right? No. Crisis pregnancy centers provide zero health care. They provide important assistance, for sure, and for the neediest mothers they often point them to the state Medicaid program. Everyone sees the irony, right?
But let us not beat up on just Gunn, though he deserves an extra heaping of blame for fighting the extension of postpartum care at every turn.
The blame extends to many others:
— House Medicaid Chairman Joey Hood, R-Ackerman has failed to call a single meeting this session. He’s cowardly avoiding such meetings because he knows — as the Daily Journal has reported — that a majority of his committee supports extending postpartum care.
— House Ways and Means Chairman Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, insisted that any debate of amendments to spending bills be cut off, eliminating efforts to bring postpartum care and other solutions to the House floor.
— House Ways and Means Rep. Jody Steverson, R-Ripley, blindly obeyed his chairman’s orders. He may have been a good soldier for his chairman, but his actions make him complicit.
— Rep. Steve Massengill, R-Hickory Flat, twice motioned to table amendments, thus ending debate. His actions are most confounding considering that he has gone on the record in support of postpartum expansion. Being a good soldier for your political leadership isn’t always the same as being a good representative of the people.
And, while we’re at it, let’s not forget Gov. Tate Reeves. He also refuses to support extending postpartum care. He says more information is needed.
Here’s some information: Maternal health results in Mississippi are the worst in the country. Maybe if we extend the amount of time mothers can get maternal health care, those results will improve.
No, this is a sticking point for a mere handful of leaders in the House. We call on these so-called leaders to explain their actions in refusing to so much as debate the merits of extending postpartum care.
Otherwise, from this point forward, consider them to blame for the sad shape of maternal health care in Mississippi. They didn’t get us here, but they absolutely are blocking any attempts to improve health outcomes for Mississippi mothers and their newborns.
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Greenwood Commonwealth. February 28, 2023.
Editorial: Medicaid Surprise From Gov. Reeves
When it comes to extending Medicaid coverage for new mothers to a full year, the score among the most influential in Jackson is now two in favor, with one still opposed.
On Sunday, Gov. Tate Reeves sent out a statement saying that if the Mississippi Legislature sends him a bill extending postpartum Medicaid coverage to a year from the current two months, he will sign it.
Sundays are turning into a good day for advocates of extended assistance for new mothers. A week ago, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, who won the case that overturned the abortion-rights decision Roe v. Wade, supported 12-month care for mothers in a newspaper column. And this past weekend it was the governor’s turn.
To say the least, this is a surprising turnaround for Reeves, who has repeatedly said — contrary to all economic sense and medical recommendations — that he opposed any type of Medicaid expansion. He now joins the state Senate, which for the second straight year voted to support this extension for new mothers.
In his statement, Reeves said he is not changing his mind on the issue because of data that says extended Medicaid coverage helps women. He said the issue is “often misconstrued and mischaracterized by the ‘more government benefits no matter the costs’ crowd.”
But Reeves got it right when he added this:
“However, the fact is we live in a post-Dobbs world. We, as Mississippi conservatives, led the charge to end Roe vs. Wade, and I couldn’t be more proud of that victory. That legal victory ensures that more babies will be born into this great state and this great country. I believe that to be a beautiful thing.
“I also believe that added stress will be felt by more Mississippi moms. We have to love them. We have to support them. And — in a post-Dobbs world — we may even have to be willing to do things that make us ‘philosophically uncomfortable.’
“I’m willing to do that as part of our new pro-life agenda. As I’ve said many times, it will not be easy and it will not be free. But it will be worth it, as more children of God are brought into the world!”
True enough, the governor somewhat undercuts his data skepticism when he says that more mothers will be stressed. That’s just common sense, and nobody needs data to confirm that caring for a newborn is a demanding assignment.
But the larger point is that the most prominent elected official in the state has finally accepted the idea that some new mothers will need more medical care.
If anyone needs data, here it is: Mississippi’s pregnancy-related maternal mortality ratio is nearly twice the national average. We have the nation’s highest infant mortality rate, the highest birth rate before reaching the full term of 38 weeks and the lowest birth weight.
Given those sad numbers, how can extending Medicaid for new mothers hurt?
Reeves’ critics are sure to say that he’s making this decision for political reasons. And there probably is some truth to that.
His opponent in November, Democrat Brandon Presley, is on record as supporting extended Medicaid coverage for new mothers. And the governor could be betting that House Speaker Philip Gunn will hold fast to his opposition to the idea, meaning there will be no bill from the Legislature for him to sign.
Democrats are unimpressed. The minority leaders in the House and Senate released a statement of their own on Sunday calling Reeves’ decision “craven political theater.”
They claim that he could by executive order enact the longer postpartum benefit without waiting on the Legislature to act.
If that is true, Reeves will have to explain why his recent conversion does not go so far as taking that step.
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