Bill Waller on Health Care

More accessible, quality health care to address crisis

Work with federal government to expand Medicaid in MS

Both said Mississippi should consider some sort of Medicaid expansion, possibly seeking permission from the federal government to let people buy coverage. Medicaid provides health insurance coverage for the needy, aged, blind and disabled, and expenses are paid by the federal and state governments. Nearly 721,000 people are enrolled in Medicaid in Mississippi.

Under the federal health law that then- Pres. Barack Obama signed in 2010, states have the option of expanding Medicaid to the working poor. Mississippi Republican leaders have declined to do so, citing concerns that the federal government might not honor its promise to pay for the expansion.

Address uncompensated care at rural hospitals

Waller mentioned the Medicaid plans in Arkansas, Utah, and Indiana specifically using something similar to Vice President Mike Pence's Indiana Medicaid reform. "We have 31 rural hospitals on the danger list right now and most of it can be attributed to the uncompensated care that they are forced to give," said Waller. "So yes, we have to look at it. It is a right to life question and it has to be accessible."

Consider some form of Medicaid expansion in MS

The Affordable Care Act, often called "ObamaCare," offers significant federal funding for such an expansion of Medicaid eligibility standards. Some states, however, have won permission to expand while imposing certain requirements, including work requirements.

Waller offered Indiana as an example of just such a such a state, which won federal permission for a modified expansion when now-Vice President Mike Pence was governor.