Lobbyists pushing big money in health care at the Mississippi Capitol

More dollars flow through the state's Medicaid program, which insures one-fourth of Mississippians and has far-reaching tentacles, than the state's entire general budget.

So the political and monetary influences surrounding health care at the Capitol are no surprise.

Senate Public Health Chairman Dean Kirby, R-Pearl, no longer oversees Medicaid legislation in his chamber after the leadership created a separate committee for the topic two years ago. When that happened, Kirby said, he was relieved.

"Medicaid is like a wheel with too many spokes and too many greedy people," Kirby said Friday.

Medicaid recently awarded a new $2 billion contract to three insurance companies — Magnolia Health, UnitedHealthcare and Molina Healthcare of Mississippi — to run MississippiCAN, the state's managed care program. It's one of the largest contracts in state history.

Read more: http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/05/lobbyist-pushing-big-money-health-care-mississippi-capitol-ms-pulse/996590001/