Gov. Phil Bryant’s comments that the state’s Medicaid program is full of “waste, fraud and abuse” is getting some unwanted and ironic comparisons.
Democrats last week jumped on the comments, pointing out that Bryant’s predecessor, Haley Barbour, continually bragged about cleaning up the program. Democrats also pointed out that Bryant, as lieutenant governor, never mentioned “waste, fraud and abuse” in the program.
Today, the Mississippi Democratic Trust is drawing parallels between Bryant’s Medicaid statement and the condition of the Department of Marine Resources.
From a Democratic Trust press release:
This weekend, reports confirm that the Department of Marine Resources, a state agency under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has not been audited by the state in over ten years. This is notable because Governor Bryant served as Auditor of Mississippi from 1996 through 2008.
Brandon Jones, Executive Director of the Mississippi Democratic Trust said, “It is remarkable that the Governor would use a word like ‘fraud’ to describe a program administered by his office.” Jones added, “If current investigations uncover a pattern of fraud among Mississippi’s state agencies, Governor Bryant doesn’t need to waste the state’s time pointing fingers, he needs to have a discussion with the man in the mirror and explain why he didn’t do his job during his twelve years as auditor and nearly two years as governor.”
House Democratic Caucus Leader Bobby Moak (D-Bogue Chitto) said, “It seems the Governor has time to make outrageous statements about perceived problems in programs his office controls but no time to work through a plan to create jobs, keep hospital doors open and bring healthcare to working families.”
Moak added, “It is time for the Governor to get down to the serious business of making decisions based on facts and not leading the public on wild goose chases based on in-house polls and blanket allegations. It is time to actually govern.”
Bryant’s comments were fairly irresponsible. They play to the idea that people on social programs are cheating the system. But most research, including some conducted on behalf of the Division of Medicaid, show that our system is pretty well run and that there is little abuse.
Whether or not Bryant’s comments will rise higher than political back-and-forth is yet to be seen. So far, I see little fervor from anywhere else. The entire Medicaid saga is enough to make your head hurt. And, as I wrote in my Sunday column, everyone shares responsibility for it — including Democrats who blocked a reauthorization bill because they weren’t allowed debate on expansion at a time when expansion is not a possibility.