One year ago, Cindy Hyde-Smith voted for a permanent tax handout for people making over $600,000 a year, and she helped pay for it with the largest Medicaid cut in the program’s history

In Mississippi, that cut drains roughly $11.3 billion from the state’s Medicaid fund through 2034, about 13 percent of the total, money that keeps the doors open at the rural hospitals and clinics our families count on

District Attorney Colom: “Cindy Hyde-Smith voted to hand billionaires a permanent tax break, and she helped pay for it by gutting the Medicaid that keeps the lights on at our rural hospitals”

Columbus, MS — One year ago this week, Cindy Hyde-Smith voted to hand a permanent tax break to billionaires and helped pay for it by taking nearly $1 trillion out of Medicaid and CHIP nationwide, the largest cut in the program’s history. A year later, the receipt is in, and Mississippi is paying the costs.

The damage shows up as money pulled out of the system that keeps care within reach. The Hyde-Smith-backed billionaire tax break drains $11.3 billion from the state’s Medicaid fund through 2034, about 13 percent of the total, driven almost entirely by cuts to the state-directed payments that hospitals and clinics rely on to keep their doors open. In the state with the most rural emergency hospitals in the nation, that is the difference between a hospital that stays open and one that does not. The squeeze does not stop at the hospital: to absorb the Medicaid hit, Mississippi lawmakers cut this year’s teacher pay raise to $2,000, down from the $5,000 they had planned.

“A year ago, Cindy Hyde-Smith voted to hand billionaires a permanent tax break, and she helped pay for it by gutting the Medicaid that keeps the lights on at our rural hospitals. This isn’t abstract. I’ve met with people in the Delta and across rural Mississippi who worry about how they’ll get care in an emergency if their local hospital closes,” said District Attorney Colom. “That is what Cindy Hyde-Smith’s vote cost Mississippi. She traded the care Mississippi families depend on to give a tax handout to people who will never set foot in a Mississippi emergency room, and refuses to hold a single town hall to explain it.”

By the Numbers: Cindy Hyde-Smith’s Vote on Mississippi’s Medicaid

• $11.3 billion drained from Mississippi’s Medicaid fund through 2034, about 13 percent of the state’s total Medicaid dollars, driven almost entirely by cuts to the state-directed payments that keep hospitals and clinics open
• Nearly $1 trillion cut from Medicaid and CHIP nationwide, the largest Medicaid cut in the program’s history
• 687,000 Mississippians rely on Medicaid and CHIP
• 50 percent of Mississippi’s children are covered by Medicaid
• 57 percent of Mississippi’s births are covered by Medicaid
• Eight Mississippi rural hospitals at risk of closing

“Cindy Hyde-Smith voted for it, but we’re paying for it. As Mississippi’s senator, I will fight to reverse these cuts and save our hospitals, because where you live in our state should never decide whether you can get care,” added Colom.

She Voted Against Lowering Your Premiums, Too

The Medicaid cuts are not the only bill Cindy Hyde-Smith helped send Mississippi. The enhanced ACA tax credits that held down what families pay for marketplace coverage expired at the start of this year, and Hyde-Smith voted against extending them. Now Mississippians who buy their own insurance are paying the price: coverage costs nationally are about $1,016 more a year on average, a 114 percent increase, while more than 300,000 Mississippians rely on the ACA marketplace for coverage.

Bottom Line: Cindy Hyde-Smith voted for the Medicaid cuts and voted against extending the enhanced ACA tax credits because she’s more beholden to her donors and Washington than to the Mississippians who sent her there. Either way, Mississippi gets handed the bill.

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About Scott: Scott Colom is a seventh-generation Mississippian, proud husband and father of two, and district attorney who fights every day to keep Mississippians safe. Guided by his Christian faith, Scott has dedicated his life to serving his neighbors and keeping them safe from violent criminals. Now he’s running to lower costs for families, save our Mississippi hospitals, and bring good jobs home. Scott loves his state and will always put Mississippi first – and he’ll work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, to get things done for us.