HobNob highlights: Reeves and Presley’s duel for Mississippi Governor

JACKSON, Miss. (WCBI) – Republican Governor Tate Reeves and his democratic challenger Brandon Presley headlined political speeches at the annual HobNob event in Jackson Thursday.

Both men count down the days until Mississippi decides who’s the best choice for the state’s highest office.

But on the subject of the state’s rural healthcare crisis, the two men couldn’t be more different.

Reeves continued to say that his plan to increase reimbursements for Mississippi hospitals will help many who are struggling financially.

Reeves remained opposed to Medicaid expansion. Presley’s position was just the opposite.

The Democrat from north Mississippi said he believed expanding Medicaid would do more to save those rural hospitals at risk of closure than anything the governor has done.

“The financial windfall. My opponent claims that Barack Obama claims that some of y’all claim is just fictitious. It’s not there. That’s the reason we worked with the hospital administrators all across the state. And we developed a plan and a proposal that the experts have said will actually keep hospitals open in Mississippi. Because we’re going to increase the reimbursement rates of working with CMS,” said Reeves.

“He has painted himself in such a political corner and ran his mouth so much that he’s called Medicaid expansion, welfare, and all these crazy things that he can’t come out of that corner. So, you see him come forward with things like this farce in hospital taxes that are going to cost hospitals $200 million, which they’re only going to pass down to consumers and insurance companies and calls it a grand solution. It doesn’t help one single rural hospital,” said Presley.

Reeves also scolded members of the press for reporting that Arkansas and Louisiana have expanded Medicaid but leaving out that those same states still have rural hospitals at risk of closure, just like Mississippi.

The public will get to hear from both candidates one last time, in their only debate, on Wednesday, November 1 on Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

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