According to representatives of Medicaid in Jackson, federal guidelines prohibit mid-month changes to the program. That means the original cut-off date of Sept. 15 has been moved to Sept. 30.

State Medicaid Director Warren Jones told a Senate committee of the change during a meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 25.

Published reports indicated Jones gave strong assurances that coverage will be continued via waivers to the some 18,000 enrollees who may not be picked up by Medicare.

Jones along with Gov. Haley Barbour met with Medicaid officials as recently as last week. While the pair remains hopeful the waiver plan will receive approval, they have remained tight-lipped about the talks with federal officials.

There are approximately 720,000 Mississippi residents currently receiving Medicaid benefits. That figure includes an estimated 65,000 who are eligible for coverage through the Medicare plan.

The "dual eligible" citizens will be moved to Medicare only under a bill proposed by Barbour and passed by both the Senate and State House of Representatives.

While the original plan could have saved the state as much as $41 million, the countless delays in putting the plan into effect will lower that to an estimated $30 million.

While some lawmakers have attempted, several times over, to get Barbour to change his position on the matter, he has remained strong on his stance.