Mississippi hospitals are fighting a proposed 1.5 percent tax that the state governor hopes will offset Mississippi's $360 million annual Medicare budget deficit. Though the tax was supposed to go into effect weeks ago, it has been postponed until September while hospital and state officials try to come to some other agreement. The Mississippi Hospital Association claims the tax is too high and that the cost should be shared by everyone, not just healthcare providers. Both large and small hospitals say they'll have to cut staff and services in order to pay the tax.
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