On Wednesday, the State of Mississippi received approval from the federal government for waivers to keep providing Medicaid services for 17,000 people in the PLAD category who would have otherwise been purged from the program.

The waivers will cover people in the poverty-level aged and disabled Medicaid category.

This includes people who need drugs to prevent their bodies from rejecting transplanted organs, as well as those who need chemotherapy, kidney dialysis or anti-psychotic drugs, according to the Associated Press.

State Rep. Sam Mims, R-McComb, pointed out in a Wednesday speech to the Natchez Rotary Club that eliminating a total of 65,000 PLAD beneficiaries from the Medicaid roles was necessary to comply with federal standards.

By January 2006, he said, the federal government wants PLADs to get their benefits strictly from Medicare, not Medicaid.

Such issues aside, we’re glad the state has received the waivers, helping insure that people who most need Medicaid benefits continue to receive them.

But we question whether it was wise for the state to come up with a Medicaid reform plan without first making sure federal waivers could be obtained for such people.

After all, PLADs &045;&045; including those 17,000 people who will now have waivers &045;&045; were set to lose their benefits a short time from now, on Oct. 1.

And that’s after the deadline was extended from the original cut-off date of Sept. 15, next Wednesday.

Let’s make sure that in our rush to comply with federal guidelines ahead of time, we don’t trample on the &uot;least of these,&uot; those who can afford to lose Medicaid coverage the least.