Brighter Futures Begin with HOPE.

Yesterday, a summit was hosted on healthcare reform in Mississippi. While a good bit of information was shared, a couple of key points were somewhat overlooked:

• First, healthcare reform is good for working Mississippians. Nearly 500,000 Mississippians were uninsured before the passage of the bill. Among the uninsured earning 133 percent of the federal poverty level (around $28,935 for a family of four), the rate of not having insurance is estimated to decrease by 54.9 percent.
• Second, Mississippi’s share of the cost is minimal. The chart below contrasts the state and federal costs from 2014-2019.

Click to enlarge

Additional Spending for Medicaid Expansion in Mississippi to 133% of Poverty 2014-2019 (in millions)

• Third, many of the cost estimates discount the current costs of uncompensated care. Uncompensated care can occur through the use of emergency rooms among the uninsured or mental health services.
• Finally, the individual mandate is critical to the success of the program. Having younger and healthier people included in the program keeps costs down – just like it does in private plans.

One point on which we can all agree is that getting an implementation of the program right is in the best interests of all Mississippians. To do so, we will need to take a balanced approach to talking, learning and working on healthcare reform in Mississippi to maximize the opportunity we have before us.

Source:

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured