Mississippi’s Healthcare Coverage—By the Numbers

May 31st, 2012

Insured vs. Uninsured

Over the next few weeks, the Mississippi Economic Policy Center will be taking an in-depth look at healthcare in our state and some of the potential impacts the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will have on Mississippians. Before we address the ACA, we would like to provide a little background on the current state of healthcare in Mississippi.

Nationally, 16% of all Americans are uninsured and 83% posess some form of insurance. Among Mississippians, 555,300 (19%) are uninsured compared to 2,322,100 (81%) with insurance (see Figure 1, below).¹

Healthcare access is vital to both an individual’s health and increasing the quality of a life for all Mississippians. Without insurance, 555,300 Mississippians have an additional barrier between themselves and comprehensive, quality healthcare services. Furthermore, rising healthcare costs have been a source of concern for many years and lack of health insurance and sufficient care may be the greatest threats to a worker’s security.

Out next post will focus on the types of coverage present among the 81% of Mississippians with health insurance.

¹Health Insurance Coverage of the Total Population, states (2009-2010), U.S. (2010)
Author: Francinia D. McKeithan, Policy Analyst/ SFAI Policy Fellow