Last week’s U.S. Census Bureau report revealed that one-fifth of Mississippi’s population was without health insurance in 2006.From 2005 to 2006, the number of uninsured Mississippi residents rose 24 percent, totaling 600,000 people. The total for 2005 was 483,000.
The number of uninsured children increased from 85,000 to 146,000, a 72 percent increase.
Roy Mitchell, director of the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program, said the costs of health care and prescription drugs are spiraling upward.
“Unfortunately some working families can’t afford to put food on the table and afford health care, and immediate priorities take precedence,” Mitchell said.
The number of small businesses in Mississippi, as well its agrarian economy, affect the number of uninsured people in the state, he said. Small business owners cannot always afford to provide full health care insurance to employees, and even when they can, employees cannot always afford the high premiums.
All states are experiencing escalating health care prices and some are expanding Medicaid and other federal and state programs aimed at providing medical services, but Mississippi is not, Mitchell said.
“We are doing nothing to expand coverage in this state,” he said. “While other states are moving forward, we are moving backward.”
American government professor William Hatcher said cost restraints on Medicaid have forced many states to reduce their coverage.
“These public programs cannot continue in their current forms,” Hatcher said. “If they are not reformed, individuals will lose their coverage.”
The cost of Medicaid has skyrocketed across the nation, placing financial stress on state governments, he said.
“When the fiscal burden is too much for state budgets, the requirements for Medicaid coverage are often tightened. This leads to individuals who were once covered being removed from the Medicaid rolls,” Hatcher said.
Medicaid provides some health care services for low-income families, but many cannot afford insurance. High-income families can afford insurance, but this leaves some of the lower middle class residents out.
“Individuals in the lower middle class brackets may not be able to afford health insurance, but they also earn too much income to qualify for public programs,” Hatcher said. “Since programs provide services to the very needy and the affluent can afford insurance, individuals in the lower middle class are left out.”
The State Children’s Health Insurance Program is what some families turn to when they lose private insurance coverage, Mitchell said.
S-CHIP is for families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, Mitchell said.
“Since January 2005, approximately 58,000 children in this state have lost Medicaid eligibility and about 9,000 have lost S-CHIP eligibility,” Mitchell said.
There have been barriers to both of these programs under the guise of preventing fraud, but there is no proof that any of those dropped by the programs were fraudulent claims, he said.
Sen. Terry Burton, R-Newton, who serves as vice chairman of the public health and welfare committee, said that Mississippi provides insurance via the Health Insurance Risk Pool at the insurance commissioner’s office in Jackson.
Burton said the program is for residents who cannot get insurance anywhere else due to unemployment, preexisting health problems or other qualification problems. Even though its premiums are high, it is a way to get residents insured, he said.
Burton said there are many complex issues involved in the problem of the uninsured.
“I don’t think there’s any answer that will fix it overnight. The main thing we have to do is provide a healthier environment for the state,” Burton said.
Mitchell said one potential solution would be allowing families to buy into the state Medicaid program. This would extend coverage to 90,000 people at no cost to the state, he said.
Hatcher said some experts think tax incentives will enable people to use more of their income for health care spending.
Others think increasing the role of the public sector in providing health care would help alleviate the problem, he said.
The general public should be informed about the health care crisis, Hatcher said.
“An educated public is needed to debate the non-perfect solutions to health care,” he said. “Solving problems requires citizens to understand the details of public problems, which includes knowing the pros and cons of available solutions.”
Students should be aware of the health care situation because 1.45 percent of a working student’s income is paid into Medicare, Hatcher said.
“[Students] need to be active in the political system in order to ensure that their Medicare investment is there when they are 65,” he said.
Burton said having a healthy lifestyle now is one way for students to help lower their insurance premiums.
Mitchell also said he encourages students to pay attention to their options for health care insurance.
“Mississippi State students are going to be out in the workforce environment and raising families and they will soon learn that there’s nothing more important than health insurance,” he said.