January 17, 2024
Contact: Debbie Pantenburg
541-288-8069
lwvmississippi@gmail.com
The League of Women Voters of Mississippi believes all Mississippians have a right to quality health care; therefore, we support Medicaid expansion as provided by the Affordable Care Act for the following reasons:
● Approximately 11% or over 305,000 residents in Mississippi are not insured for healthcare. *
● Only 51% of the State’s employers offer healthcare benefits to their employees, leaving a huge gap in coverage. *
● Medicaid reimburses hospitals which care for uninsured patients, helping to prevent closures and expand access to primary care and urgent care services in rural areas of the state.
● Sets a standard for healthcare where a primary care physician encourages individual wellness compliance, prevents disease, and increases the health of the entire population at large.
● Working individuals are in a coverage gap, currently earning too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little to afford personal healthcare insurance.
ECONOMIC BENEFITS FOR EXPANDING MEDICAID**
● Medicaid Expansion is estimated to increase enrollment by approximately 230,000 additional individuals.
● The Federal government covers 90 percent of the cost for the expansion population while the State is responsible for the remaining 10 percent at a cost to Mississippi of approximately $200,000,000.
● Several categories of savings will occur at the State level by moving people from the current state funded payer program to the Medicaid expansion; disabled, pregnant women, inpatient incarcerated, and reduction of uncompensated care at hospitals for an estimated savings of $215,000,000.
● The Federal government offers a 5% rate increase during the first two years of a state’s expansion, fully funding the program for the first three years.
● Estimates of the costs and savings associated with Medicaid expansion show that Mississippi could enter Medicaid expansion in 2024 and incur little to no additional expenditures for the first decade.
● Expanding Medicaid will increase the number of jobs in the state by 11,300 per year and personal income tax.
LWVMS believes that the expansion of Medicaid benefits all Mississippians by
1) improving overall population health outcomes saving healthcare costs
2) increasing an individual’s ability to work and be productive
3) increasing income tax revenues
4) reducing personal bankruptcy and debt from healthcare expenses
5) supporting stronger families with better health and less financial stress
6) improving the overall economy
Resource: *Mississippi Insurance Guide December 2023, healthjournalism.org, KFF Health Insurance Coverage of the Population 2022
Resource: **Economic Benefits for Expanding Medicaid (Fiscal and Economic Analysis of Medicaid Expansion by State Economist J. Corey Miller and Sondra Collins, Ph.D., September 2021)