Under the Affordable Care Act, it was intended that every person have access to affordable health coverage. The law made it mandatory that states expand their Medicaid programs so that low-income people would be able to get Medicaid. But a Supreme Court decision gave states the OPTION instead of mandating them to expand their Medicaid programs. Up to now, unlike 26 other states, Mississippi has said NO to expanding the Medicaid program that would help and provide health insurance to nearly 130,000 Mississippians. These are the people that are in the Medicaid Expansion gap, they have no options for affordable health insurance.
About 130,000 Mississippians fall into this coverage gap. These people include fast food workers, barbers, hairstylists, construction workers, day care workers, people that we interact with everyday.
Simply put, Governor Phil Bryant.
Governor Bryant and other state leaders have the authority to accept federal money to pay for these thousands of Mississippians under the Medicaid program. Despite this opportunity, instead of choosing to help thousands of Mississippians in need, they have chosen to say NO and continue to withhold this coverage that could be life-saving for many.
Aside from the nearly 130,000 Mississippians that would have access to affordable health insurance, under the most likely expansion enrollment scenario, Mississippi would see over $1.4 billion in increased tax revenues as a result. That totals to a net gain of $848 in new tax revenues from 2014 to 2020. Expansion would bring $8.7 billion dollars in federal funds to the state and that would result in $14 billion in economic activity. Expansion would generate 20,000 new jobs.
A new report released by the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program (MHAP) indicates that Medicaid expansion would generate 20,000 new jobs and produce $14 billion in new economic activity while providing health insurance to over 220,000 Mississippians.
State leaders have only considered the direct cost of paying for Medicaid expansion and ignored the physical benefits of expanding health insurance. However, this report shows that rejecting Medicaid expansion affects both the physical and fiscal health of the state budget and local communities.
While rejecting expansion is a fiscal loss to the state as a whole, the refusal to expand Medicaid is costing Mississippi counties and cities new economic opportunities. In Metro Jackson (Hinds, Madison and Rankin Counties) alone, expansion would lead to 2,712 new jobs and $279 million in economic activity.
Rollover your county below to find out how much they are losing because of the State’s refusal to expand its Medicaid program.
Our Voice
We MUST put pressure on our Governor and legislators and tell them how important this is to the thousands of Mississippians that need health insurance. If you are in the Medicaid expansion gap, know someone that is in the gap, or if you support the expansion of the Medicaid program, find your legislator below and contact them.