Issue Position: How Health Insurance Will Benefit Mississippi

Issue Position

Stable and Secure Health Care for Mississippi
How Health Insurance Reform will Benefit Mississippi

LOWER COSTS FOR RESIDENTS OF MISSISSIPPI

· Saving You Money: Right now, providers in Mississippi lose over $826 million in bad debt which often gets passed along to families in the form of a hidden premium "tax". Health insurance reform will tackle this financial burden by improving our health care system and covering the uninsured, allowing the 95 hospitals and the 6,071 physicians in Mississippi to better care for their patients.

· Health Insurance Premium Relief: Premiums for residents of Mississippi have risen 89% since 2000. Through health insurance reform, 494,500 to 558,100 middle class Mississippi residents will be eligible for premium credits to ease the burden of these high costs.

· Strengthening Small Businesses: 34,610 employers in Mississippi are small businesses. With tax credits and a health insurance exchange where they can shop for health plans, insurance coverage will become more affordable for them.

· Reforms that Reduce Your Costs: Under health insurance reform, insurance companies will be prevented from placing annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you receive. Insurance companies will also have to abide by yearly limits on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses, helping 24,600 households in Mississippi struggling under the burden of high health care expenses.

INCREASE YOUR CHOICES: PROTECTING WHAT WORKS AND FIXING WHAT'S BROKEN

· Insurance Stability and Security: Health insurance reform will strengthen our system of employer-based health insurance, with an additional 24,200 people in Mississippi potentially getting insurance through their work. Health insurance reform will also ensure that you will always have guaranteed choices of quality, affordable health insurance if you lose your job, switch jobs, move or get sick.

· Eliminating Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions, Health Status or Gender: 11% of people in Mississippi have diabetes, and 34% have high blood pressure -- two conditions that insurance companies could use as a reason to deny you health insurance. Health insurance reform will prevent insurance companies from denying coverage based on your health, and it will end discrimination that charges you more if you're sick or a woman.

· One-Stop Shopping -- Putting Families in Charge: With the new health insurance exchange, you can easily and simply compare insurance prices and health plans and decide which quality affordable option is right for you and your family. These proposals will help the 572,600 residents of Mississippi who currently do not have health insurance to obtain needed coverage, and it will also help the 130,500 Mississippi residents who currently purchase insurance in the individual insurance market.

· Guaranteeing Choices: The largest health insurer in Mississippi dominates the market, which limits the choices that you have for finding coverage. With a competitive public insurance option, you will have more choices and increased competition that holds insurance companies accountable.

ASSURE QUALITY, AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE FOR AMERICANS

· Preventive Care for Better Health: 44% of Mississippi residents have not had a colorectal cancer screening, and 29% of women have not had a mammogram in the past 2 years. By requiring health plans to cover preventive services for everyone, investing in prevention and wellness, and promoting primary care, health insurance reform will work to create a system that prevents illness and disease instead of just treating it when it's too late and costs more.

· Improving Care for Children and Seniors: 25% of children in Mississippi have not visited a dentist in the past year, and 31% of seniors did not receive a flu vaccine15. Health reform will ensure coverage for kids' dental, vision, and hearing needs, and will promote quality coverage for America's seniors, including recommended immunizations.

The Health Care Status Quo:
Why Mississippi Needs Health Reform

Congress and the President are working to enact health care reform legislation that protects what works about health care and fixes what is broken. Mississippians know that inaction is not an option. Sky-rocketing health care costs are hurting families, forcing businesses to cut or drop health benefits, and straining state budgets. Millions are paying more for less. Families and businesses in Mississippi deserve better.

MISSISSIPPIANS CAN'T AFFORD THE STATUS QUO

· Roughly 1.4 million people in Mississippi get health insurance on the job, where family premiums average $11,303, about the annual earning of a full-time minimum wage job.

· Since 2000 alone, average family premiums have increased by 89 percent in Mississippi.

· Household budgets are strained by high costs: 14 percent of middle-income Mississippi families spend more than 10 percent of their income on health care.

· High costs block access to care: 18 percent of people in Mississippi report not visiting a doctor due to high costs.

· Mississippi businesses and families shoulder a hidden health tax of roughly $800 per year on premiums as a direct result of subsidizing the costs of the uninsured.

AFFORDABLE HEALTH COVERAGE IS INCREASINGLY OUT OF REACH IN MISSISSIPPI

· 20 percent of people in Mississippi are uninsured, and 60 percent of them are in families with at least one full-time worker.

· The percent of Mississippians with employer coverage is declining: from 59 to 49 percent between 2000 and 2007.

· Much of the decline is among workers in small businesses. While small businesses make up 72 percent of Mississippi businesses, only 28 percent of them offered health coverage benefits in 2006 -- down 8 percent since 2000.

· Choice of health insurance is limited in Mississippi. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi alone constitutes a dominant market share in Mississippi.

· Choice is even more limited for people with pre-existing conditions. In Mississippi, premiums can vary based on demographic factors and health status, and coverage can exclude pre-existing conditions or even be denied completely.

MISSISSIPPIANS NEED HIGHER QUALITY, GREATER VALUE, AND MORE PREVENTATIVE CARE

· The overall quality of care in Mississippi is rated as "Weak."

· Preventative measures that could keep Mississippians healthier and out of the hospital are deficient, leading to problems across the age spectrum:

o 22 percent of children in Mississippi are obese.

o 29 percent of women over the age of 50 in Mississippi have not received a mammogram in the past two years.

o 44 percent of men over the age of 50 in Mississippi have never had a colorectal cancer screening.

o 69 percent of adults over the age of 65 in Mississippi have received a flu vaccine in the past year.

The need for reform in Mississippi and across the country is clear. Mississippi families simply can't afford the status quo and deserve better. President Obama is committed to working with Congress to pass health reform this year that reduces costs for families, businesses and government; protects people's choice of doctors, hospitals and health plans; and assures affordable, quality health care for all Americans.

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