Uninsured health-care ranks rising in Mississippi
Posted: 01-Sep-2009
Poor economy, rising premiums taking their toll
Jerry Mitchell • jmitchell@clarionledger.com • July 2, 2009
CLARION LEDGER
In a state the federal government already rates weak in health care, Mississippians are losing health insurance and choosing to either forego treatment or join the uninsured filling waiting rooms at subsidized clinics and emergency rooms.
Renee Payne is one of those. The 30-year-old diabetic from Terry is among the 18 percent who have decided against visiting a physician because of the cost.
She hasn't seen a doctor in three months because as a part-time employee, she received no health benefits. "I'm barely getting by with my family's help," she said. "I've tried to get Medicaid, but you have to have kids or be disabled. And you can't make more than $8 an hour."
She's also among the 20 percent of Mississippians who have no health insurance.
Over the past three years, the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center has seen its number of uninsured patients rise from 40 percent to 56 percent.
"We need a permanent solution based on the premise that all people, whether poor or old or living in Mississippi, deserve access to health care," said Dr. Jasmin Chapman, CEO of the center. "You can't have a healthy economy if you don't have healthy people."
Mississippi's perpetual problems with funding Medicaid could toss even more people into the ranks of the uninsured, she said.
No matter what Mississippi leaders decide to do, the center will continue to see patients, even if they lack insurance, she said. But she acknowledged, "It will definitely put a big strain on us."
Those who can afford insurance must now pay more than ever for insurance premiums.
Since 2000, the percent of Mississippians who have health insurance through their employers has declined from 59 percent to 49 percent.
Much of that decline has been seen in small business, which make up three-fourths of Mississippi's businesses. Only 28 percent of those employers offered health benefits - compared to 38 percent nationally.
"Small business owners are the backbone of our economy," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a recent conference call with reporters. "They are the ones often bearing the brunt of this cost."
President Obama and his Cabinet are attempting to rally support for proposed legislation in which government health insurance would fill the gap for those unable to get other insurance.
Americans can no longer afford the current system, she said. "At the end, costs have to go down for everybody."
Asked what public health care systems in foreign nations are being studied, she replied no others serve as models. "We need an American solution because our health system is different."
Asked if businesses might simply drop insurance so that employees can go onto the proposed public system, she responded the public option would only be available to those without coverage. "The president wants to encourage a system that builds on what we have," she said.
Hank Aiken, co-owner of Aiken Insurance Agency in Jackson, said if the government's insurance plan indeed gives Americans the choice of doctors and providers, he would be tempted to drop the coverage he carries for his employees.
"What would motivate me to pay more if the government is willing to subsidize one that costs less?" he asked. "To not take that would be the same as not taking Social Security."
Shawn Lea, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Hospital Association, said the administration's proposal involves hospital cuts. "We are for health-care reform, but this is shifting the cost to the people," she said. "Hospital cuts are not true health care reform."
State Epidemiologist Dr. Mary Currier said the state Department of Health favors "increased access to preventive care and screenings. The current economic climate is decreasing our already low rate of health insurance coverage, and even people with health insurance do not always have coverage for preventive care. Improving the populations' health through prevention is by itself a worthwhile goal and makes good economic sense. People who are healthy are much better able to meet the family and employment obligations in their communities."
The Mississippi Health Advocacy Program recently conducted a series of "listening sessions," asking Mississippians what they would like to see in terms of health care coverage.
They would like to see the expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program and Medicaid as a number of states have done, said Roy Mitchell, director of the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program.
Payne's part-time job is becoming full time, which means she will qualify for health insurance after a 90-day waiting period.
That, she said, is the best news of all.