Mississippi Today

Mississippi has one of the country’s highest rates of people without health insurance

Published

1 year ago

October 2, 2023

Mississippi has one of the country’s highest rates of people without health insurance

Mississippi is one of the most uninsured states in America, according to new data.

The U.S. Census Bureau‘s American Community Survey, released last month, shows that in 2022, Mississippi had one of the highest percentages of people without health insurance coverage in the country, along with Alaska, Wyoming, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Oklahoma, Georgia and Florida.

States in the South had some of the highest uninsured rates, according to the survey.

The same survey showed that Mississippi has the fifth highest uninsurance rate among working age people from 19 to 64. Only Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia and Wyoming have worse uninsurance rates.

Another Census survey, the Household Pulse survey, conducted from Aug. 23 to Sept. 4 shows Mississippi had the highest level of uninsurance among working age people during that time frame. Almost every one in five Mississippians ages 18-64, or 20.44%, likely didn’t have insurance, according to a Mississippi Today analysis of the data.

It also shows that during that period 16.9%, or about one in six Mississippians of all ages, were uninsured. That’s an increase from 14.7% in March, according to the State Health Access Data Assistance Center, though a researcher from the center said the latter survey’s results should be carefully considered.

The Household Pulse survey can be used to monitor trends and data, but Robert Hest, a senior research fellow at the center, said it shouldn’t be used to draw definitive conclusions because of its short data collection period and low response rate.

The American Community Survey is more reliable, he said.

“We would be very surprised to see that Mississippi has the nation’s highest rate of uninsurance,” he said. “Mississippi’s uninsured rate, though often among the highest, is typically lower than uninsured rates in other states such as Texas, Florida and Georgia.”

According to the American Community Survey, Mississippi’s total uninsured rate was 10.8% and its uninsured rate among people aged 19 to 64 was 16.4% in 2022.

The new data comes as states across the country review the eligibility of Medicaid beneficiaries for the first time in three years. During the pandemic, state Medicaid divisions were prohibited from removing anyone from their rolls. Those regulations ended in May.

So far, almost 70,000 people have been kicked off Medicaid in Mississippi — most of them because of paperwork issues, not eligibility. Many of the people who have been disenrolled are children.

From March to September, Mississippi’s overall Medicaid coverage decreased from 19.8% to 16.7%, the survey also shows.

State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney said health insurance saved his life — and cost him his father’s.

Edney’s father, who didn’t have health insurance, died at 56 of colon cancer, a preventable disease, he said. At 47, Edney underwent a screening that detected premalignant polyps – a discovery he credits to having insurance and access to preventative care.

“I want all Mississippians to have the same access to life-saving screenings that I have, but too many are dying young as my father did,” he said.

Mississippi’s high uninsured rate is costing hospitals, too.

As the state’s health crisis continues, uncompensated care costs — the money hospitals lose caring for uninsured patients — are putting further burden on hospitals.

Uncompensated care costs for Mississippi hospitals have hovered around $600 million a year. According to one study, Medicaid expansion would cut Mississippi hospitals’ uncompensated care by an average of $251.6 million a year from 2020-2030.

One report puts almost half of the state’s hospitals at risk of closing.

Gov. Tate Reeves recently announced a plan to help bring more money to hospitals, but reiterated his opposition to Medicaid expansion at the same press conference.

His plan will likely keep some hospitals open for longer, but it won’t insure more Mississippians. That means uninsured people in Mississippi will generally have to continue to rely on the emergency room for their medical care — emergency rooms cannot turn away patients, though doctor’s offices and pharmacies can.

“Investing in our hospitals is critically important, and we need solutions to help uninsured Mississippians have access to our hospitals, especially outpatient services, which are critically important for improving poor health outcomes,” Edney said. “Without appropriate access to preventive services, it will be difficult to improve our extremely poor health outcomes.”

Alex Rozier contributed to this report.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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On this day in 1955

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October 7, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-10-07 07:00:00

Oct. 7, 1955

Jazz legends Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie and others were arrested in Houston, Texas, after performing before an integrated audience. The police‘s vice squad claimed they did it because there was gambling in a backstage dressing room.

Saxophonist Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet played that night. “I wanted Houston to see a hell of a concert, and they should see it like they were in Carnegie Hall,” he told the Houston Press. “I felt if I didn’t do anything about the segregation in my hometown, I would regret it. This was the time to do it. Segregation had to come to an end.”

The arrests made national headlines, and a year later, the legends played to an integrated audience. This time, there were no arrests.

“I’m proud of what I did because I had no choice,” Jacquet recalled. “If you’re not going to do anything about it, then you don’t care about where you came from.”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Podcast: Bill Waller Jr.: State faces same woes as in 2019 when he ran for governor

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October 7, 2024

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mississippitoday.org – Bobby Harrison – 2024-10-07 06:30:00

Mississippi Today‘s Bobby Harrison talks with former Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. about his life after retiring from the judiciary and running for governor in 2019. He says he still is concerned about issues facing the state and does not completely rule out another campaign for governor.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

For PGA Tour champion Kevin Yu, father knew best and he called it

Published

8 hours ago

October 7, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Rick Cleveland – 2024-10-06 21:06:16

When Kevin Yu, a 26-year-old Taiwanese golf pro, first entered the gates of the Country Club of Jackson for the Sanderson Farms Championship last week, his dad, Tommy, was driving.

“My dad pulled into the first empty parking spot he saw,” Kevin Yu said. “I told him we couldn’t park there because there was a sign that said the spot was reserved for past champions.”

With no hesitation, Tommy Yu began backing the rental car out and replied to his son, “That’s OK, then we will park in this spot next year.”

Now then, here is the rest of that story: Kevin Yu, whose real name is Yu Chun-an, can park anywhere he wants to park at next year’s Sanderson Farms Championship at CCJ. He earned that privilege by shooting a final round 67, then winning a one-hole playoff with Beau Hossler to claim the first prize of $1,368,000 and his first PGA TOUR victory. The victory also means a two-year tour exemption and entry into The Masters, the Players Championship and the PGA Championship.

Yu did it the hard way. He came from two shots behind in the final round and birdied the difficult, 500-yard par-4 18th hole twice – first to force the tie with Hossler and then to claim the playoff victory. That’s right: He birdied perhaps the most difficult hole on the course twice, back-to-back, with the championship on the line.

“It is a dream come true for me, something I have dreamed about since I was like five years old,” Yu said. “This is the dream of all golfers, to win on the PGA Tour. To do it with my parents (Tommy and Eileen) here is really special.”

Kevin Yu’s dad is a golf pro in Taiwan and introduced his son to the sport at an early age and began teaching him at age 5. He taught him well. Kevin won his first tournament at age 7, beat his father for the first time at age 9 and began competing internationally at age 13.

He earned a golf scholarship to Arizona State, where he is the second-most accomplished golfer in that school’s rich golf history behind somebody named Jon Rahm. This is Yu’s third year on the PGA Tour and third time to play in Mississippi’s only PGA Tour Tournament. He finished tied for 19th in 2022 and missed the 36-hole cut last year. He said he loves everything about the tournament.

“I like the whole environment here,” Yu said. “I like the course layout. I think it suits me. The greens are so pure and they are fast and I like that, too. The atmosphere is easy-going, the course is great.”

Yu came here last week, thinking he was about to play in the last-ever Sanderson Farms Championship because of an announcement weeks ago that the Laurel-based poultry company was ending its sponsorship after a 12-year run.

Said Yu, “I was really sad, because I do love this place and this tournament.”

Then came Friday’s out-of-the-blue news that Sanderson Farms was extending its sponsorship for one more year. “I was so happy to hear that news,” Yu said. “Now I can come back and defend my title.”

And with preferred parking, he might have added.

Yu becomes the third Taiwanese player to win on golf’s most lucrative tour, following first T.C. Chen (1987 Los Angeles Open) and C. T. Pan (2019 Heritage Classic).

“I think this means a lot for all Taiwanese,” Yu said. “I feel like I can be an example. We don’t have a lot of golf courses in Taiwan and the conditions are just OK, not perfect. So I just show them that we can do it by working really hard and dreaming big.”

Yu shot three rounds of 66 and then Sunday’s 67. He did it all in a easy-going manner, smiling and chatting often with course volunteers with his playing partner Bud Cauley in the next-to-last group.

“I was really calm all week even to the last few holes today,” Yu said. He indicated his parents might have had something to do with that.

Tommy and Eileen Yu flew to Jackson from Taiwan last week, and Yu is mighty glad they did.

“I really don’t think I could this without my parents,” he said.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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