Mississippi Today
Health insurance for low-income Mississippians will jump 160% when Biden-era subsidies end
Health insurance costs will increase an average of $480 annually or 160% for Mississippians on the Affordable Care Act marketplace health insurance exchange in 2026 unless Congress takes action to extend federal subsidies
The enhanced subsidies that were enacted during COVID-19 and extended through the federal Inflation Reduction Act are scheduled to end starting in 2026 unless they are renewed by Congress. The enhanced subsidies have led to large increases in marketplace participation in Southern states such as Mississippi.
According to a report by KFF, a national non-profit that focuses on health care issues, there are 280,000, mostly low-income Mississippians receiving health insurance through the marketplace exchange. The vast majority of those fit into income categories that receive federal subsidies to help pay for the cost of health insurance. And most of those on the exchange in Mississippians fall below 150% of the federal poverty level (income of $22,590 a year or lower for an individual) and can receive insurance with little or no monthly premiums. The low-income policyholders, though, still pay deductibles and out of pocket expenses.
If the enhanced subsidies expire, smaller subsidies would still be available through the Affordable Care Act for low income people who have health insurance policies through the marketplace. But many middle income people garnering insurance through the ACA exchange would no longer qualify for any subsidies to help pay their costs.
The November outcome of the 2024 presidential election and congressional races across the country could determine whether the subsidies are renewed.
KFF speculates that if Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, wins election this November she would attempt to extend the enhanced subsidies that were enacted as part of legislation championed by outgoing President Joe Biden.
It is not clear what action Trump would take on the enhanced subsidies if elected, but during his first term he is credited for action that harmed marketplace participation. The Center for American Progress said the Trump administration reduced outreach effort designed to let people know about the marketplace and reduced the time period to sign up for marketplace policies. Plus, he attempted to repeal the ACA. During his current campaign, Trump at times has spoken about wanting to improve the ACA and at other times talked about repealing it. He has offered no specifics, according to a KFF analysis.
โIf the enhanced subsidies expire, almost all ACA Marketplace enrollees will experience steep increases in premium payments in 2026. However, the subsidies come at a steep cost to taxpayers,โ the KFF study said.
The enhanced subsidies have reduced premiums nationwide by an average of 44%. But to renew and expand them for 10 years would cost $335 billion, the Congressional Budget Office estimates.
Theย KFF study — Inflation Reduction Act Health Insurance Subsidies: What is Their Impact and What Would Happen if They Expire โ estimates that nationwide 21.4 million people receive health insurance through the exchange and 19.7 million of those people receive the enhanced subsidies. Because of legislation passed during Biden’s tenure, people earning less than 150% of the federal poverty level pay little or no monthly premiums. If the enhanced subsidies go away, KFF estimates premium costs will be $780 annually for low-income Mississippians.
The KFF study said the subsidies are having the most impact in Southern states.
The study said, โAt least 10% of the population is enrolled in ACA Marketplace plans throughout all congressional districts in Florida and South Carolina, along with most in Texas, Georgia, and Utah. In Florida, there are nine congressional districts where at least 20% of the population is enrolled in a marketplace plan.โ
The marketplace exchange is most impactful in states that have not expanded Medicaid to provide health care for the working poor. Only 10 states have not expanded Medicaid, including Texas, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina and West Virginia in the South.
According to an NBC report, the five states that had the largest increases in marketplace participation between 2020 and 2024, which covers the time of the enhanced subsidies, are all Southern states that have not expanded Medicaid.
They are:
- Texas, 195% increase
- Mississippi, 172%
- Georgia, 165%
- Tennessee, 160%
- South Carolina, 154%
With the exception of Georgia, all are states that Trump won in 2020 during his unsuccessful reelection effort.
Low-income people earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level (about $20,700 for an individual) can obtain coverage through Medicaid in states that have expanded Medicaid instead of having to rely on the marketplace plans.
People earning less than 100% of the federal poverty level cannot obtain coverage through the marketplace and have no other option for health insurance in states, such as Mississippi, that have not expanded Medicaid.
Both Medicaid expansion and the marketplace are components of the Affordable Care Act.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
AT&T, union reach deal ending strike
AT&T workers are back on the job today after the company reached a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America to end a month-long strike in the Southeast.
The new deal includes a 19.33% pay increase for all workers, and more affordable healthcare premiums.
Wire technicians and utility operations employes get an extra 3% pay increase.
In a statement, CWA president Claude Cummings Jr. praised the solidarity of the striking workers.
โI believe in the power of unity, and the unity our members and retirees have shown during these contract negotiations has been outstanding and gave our bargaining teams the backing they needed to deliver strong contracts,โ he said.
CWA district president Jermaine Travis told Mississippi Today that he and his coworkers are happy to be back at work.ย
โIt’s been a long month, so everybody is excited to get back to work and get back to taking care of business,โ he said.
Travis also noted the significance of the strike, the longest telecommunications strike in the Southeast.
โI think we’re gonna look back at this strike, at this moment in history, and see it was really important for workers to stand up for the rights and force companies to do right by them, so I think we did a good thing,โ he said.
AT&T has also reached a tentative agreement with the CWA in the West.
“As we’ve said since day 1, our goal has been to reach fair agreements that recognize the hard work our employees do to serve our customers with competitive market-based pay and benefits that are among the best in the nation — and that’s exactly what was accomplished,โ AT&T said in a released statement. โThese agreements also support our competitive position in the broadband industry where we can grow and win against our mostly non-union competitors.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1925
Sept. 16, 1925
โThe King of the Bluesโ was born Riley B. King on a plantation near Itta Bena, Mississippi, the son of sharecroppers.
While singing in the church choir, he watched the pastor playing a Sears Roebuck guitar and told the preacher he wanted to learn how to play. By age 12, he had his own guitar and began listening to the blues on the radio. After playing in churches, he went to Memphis to pursue a music career in 1948, playing on the radio and working as a deejay who was known as โBlues Boyโ and eventually โB.B.โ
Within a year, B.B. King was recording songs, many of them produced by Sam Phillips, who later founded Sun Records. In 1952, โ3 O’Clock Bluesโ became a hit, and dozens followed.
While others sought to bring change through the courts, King did it through music. The songs that he and other blues artists created drew many listeners across racial lines. One of the biggest fans walked into the studio one day and called him โsir.โ His name? Elvis Presley, whose first big hit was the blues song, โThat’s All Right, Mama.โ
King explained that music was like water โ something โfor every living person and every living thing.โ His smash hit, โThe Thrill Is Gone,โ made him an international star and led to collaborations with some of the world’s greatest artists.
He survived a fire that almost burned up his beloved guitar, โLucille,โ and won 18 Grammys as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1987, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Both Time and Rolling Stone magazines ranked him as one of the greatest guitarists of all time.
In 2006, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the greatest civilian honor. Two years later, his hometown of Indianola honored him by opening the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center. After he died in 2015, thousands flocked to the Mississippi Delta for the wake and funeral.
โHands that once picked cotton,โ the preacher told the crowd, โwould someday pick guitar strings on a national and international stage.โ He performed till the end, telling Rolling Stone in 2013 that he had only missed 18 days of performing in 65 years. He died two years later at 89 after battling diabetes for decades.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Podcast: Sen. David Blount discusses tax cuts, retirement system, mobile sports betting
State Sen. David Blount sits down with Mississippi Today’s Bobby Harrison and Adam Ganucheau to discuss the push for income tax elimination and how that would affect the state’s budget. He also talks about needed funding for the state’s troubledย retirement system and whether Mississippi will soon adopt mobile sports betting.
READ MORE: As lawmakers look to cut taxes, Mississippi mayors and county leaders outline infrastructure needs
The post Podcast: Sen. David Blount discusses tax cuts, retirement system, mobile sports betting appeared first on Mississippi Today.
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