BRYANT: The truth about Obamacare in Mississippi
According to a Milliman report requested by the Mississippi Division of Medicaid, an estimated 400,000 people could be added to the Mississippi Medicaid rolls if we accepted the Obamacare expansion. Such an expansion could result in 1 in 3 Mississippians being on Medicaid and would balloon the state’s associated cost burden.
Our budget then would show additional costs of more than $1.6 billion over seven years, including an estimated $427 million in 2020 alone. This is all on top of what we already spend on the current Medicaid program in our state.
I would personally rather see those 1 in 3 earn health care coverage through good-paying jobs in Mississippi’s energy sector or our cutting-edge, advanced manufacturing operations.
Nonetheless, such cost increases would obliterate Mississippi’s budget and force us into the position of choosing which other services to kill or maim in favor of funding Medicaid.
Tack on the additional $81 million that the state would have to pay in the first three years of the expansion just to cover the increased administrative costs, and the situation becomes even more grim.
Phil Bryant Op Ed
Washington Times
10/3/12
Magnolia Tribune
