Mississippi faces potential health insurance premium surge

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney has warned that health insurance premiums could skyrocket by more than 300 percent if tax credits under the Affordable Care Act are not extended, potentially leading to 200,000 residents losing their coverage.”The increase in Mississippi would be over 300 percent. And that’s true if you look at what they normally pay today,” Chaney said. Chaney explained that if premiums rise, many Mississippians might drop their health care coverage due to high costs, resulting in fewer people paying for health care services and an increase in uncompensated care in emergency rooms.”What it means is health care providers, including hospitals, will have less people paying money. Those people, if they need medical attention, will go to emergency rooms of hospitals for uncompensated care,” Chaney said.U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Bolton, illustrated the looming spike in costs in a social media post, noting that a 54-year-old female business owner on Molina Health Care earning $50,000 would see her monthly payment jump from $268 to $890, an increase of more than $600.”It’s very complicated, but it’s really simple. It’s about money, and it’s about the fact that the average consumer cannot pay the bill without the insurance,” Chaney said. “If you have a family of four and you make a decent income, you’re probably going to pay somewhere around $20,000 a year for health insurance.”Chaney also warned of a ripple effect if a large number of people lose their health insurance, which could pressure health care providers to demand more from the remaining commercial market to maintain their revenue streams.”And it will put a lot of pressure on the health care providers for income. And when that happens, if they keep their income level or revenue streams up, they’re going to demand more and more from the remaining commercial market,” Chaney said.

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