Mississippi is one of the states that is involved in the lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act that will be heard by the Supreme Court this month. Despite this, Mississippi is going to build a state health insurance exchange. This may seem strange, until you understand a bit about the laws in Mississippi.
In just a few weeks, the Supreme Court will hear the biggest health insurance case of the year. No matter what the court decides, it will have an impact on every American. This is the case that will make decisions regarding the individual mandate and other aspects of the Affordable Care Act.
The defendants for this case include the Obama administration. The plaintiffs include the National Federation of Business, as well as a group of states. Those states include: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
The state of Mississippi is among the group of states that is included in the lawsuit. Therefore, it might seem strange that Mississippi is working on building a health insurance exchange. The Mississippi health insurance exchange is expected to be ready for operation by the 2014 deadline.
Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney is a Republican. He has said:
“There are portions in that act that are good parts. And that part happens to be the exchange. It’s not a Republican idea. It is not a Democratic idea. It is a universal idea, and it has been around a long time.”
Efforts to create a state health exchange in Mississippi predate the Affordable Care Act. A law was passed in 2009 that was designed to create the groundwork for an exchange to be created. Part of why Mississippi is creating an exchange is to comply with this state law.
Since then, the ACA included a law that required all states to create their own health insurance exchange was passed. States that choose not to do so will have one made for them, by the federal government. Another reason why Mississippi is creating an exchange is to comply with this federal law.
States that create their own exchanges will be able to tailor things, (to an extent), in ways that will best serve the health insurance needs of the citizens of their state. If Mississippi decided not to make its own health insurance exchange, the federal government will make one for them. The federal government might choose to use a “one size fits all” design for the exchange. That might not necessarily be the best thing for the people of Mississippi.
There are other benefits for states that create their own exchanges. A study done by the Mississippi Health Policy found that a working exchange would lower the rate of uninsured people in the state from 20% to 7%. It figures that 275,000 Mississippi residents would gain insurance, and that $900 million in federal subsidies would come to the state.
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