Monday, August 11, 2014

Another Report Confirms What We Already Know

Phil Bryant continues to let working Mississippians go without health care and cost the state money, and he knows it's all about politics.

A report from the nonpartisan Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute once again shows that Phil Bryant and his Republican Party continue to refuse millions of dollars which would support health care access for working Mississippians.

The report highlights some important statistics:
  • Roughly 165,000 Mississippians would obtain health insurance coverage if Phil Bryant would open his heart to those without coverage.
  • For every dollar spent on expanding health care access for working people, states get a $13 return on the investment. 
  • Mississippi has lost nearly $14 million in Medicaid funding because of Bryant's refusal to help working people have health care access.
  • Hospitals across Mississippi are suffering under Bryant's watch as they continue to get shortchanged by about $5 million a year in lost reimbursements. 
  • Mississippi's private businesses stand to go without $97 million in grants and tax deductions.
  • Researchers from the Universities of Alabama and South Carolina found that from 2014-2020, Mississippi is likely to gain more general funds to help working people get health care than it will to cover the cost of increased access. In short: We will get more back in private investment than we spend on public investment.
  • If Mississippi were to expand access, our state's GDP would increase over $2.5 billion dollars from 2014-2017.
  • Thousands of Mississippians would also have a job. We already have the highest unemployment rate in the country; putting doctors, nurses, and other health care providers to work would help our standing tremendously.
There is still a great deal of work required to get Mississippi off of the bottom of so many bad lists when it comes to health care. Phil Bryant should realize our state - its citizens and its economy - is hurting. Bryant's political grandstanding has to stop.

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