Jackson Free Press

By: Arielle Dreher

A majority of Mississippi kids rely on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program for health care in the state.

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The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families analyzed Census data that show that more than 43 percent of children rely on government-funded health insurance in most counties.

Joan Alker, the executive director of the Georgetown Center for Children and Families, said the number of uninsured children has decreased nationally and in Mississippi in recent years, largely due to the Affordable Care Act’s “welcome mat” effect.

“(With) parents coming into the marketplace, they would find out their kids are (eligible to be) in the marketplace,” Alker said.

Now as Congress threatens to repeal the ACA, Alker worries about an opposite “unwelcome” effect. Both the House and the Senate’s proposal to repeal the ACA include capping and block-granting the Medicaid program, she said. Caps mean that the state would have to foot the bill after all the federal funds are used up, Alker said, which could increase the cost for states in the case of potential health crises.

“Mississippi, which is a relatively poor state, has an enormous amount to lose in this,” Alker told the Jackson Free Press.

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