Mississippi Republican Gov. Phil Bryant blames Obamacare for the state's increase in the number of people without health coverage.
Bryant's blast came in response to a
WalletHub study showing the percentage of uninsured in Mississippi has increased to 21.45 percent of the total population, a hike of 3.34 percentage points.
"If statistics show that the ill-conceived and so-called Affordable Care Act is resulting in higher rates of uninsured people in Mississippi, I'd say that's yet another example of a broken promise from Barack Obama," he said,
The Daily Journal reports.
According to the WalletHub study, only Texas has a higher rate of uninsured than Mississippi at 24.81 percent; the study noted the Lone Star State's rate, however, decreased 1.99 percentage points.
Nationally, the rate of uninsured has dropped 3.66 points to 14.22 percent, the study found.
A Gallup survey in April also found the number of people nationally with no health insurance has declined.
WalletHub said it used data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Daily Journal noted Bryant and other state leaders have battled hard
against Obamacare – and Bryant has opposed Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act.
About 63,000 Mississippians signed up for Obamacare, the newspaper reported.
"We are already making tremendous strides in increasing access to health care and health care services," Bryant told the newspaper without expanding Medicaid or aggressively publicizing the exchange.
"And we continue to strengthen our overall business climate and attract more job opportunities for Mississippians and their families,"the governor said.
Three Southern states participated in the Medicaid expansion — Arkansas, Kentucky and West Virginia, the Daily Journal reported: all had drops in the percentage of uninsured residents — 10.74 percent in West Virginia, 8.35 percent in Kentucky and 7.1 percent in Arkansas.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.