GOP Health Plan Would Affect Older Mississippians, Many Rural Whites
JACKSON — Despite the Affordable Care Act's uncertain future, more than 88,000 Mississippians, many elderly and white, re-enrolled in health insurance-marketplace plans by the Jan. 31 deadline, data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services show. The new GOP health-care plan will most affect older people who do not qualify for Medicare yet, including in Mississippi.
The GOP health-care bill set to replace the Affordable Care Act, called the American Health Care Act, drew criticism from both sides of the political aisle earlier this month. Some Republicans, including Gov. Phil Bryant in a Facebook post, said the GOP plan looked like "Obamacare lite," while some Democrats pointed to the many Americans who could lose health-insurance coverage.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said Sunday that he will consider changes to the ACHA in order to provide more health care for the nation's older population, the Associated Press reported.
More than 67 percent of Mississippians who have selected a marketplace insurance plan are over the age of 35 years old, and people from ages 55 to 64 in the state account for more than 25,500 of the state's total enrollees.
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