Mississippi Health Insurance

How healthy is living in Mississippi?

Mississippi climbed out of last place in the United Health Foundation's annual ranking of the healthiest states. In 2007, the state was ranked #49. The state is definitely not "out of the woods," though, with some of the worst ratings in 15 of 22 categories of measurement, including the worst rating in three of those categories.

The good news:

• Mississippi earned a #4 ranking in the category measuring the prevalence of binge drinking. Just 10.3 percent of the state's population reported having drunken excessively in a designated 30-day period, compared to the national average of 15.6 percent.
• The prevalence of smoking declined by 5 percent and the incidence of infectious disease decreased by 17 percent in the past year.
• Since 1990, the state's infant mortality rate has fallen by 22 percent.

The bad news:

• The state was ranked dead last for its high incidence of cardiovascular death and for its prevalence of obesity. The prevalence of obesity has increased by 117 percent since 1990.
• For the second straight year, Mississippi had the lowest ranking of 50 states when it came to the percentage of children under age 18 living in poverty.
• The percentage of Mississippi students graduating from high school after four years continued to fall in 2008 – marking the third year of decline in that category.

The state's best and worst category rankings:

• Prevalence of binge drinking – 4th
• Poor physical health days – 44th
• Prevalence of smoking – 44th
• Occupational fatalities – 46th
• Lack of health insurance – 46th
• Cancer deaths – 46th
• High school graduation – 47th (63.3 percent of ninth graders eventually graduate)
• Preventable hospitalizations – 47th
• Number of primary care physicians – 48th
• Infectious disease – 48th
• Poor mental health days – 49th
• Premature death – 49th
• Infant mortality – 49th
• Cardiovascular deaths – 50th
• Prevalence of obesity – 50th
• Children (under 18) in poverty – 50th

See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on Mississippi.

Does Mississippi have a risk pool for the uninsurable?

Mississippi Comprehensive Health Insurance Risk Pool
Toll-free 1-888-820-9400

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state-to-state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the poolto keep it in the black. In the best cases they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Find more on risk pools here.

Mini-meds a guaranteed-issue option for those who are medically uninsurable

An option for the medically uninsurable is a guaranteed-issue mini-med health insurance plan. There is no underwriting and no health questions are asked.

These plans provide basic coverage but are not designed to help with catastrophic expenses. They can often count as creditable coverage, eliminating the waiting period for pre-existing conditions if you later move to an employer-based plan. Read more here.

Cover The Uninsured's guide on finding health insurance in Mississippi

Cover The Uninsured is a national effort to highlight the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance and to demand solutions from our nation's leaders. Read more information on its efforts. It is a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

• Cover The Uninsured's facts on the uninsured in Mississippi and all other states.
• Its guide on how to find health insurance in Mississippi.
• Materiales En Español – Guías para encontrar cobertura de seguro de salud.

USNews health insurance rankings for Mississippi

US News does an annual ranking of what it considers the best health insurance plans in each state. Visit its reports on various health insurance or medical insurance plans being offered in Mississippi.

Official State Goverment Sites with Mississippi Health Insurance Information

Mississippi Insurance Department --consumer information page -- links of interest to state health care consumers.

Mississippi Division of Medicaid -- helping the state's lowest income individuals and families.

MO CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Plan) -- designed to provide health care insurance for children in families without health insurance or with inadequate health insurance. It does not replace Medicaid; in fact, children on Medicaid are precluded from CHIP participation.