Only 54 percent of MS residents who enrolled in Obamacare have paid

By Steve Wilson | Mississippi Watchdog

Fifty-four percent of Mississippi residents who enrolled in Obamacare have paid their first-month premiums.

Nationwide, 67 percent of enrollees paid through the federal insurance exchange to complete enrollment under the Affordable Care Act, according to numbers from the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mississippi isn’t the worst — Texas came in at 42 percent; Oklahoma, 48 percent; and Illinois, 52 percent.

As of April 15, insurers informed the committee only 2.45 million people have paid their first-months premiums. President Obama says 8 million have signed up nationally for Obamacare.

The breakdown by age group in Mississippi paints an interesting picture. Of people 26 to 35, 15 percent paid their first premiums. Of those 36 to 44, only 16 percent paid. The older the enrollee the better chace they paid their first premium. Of those 45 to 54, 23 percent have paid; 31 percent for people 55 to 64. Under the law, children can remain on their parents’ insurance until they turn 26.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 61,494 of 117,000 eligible Mississippi residents (52.5 percent) signed up for private insurance using the federal government website between Oct. 1 and March 31. Ninety-four percent of enrollees in the state qualified for government subsidies to pay for coverage.

Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@watchdog.org

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