Jackson Jambalaya

Did they factor in the number of couches per household? Studies show a direct correlation

Health starts with the individual. People have to make better choices. I know for a lot of MS, including the rural working class, the choices are few. I'm all for expansion of Medicaid but that alone will not improve mortality rates at all.

Sorry for the double post but I missed Sid's "life or death consequences" blurb. The availability of Medicaid doesn't change human behaviors that are detrimental to a person's health.

I wonder if the authors checked the correlation between % of the population already on government managed healthcare and morbidity.

Now even the Rs are embracing the redistribution of wealth. Will cats soon be sleeping with dogs?

Look at people who are already on Medicaid to see if we need or want more of that. Are they mostly healthy or are they mostly obese and mostly showing abysmal / poorer health than people who aren't on Medicaid?
Who expects new Medicaid recipients to somehow improve overnight , just because we have more people on the program? Not I .

For Sid's argument to hold water, you'd have to adjust for all other variables between urban and rural residents to make the case that Medicaid expansion would meaningfully affect mortality. Exercise, diet, education, income, etc. are all major variables.

He said it himself. Hospital closes and physician shortages "could lead" to higher rural mortality rates. But that's not conclusive at all.

Mississippi=obese people. How many buffets are there in the rural areas? The Chinese buffet, the Southern Style buffet, KFC chicken buffet? Let's start there...

If you are a Democrat, it’s the thought that counts. And all that counts.

What you'll never see a columnist write about is the shrinking number of tax-paying citizens and businesses while the number of those on various welfare and assistance programs are growing rapidly. Making matters worse, politicians in Washington apparently want the U.S. financial system to run to the cliff instead of walking to it - so they allow non-citizens to suck the dollars out of our system, too.

More money does not cure obesity and lethargy

To our Christian friends, I think that it was Jesus who said something to the effect of "just as you do unto the least of these, you do unto me."

@10:10
If you are a Republican, it is the lack of thinking that counts and shows.

1:05 PM,
He was talking about personal charity, not government welfare programs. The equivalent would have been overtaxing the Judaeans to give free stuff to people who didn't really earn it, while the tax collectors ended up wasting half of the money. I don't recall seeing that mentioned in the Bible.

If you believe that America is a "Christian Nation", then how can its Christians (and its Christians) justify denying something as basic as reasonable medical care to its working poor. It's my observation that if Jesus lived in America today, that many of those who claim to be Christians would look down upon him.

Saltwater pappy, how can a closed doctor's office treat patients? How can a closed hospital provide healthcare services? These facilities must operate as a business just like Walmart does or they have to close. And unlike Walmart, hospitals are required to treat a patient regardless of their ability to pay.
Ask any provider - Medicaid does not pay providers a dollar for every dollar of care provided. Instead, Medicaid pays cents on the dollar and the rest has to be written off. That's what is known as "red ink" and too much of it puts you out of business.
In areas where there is a decent number of private pay and insurance, that helps offset the losses. But in places like the Mississippi Delta where most of the patients are Medicaid, there's just no viable way for a hospital to pay overhead, salaries, etc. and stay open. Increasing the number of cases where the hospital has to trade every dollar for 35 cents is not going to help matters. It will cause hospitals to close permanently.

If you thought changing the flag would help race relations in Mississippi then you'll fall for the ruse that Medicaid expansion will save hospitals and make the obese suddenly thinner because all they needed, but couldn't afford, was an appointment with a physician to tell them they were fat and needed to lose some serious weight.

Here's your sign.

If I'm not mistaken, we're already seeing community hospitals around the state closing due to lack of revenue.

9:41--Don't forget those who won't quit smoking, abuse alcohol, and refuse to exercise.