This guest column is authored by Mississippi Commissioner of Insurance Mike Chaney.
Over the past year, more than 200,000 Mississippians have left the Affordable Care Act marketplace as the cost of coverage has increased due to the expiration of the Enhanced Premium Tax Credits at the end of 2025. At the same time, insurers are requesting significant rate increases or leaving the market. Families who are already struggling are having to ask, “What can I afford?”
As insurance commissioner, my responsibility is to protect Mississippi consumers and help ensure they have access to insurance products that meet their needs. That means we need to look at every responsible option available to us. One option that deserves serious consideration is expanding access to short-term health insurance plans.
Short-term plans are not a replacement for comprehensive health insurance, and they are not the right choice for everyone. These plans may not be a good option for those with serious health conditions. They generally provide fewer benefits and protections than Affordable Care Act plans, and consumers need to understand those differences before purchasing a policy.
But a lower-cost plan may be a better option than having no insurance at all. Someone who has lost marketplace coverage, is between jobs, is waiting for employer-sponsored coverage to begin or simply cannot afford a traditional marketplace plan should have an opportunity to purchase affordable coverage that can help protect against unexpected medical expenses.
That is why I am exploring the use of the Mississippi Comprehensive Health Insurance Risk Pool Association as a pathway for offering these plans. The Legislature created the risk pool in 1991. I’ve approached the governing board with a plan about how to move forward. Consumers could have access to short-term plan options later this year or in early 2027.
The goal here is to give Mississippi consumers more choices.
We should not assume that every Mississippian has the same health insurance needs. Some people need comprehensive coverage with broad benefits and protections. Others may need a lower-cost option to bridge a temporary gap in coverage. Consumers should have the ability to make that choice for themselves, provided they have clear information about what they are buying.
Mississippi families are telling us that affordability matters. We need to listen.
We need to recognize that our health insurance market is changing. Federal subsidies that helped make marketplace coverage affordable for many people have expired. Around 200,000 Mississippians opted out of their Marketplace coverage this year. Mississippi dropped from about 335,000 people enrolled in 2025 to around 125,000 who are still making payments as of August. Additionally, insurers are requesting substantial premium increases. Enrollees in the ACA Marketplace can expect to see an average rate increase of around 20% next year, depending on their carrier and plan. And some companies are leaving altogether. Molina Healthcare intends to withdraw from Mississippi's federally run marketplace after this year, while Cigna is leaving Mississippi and every other state's ACA exchange.
Mississippi needs to pursue practical solutions that expand access, encourage competition and give consumers more choices. Short-term health insurance is one piece of that conversation. It is not the entire answer to Mississippi's health care affordability challenges, but it can be an important option for people who need affordable coverage now. My office is seeking approval from the Mississippi Legislature and its leadership so we can apply for 1332 waivers. Federal regulators have asked MID to try to get the waiver to lower high-cost claims and premiums.
Deputy Commissioner David Browning and I will continue looking for ways to put consumers first. That means supporting competition, encouraging innovation, and making sure Mississippians have access to clear, understandable information about their insurance choices.
16 comments:
This man is 82 years old and seeking a 6th term for this office. It's time to go home, Mike.
so much to say here.......insurance in the healthcare industry has become an out right fraudulent scam.. Can't help but feel this is just another word jumble from a fella that has held that position for a very long time, yet not much has changed
LOL Chaney - when was the last time his office ran a market conduct exam?
A mouthpiece for insurance carriers.
The (un)Affordable Care Act is an Obama scam. It was even supported by the money grabbing AARP.
Chaney needs to retire. Why would anyone continue to work into his 80s when money is not an issue? Chaney, get a life.
Yeah, Chaney needs to be put out to pasture. Health insurance is general is an absolute scam and always has been. I'm increasingly asking healthcare providers for their cash price and not running service through health insurance. It's amazing sometimes the difference in the cash price and insurance price.
All insurance is a fraud. Home insurance(especially roof stuff) has become insane. Car insurance(why do I have to pay for a hail storm 40 miles from my house)....and then Health insurance(should I pay my bills and eat or give them 1200 a month and 5000 deductable).....Life Insurance( pay us this and die before this date)........The gubment don't GAF because they get sweetheart deals for life.
I'm surprised he didn't include a shameless plug for State Farm. The people who really pay his "salary".
You may not like the messenger (a Republican) but people do need affordable health insurance. We're still waiting for Trump to replace Obamacare with something better, like he promised ten years ago. But he's too busy with his tariffs, ballrooms and his total screwup in the Middle East to think about something average Americans need. MAGAs do not support Americans first. They just pay lip service to the concept to dupe the ignorant.
Trump care will provide more health coverage at much lower costs.
I thought that AOC and the rest of the socialists/commies have promised free healthcare for all.
Ole Mike advocates for the elimination of his elected office at MS Department of Insurance and yet runs again and again. -See Sid Salter article 2-12-2025.
We the voters should send him home and elect someone who gives a damn
I don’t get it. So why were Republicans saying Obamacare was gonna be free health care when people can’t even afford it now. Republicans just fucked it up on purpose. They didn’t want it to work and now it doesn’t. That was the plan all along!!
Complain as you may but MS has had excellent insurance commissioners. George Dale and Mike Chaney have done well. How so? Keeping insurance carriers in MS when other states (I bet you can some of them) would not work with them. I would hope that my insurance commissioners knows how to deal with carriers and not simply stiff arm them as some states have.
RMQ
The entire system is a joke. It persists because there is a $700 billion dollar a year (same as our entire military budget) healthcare administration industry in America, consisting of insurance executives, hospital administrators, and others whose only purpose is to extract profit from a service that 31 of the 32 most developed countries in the world have decided is a fundamental human right.
But hey, look over here while I jangle some keys about trans people and Sharia law.
If I remember right, Trump tried to get reform passed in first term but Dems and McCain killed it. Correct me if I'm wrong. Also, Obamacare passed with no GOP votes. Hell, Obama was like one vote away from having a filibuster proof Senate. Republicans weren't even allowed to participate in the talks.
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