Jackson Free Press

So, Gov. Phil Bryant and the Mississippi Legislature, as a body, don't care if you're sick and can't afford to get medical help.That's the message they send plain and clear with the steadfast refusal to allow a Medicaid expansion that would help more uninsured Mississippians get affordable health care. They don't want to be proved wrong about the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare," if it would help the state's residents get the care they need. And it clearly would.

In states that have expanded Medicaid, low- and middle-income people with incomes of 138 percent of the federal poverty level have made the most significant gains—a 13 percent increase in health-insurance rates compared to just 7 percent in non-expansion states like Mississippi.

Under the ACA, 2.3 million young adults have stayed on their parents' plan longer. And the benefits have cut across ethnic lines: Among whites, the uninsured rate declined by 5.3 percentage points compared to 9.2 percent for African Americans and 12.3 percent for Latinos. Approximately 2.3 million more African Americans have health insurance today than before the ACA took effect; Latinos saw a 12.3 percent drop in uninsured rates.

Yet here in Mississippi, politicians campaign for votes from people who (a) believe uninsured people are lazy good-for-nothings, (b) they're pretty much all a different ethnicity or (c) hate anything to do with the federal government, a leftover mentality from a dark and segregated "state's rights" past. Playing to these ideas is a disgusting way to do politics in the 21st century. And in this case, it costs Mississippians their lives and livelihoods.

For Mississippi women, it's worse, as most things are in our state. Women on the bottom, middle and top of the economic scale, are all hit hard. As of 2012, the Mississippi Commission on the Status of Women reported that nearly a quarter of the state's women live below the poverty line, including those of all races. Women's median income in the state, as of the 2010 Census, is almost a quarter less than that of men ($29,470 vs. $39,709, meaning we are 41st in earnings ratio in the U.S.), and only 21.8 percent of our women have completed four or more years of college.

Health-care coverage for Mississippi women is abysmal: As of last year, nearly a quarter of the state's women had no coverage, as opposed to 81.1 percent of men. This means that women miss a lot of work, if they are able to work at all. That translates into other problems associated with poverty in the nation's poorest state, including crime and the need for public assistance.

We doubt GOP leaders in the state will heed our call to stop playing politics with people's lives. We are encouraged, though, that more progressive women are running for office this year, and we are confident they will force real health issues to the forefront. It is time to stop pandering to voters who don't care about the people in our state. Let's change the narrative to one that makes a lick of sense.