Uninsured Mississippians will no longer receive financial assistance from the Health Resources and Services Administration when they are tested or treated for the coronavirus. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that more than 14% of Mississippians are uninsured, and the state has not expanded Medicaid benefits. State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs says transmission of the disease is currently low in the state, but a future surge could threaten thousands of residents.
“And now that that’s off, people that are uninsured do not have the financial support to get treated or tested,” says Dr. Dobbs. “And I think if we have a surge and that’s not on, that’s really going to be horrible for the state of Mississippi because we really have relied on therapeutics, especially during the delta surge.”
Health officials have identified several dozen cases of the BA.2 omicron variant in Mississippi, which is a mutated strain of the omicron variant that spread throughout the state in January. State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers says BA.2 is spreading quickly throughout Europe. However, he believes the state will not reach that level of transmission because of the immunity developed during the January surge.
“The proportion of BA.2 cases will increase but I think the numbers right now will hold steady,” says Dr. Byers. “But remember, we’re likely going to have another surge of COVID at some point. So you know, we’re just going to have to kinda continue to monitor that.”
Health officials say if coronavirus cases do surge again, the state will be prepared to ramp up testing and case monitoring.
