An Overview of the Health Delivery System in the State of Mississippi

Imagine residing in a high-income country that doesn’t provide access to necessary healthcare. The state of Mississippi remains one of the poorest states in the United States. This has resulted in poor health outcomes and chronic access barriers. Residents of Mississippi ranks poorly in most health indicators, including Infectious Disease, Infant Mortality, Clinic Care, Obesity, Diabetes, and Premature Death. With half of all rural hospitals in Mississippi threatened with closure, access and quality of care barriers will become more challenging to resolve. This comes partly as a result of the state largely governed by Republicans and the legislators refusing to accept federal funding through expansion of Medicaid access with the Affordable Care Act Program (ACA). This case study examines the existing conditions and healthcare indicators that explain why the state of Mississippi ranked so low on healthcare outcomes, access to care and overall quality of care