JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi has long been one of the sickest and poorest states in America, with some of the highest rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease and more than 1 in 7 residents without insurance. And so you might think Mississippi would jump at the prospect of billions of federal dollars to expand Medicaid.
You'd be wrong.
Leaders of the deeply conservative state say that even if Mississippi receives boatloads of cash under President Barack Obama's health care law, it can't afford the corresponding share of state money it will have to put up to add hundreds of thousands of people to the government health insurance program for the poor.
"While some people say Obamacare will come as an economic boost with 'free' money, the reality is simple: No money is free," said Republican Gov. Phil Bryant. "Since when did the federal government ever give free money without asking for something in return?"
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