Health and Long-Term Care: A Survey of Mississippi AARP Members

Most AARP members in Mississippi believe that it is important for the state to restore funding that was cut from health and long-term care services.

As the state seeks ways to raise revenues to pay for health and long-term care services, increasing the cigarette tax is an action that Mississippi members support: of 800 members interviewed in a November 2004 telephone survey, almost four in five favor either a one dollar per pack or a 50 cents per pack increase. Not only are people willing to increase the cigarette tax to pay for health and long-term care, they are as willing to increase it by a dollar as they are to increase it by 50 cents – suggesting the possibility of raising a significant amount of funding for health and long-term care programs in Mississippi.

Mississippi members want to ensure that the low-income elderly and people with disabilities will continue to receive health care coverage in 2005. More than four in five support permanently restoring health care coverage for the low-income elderly and people with disabilities who are currently covered under the PLAD (Poverty-Level Aged and Disabled) category of Medicaid beneficiaries.

Interviews were conducted between November 9 and November 23, 2004 as part of a larger telephone survey of Mississippi AARP members. The report was prepared by Joanne Binette of AARP Knowledge Management who may be contacted at 202-434-6303 for further information. (17 pages)