Editor’s note: This essay is part of Mississippi Today Ideas, a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share fact-based ideas about our state’s past, present and future. You can read more about the section here.

A small-business owner in our district (the 2nd U.S. House District) is alive today because of the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits.

Before the ACA, he faced a life-or-death situation. Insurance companies either denied him coverage outright or quoted $2,000 to $3,000 a month for coverage he could never afford. Without health insurance, even a routine doctor’s visit could have been impossible.

It is because of the ACA tax credits that he finally found a plan he could afford, received life-saving heart surgery and regained his quality of life.

Today, he runs his business, supports his family and provides insurance for six employees. His story is proof of what affordable health care means for real people and real communities. Now, Republicans in Washington want to take that away.

We are living through what could be the longest government shutdown in U.S. history because Republican leaders are trying to end these very same ACA tax credits. If they succeed, Mississippi families –  especially in the 2nd Congressional District – will pay the highest price.

These credits are the only reason many Mississippians can afford health insurance. Without them, average premiums in our state would rise by 314%. 

That means 338,159 Mississippians, including more than 81,000 people in the 2nd District that I represent, would be at risk of losing coverage.

One 54-year-old small business owner in my district now pays $268 a month for ACA Marketplace coverage. Without the credits, her bill would jump to nearly $900 a month. That’s money she needs for her mortgage, groceries and medication. Hardworking Mississippians should never have to make those choices. 

Republicans are also promoting the $50-billion Rural Health Transformation, RHT, Program, created under H.R. 1 – their so-called ‘Big Ugly Bill’ – as a one-time pool of  money meant to help rural hospitals and attract doctors and nurses.

To be clear, H.R. 1 was not designed to save rural hospitals. It was written to strip away sustainable funding streams – like Medicaid expansion and Affordable Care Act  subsidies – and replace them with a short-term band-aid, the $50 billion RHT Program. Dividing that one pot of money across 50 states over five years doesn’t come close to filling the funding gap needed to stabilize rural hospitals and communities. 

Take Mississippi as an example. Had our state approved Medicaid expansion, we would have collected nearly $15 billion in federal funds to date – the very money our  hospitals and communities need to remain sustainable.

Instead of creating stability, H.R. 1 pushes 338 rural hospitals across the U.S. closer to closure. Eight of these hospitals are in Mississippi and are barely hanging on financially. Four of them are in the 2nd District: Delta Health – Northwest Regional (Clarksdale), Greenwood  Leflore Hospital (Greenwood), Panola Medical Center (Batesville) and Baptist  Medical Center – Yazoo (Yazoo City). They are weighed down by the cost of treating  patients who can’t pay, and government programs like Medicare and Medicaid don’t make up the difference.

If ACA premiums rise, more families will skip checkups, cut medicines and show up sicker in emergency rooms. That costs all of us more in the long run. 

Now, the Republican shutdown makes this health crisis even worse. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has warned that SNAP benefits to nearly 42 million Americans could stop in November if the shutdown continues. That includes over 357,000 Mississippians left without the means to put food on the table. Nutrition and health are inseparable, and in Mississippi, both are at risk. 

As members of Congress, we have health insurance. Who are we to deny the same opportunity to the people we serve? That is hypocrisy, plain and simple. 

The government could reopen tomorrow if Republicans would work with Democrats to make sure Mississippi families have access to health care and food assistance.

In our community, we take care of each other, and our government should do the same. I will continue to fight for fairness, and I won’t stop until every family has the  support they deserve.

Keep the faith.

Bio: Bennie Thompson has represented Mississippi’s 2nd District in the U.S. House since 1993.