The secret superpower of politicians is that we, the voting public, often do not understand how their actions or inactions impact us, thus allowing elected officials to escape consequences.
They know this, but will never admit it.
Take healthcare in Mississippi, for instance. All five Republican members of Mississippi’s congressional delegation voted against extending the enhanced tax credits or subsidies for the Affordable Care Act Marketplace insurance policies. Their votes, combined with the votes of others, resulted in premiums increasing (more than doubling for some) and leading to at least 70,000 Mississippians dropping their healthcare coverage.
Bets are that the people with healthcare exchange coverage never made the connection that the action – or inaction – by Mississippi Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde Smith and Reps. Trent Kelly, Michael Guest and Mike Ezell helped lead to their insurance premiums increasing.
They just marked it down as another example of the high cost of living.
People aren’t dumb. They just often don’t have the time to explore policy nuances.
Enhanced subsidies for the marketplace policies were approved during President Joe Biden’s administration as a response to the pandemic. Since the subsidies expired at the beginning of 2026, about 3 million people nationwide have dropped coverage, including the more than 70,000 Mississippians.
Hit particularly hard by the elimination of the enhanced tax credits are middle-income people who depend on private insurance. People earning 400% or more of the federal poverty level (almost $64,000 annually for an individual, $132,000 for a family of four) receive no financial assistance under the original Affordable Care Act, which is in place with the expiration of the enhanced subsidies. This means their healthcare insurance has increased as much as five-fold in some instances.
In many cases, these people are part of the core voting block for Mississippi’s Republican congressional delegation. But thanks to politicians’ superpower, some people never make the connection between politicians’ actions and a dramatic increase in insurance costs.
While the subsidies were enacted as a COVID response, a majority of the U.S. House and Senate supported extending them. The bipartisan legislation to extend the subsidies passed the House and garnered a majority vote in the Senate, but not the supermajority needed for passage.
Granted, even if Mississippi Sens. Hyde-Smith and Wicker had voted for extending the subsidies, the bill still would have fallen short of the 60 votes needed to extend the enhanced marketplace subsidies. But their votes might have placed additional pressure on other senators to support the extension.
That is part of politicians’ superpower. Blame others.
While the bill to extend the marketplace subsidies died, Congress did pass what is known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” earlier in 2025. It did so with the support of the Republicans in Mississippi’s congressional delegation.
The legislation is estimated to cut healthcare spending by almost $1 trillion over 10 years, including about $3 billion in Mississippi. As a partial tradeoff, the bill includes $50 billion for rural hospitals over five years, including about $1 billion for those in Mississippi.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves speaks during an event with President Donald Trump about healthcare, in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday Sept. 18, 2026, in Washington. Credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn MartinPoliticians including Republican Gov. Tate Reeves have touted the rural hospital funds.
“When we began this work, we set out to do more than simply invest in the healthcare system we already have,” Reeves said when announcing the first batch of grants from the federal program. “We set out to transform how rural Mississippians access care – bringing more services closer to home, strengthening the providers and facilities that rural communities depend on, and using technology and innovation to better connect patients to care across our state.”
No doubt, the federal funds are important. But that money will be a flash in a pan if people cannot pay for care they receive in the rural hospitals, either out-of-pocket or with insurance.
Mississippi politicians have refused to join 40 other states and the District of Columbia in expanding Medicaid coverage to the working poor, with the federal government paying most of the cost. That refusal, combined with people dropping their marketplace insurance because of its increasing costs, leaves between 200,000 and 300,000 Mississippians with no coverage.
If Mississippi’s struggling hospitals continue to treat people with no insurance or with no means to pay, they will continue to incur large losses or pass the costs on to others who have insurance or ability to pay out-of-pocket. That can lead to insured people paying higher premiums to cover the costs of those who lack coverage.
But we never make that connection. We just see the higher costs.
Remember the politicians’ superpower.
To further illustrate that superpower: Most of the estimated $1 trillion in healthcare cuts in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” take effect 2027 or later — well after this November’s midterm elections.
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