JACKSON – The initial meeting of the Mississippi Health Exchange Advisory Board will be held Tuesday, January 31, 2012 in Room 145 of the Woolfolk State Office Building in Jackson, MS. The meeting is open to the public and begins at 9:30 a.m. and is scheduled to end at 5 p.m.

Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Mississippi law, the Mississippi Insurance Department is charged with the implementation and regulation of the Health Insurance Exchange for Mississippi. Commissioner Mike Chaney recently completed the appointments to the Advisory Board and a full list of the board members can be found on the Mississippi Insurance Department’s website at:

http://www.mid.state.ms.us/pdf/msheab.pdf

Under the Affordable Care Act, the exchange is required to consult and receive advice from certain groups of health care stakeholders such as educated health care consumers, small businesses and self-employed individuals, health care providers, agents and brokers and businesses with more than 100 employees. These board members will have input regarding the establishment of the exchange and ongoing exchange operations.

A health insurance exchange is envisioned as a comparison tool and one-stop shop for standardized health care plans from which individuals may purchase health insurance. Under federal law Mississippi’s exchange must be fully certified and operational by January 1, 2014.

For more information on the Advisory Board meeting or questions regarding the exchange or Advisory Board, please contact Maris Cooper at maris.cooper@mid.state.ms.us or call 601-359-9497.