In 2025, about 27 million people in the United States were medically uninsured, a number that is expected to increase by 10 million in the next decade due to tightened Medicaid eligibility, changes to enrollment processes and a loss of enhanced Affordable Care Act plan subsidies.
According to a report released in April by The Commonwealth Fund, an independent research foundation focused on health care issues, Mississippi ranks dead last on national health care metrics.
Roughly half of the Mississippians who had health insurance through the ACA are now uninsured following the expiration of ACA subsidies in December 2025, Democrat Scott Colom, who is running for U.S. Senate, told Columbus Exchange Club on Thursday at Lion Hills Center.
“When it comes to our health care at the hospital, we’re in a state of emergency,” Colom said. “We’re heading in the wrong direction.”
Colom currently serves as the district attorney for the 16th Judicial District of Mississippi and is attempting to unseat Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith as Mississippi’s junior senator. Right now, he said it’s important to focus on making insurance accessible, but the government needs to involve doctors in finding a long-term solution for the health care system.
“We have to get the federal support back to working people because in the short term we have to make sure people have access to insurance,” Colom said.
Colom said the concept of being on political teams is the root cause of corruption in politics. He will not vote in the interests of a political party, he said, because he’s focused on voting in the interests of Mississippi.
“I’m not going up there to be the Democratic senator,” Colom said. “I’m not going up there to be a superstar. … I’m going there to serve the people of Mississippi.”
One of Colom’s goals if he is elected, he said, is to change the perception that people have of Mississippi, hoping that a reputation shift will bring more industry and money into the state.
In his words, his strategy is to talk to people, listen to people and be somebody people can trust. He said people will understand the kind of senator he intends to be by looking at how he campaigns: facing tough questions head on and listening to people’s concerns.
Colom said he will not be a lobbyist and will be transparent with his finances if he gets elected. He believes that in order to address the national deficit the American government is in, there needs to be a bipartisan commitment to cut spending, he said.
One of the biggest hurdles he’s faced, in his words, is the reputation of the national Democratic Party. Many Americans have the political conception that everyone in the Democratic Party holds the same values as Bernie Sanders or Chuck Schumer, he said, but his focus is prioritizing rural American Mississippi values.
“I have to prove to people that I’m independent of those people and I’m not going to do what those people say,” Colom said. “I’m somebody who’s going to focus on Mississippi.”
Exchange Club President Steve Greenough said Hyde-Smith has not yet been invited to speak to the club, but the club plans to extend her an invitation soon.
“We always balance it out,” Greenough said. “… It’s not a platform for one. It’s a platform for all.”
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 28 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
