Mississippi Today
On this day in 1959
Aug. 17, 1959
Miles Davis, jazz’s innovative trumpeter, released his album, “Kind of Blue”, profoundly influencing jazz, rock and classical music. Many critics regard it as the most outstanding jazz album ever released, and Rolling Stone ranked the album as the 12th best album of all time.
Davis was 9 when he received his first trumpet and became so talented that he played with the likes of jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie and legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker by the time he was 18. After moving to New York City, he became roommates with Parker.
Davis became addicted to heroin and eventually kicked the habit. Two years after โKind of Blueโ, he pushed Columbia Records to include a picture of his then wife on an album cover. By his own admission, Davis was guilty of domestic violence and mistreatment of women โ something he later expressed regret about.
In 1972, he broke his ankles in a car crash and dove back into drugs, alternating between painkillers and cocaine. After this, he later wrote, โeverything began to blur.โ His habits began to affect his performances, and his health woes spiraled as well.
In 1979, he married Cicely Tyson, who helped him overcome his drug addiction. That marriage ended like the others before it. A year before his death, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2006, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Don Cheadle portrayed the conflicted musical genius in the 2015 film, โMiles Aheadโ, and filmmaker Stanley Nelson featured him in the 2019 documentary, โMiles Davis: Birth of Coolโ.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Late and missed Medicaid rides triple the contractual limit in July
Six percent of rides provided by the company that coordinates Medicaid recipients’ transportation to medical appointments โ or three times the allowable limit โ were late or missed in July.
The company’s first report to the Division of Medicaid since assuming the contract for transportation services indicated that five percent of scheduled rides were late, and one percent was missed, said Medicaid spokesperson Matt Westerfield.
The company’s contract states that no more than two percent of scheduled rides should be late or missed each day.
For-profit, Denver-based Modivcare is working to lower the percentage of rides that are late or missed, said company spokesperson Melody Lai in an email.
โWe utilize data and close partnerships with healthcare facilities, transportation providers, and members across the state to continuously improve service,โ she said.
Modivcare, which began its three-year, $96.5 million contract with the state on June 8 of this year, scheduled over 52,000 trips with beneficiaries in July.
About 3,000 of the rides were late or missed.
Nearly 40,000 rides were completed after cancellations made by both Medicaid recipients and drivers in July. Thirty-seven trips took 45 minutes longer than average.
Modivcare’s contract mandates it submit monthly reports detailing late or missed trips, along with other information.
Despite filing a public records request, Mississippi Today did not obtain a copy of the company’s first monthly report. The Division of Medicaid indicated that the reports could contain proprietary, third-party trade secrets and that Modivcare had the right to obtain a protective order prohibiting the release of the records.
State Medicaid programs are required to provide rides to doctor appointments to health plan recipients. States can manage the benefit directly, provide the service through Medicaid managed care contracts or contract with a third-party broker, like Mississippi.
Modivcare subcontracts with local transportation companies to provide rides to beneficiaries. Late or missed trips are considered the fault of the transportation companies that provide rides to beneficiaries, Westerfield said.
Mississippi Today last month reported that a woman who uses a wheelchair missed four doctors appointments after Modivcare assumed responsibility for the service in June. She said drivers refused to give her a ride on two occasions because they did not feel comfortable securing her mobility device. On another occasion, Modivcare told her there were no available drivers with the capacity to transport a wheelchair. Another time, the driver did not show up to the location she indicated.
Modivcare’s contract with the Division of Medicaid requires that each wheelchair vehicle have a wheelchair securement device that meets American with Disabilities Act guidelines.
People with disabilities are some of the most frequent users of the service.
Modivcare has been penalized for a high volume of late or missed rides in other states.
The New Jersey Department of Human Services fined Modivcare $1.7 million between 2017 and 2022 for failing to meet its contractual obligations, including missing scheduled pickups, reported the Bergen Record. The New Jersey Legislature considered a bill in 2023 to establish performance and reporting standards for Medicaid transportation services, but the legislation died in committee.
This month, The Maine Monitor wrote that patients have reported missing appointments and being refused rides by the company, which provides transportation services to 16 counties in Maine.
In Georgia, Modivcare and Southeasttrans, another non-emergency medical transportation company, were fined over $1 million from 2018 to 2020 for picking up patients late, KFF reported.
Modivcare was the lowest bidder during the contract selection process in Mississippi. The agency chose it over Medical Transportation Management, Inc., the previous contractor, and Verida, Inc.
Westerfield said that when the number of late or missed trips exceeds the two percent threshold, the division works with the company to correct the issue. If the issue persists, the company will receive official warning letters and the division could choose to seek damages.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1968
Sept. 17, 1968
Diahann Carroll starred in the title role in โJuliaโ โ the first Black actress to star in a non-stereotypical role in her own television series.
She grew up loving singing, dancing and performing in the theater, and she began modeling for Ebony magazine at 15. Three years later, she appeared on the TV show, โChance of a Lifetime,โ taking home the top prize for her performance of the song, โWhy Was I Born?โ That same year, she acted in the film, โCarmen Jonesโ, and appeared in the Broadway musical โHouse of Flowersโ.
In her TV show โJuliaโ, her performance garnered an Emmy nomination for her, and she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series. Mattel even created a Barbie in her image.
After โJuliaโ ended, she returned to Broadway and Hollywood, earning an Academy Award nomination for her performance in the 1974 film โClaudineโ. She went on to portray Dominique Deveraux in the primetime soap opera โDynastyโ. In 1996, she became the first African American to play the role of Norma Desmond in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, โSunset Boulevardโ.
Carroll devoted much of her time to the Celebrity Action Council, which works with women in rehabilitation from problems with drugs, alcohol or prostitution. Eight years before she died in 2019, she was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Favre loses another round in lawsuit agaisnt ex-talk show host
Former โUndisputedโ host Shannon Sharpe remains undefeated in his defense of critical remarks toward fellow NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre.
On Monday, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request by Favre to resurrect a defamation lawsuit against Sharpe, who said on his Sept. 14, 2023, show that the former Southern Miss and Green Bay Packers quarterback stole funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families government program meant for those living in poverty.
Favre hasn’t been charged in the scandal in which six people have been convicted of state and federal charges involving $77 million in federal TANF funds.
In 2022, the state Department of Human Services sued Favre and many others to try and recoup the $77 million that was illegally diverted between 2016 and 2019. A year earlier, the department had sought to recover $1.1 million in TANF funds that Favre received for speeches he never delivered. (The speaking fees had come through the nonprofit Mississippi Community Education Center.)
After a Sept. 13, 2022, article appeared in Mississippi Today, Sharpe said on the Fox Sports show, โSkip and Shannon: Undisputed,โ that โBretty Favre is taking money from the underservedโ and that he โstole money from people that really needed that money.โ
Favre sent Sharpe a letter, demanding a retraction and asking him to stop making any โfurther defamatory falsehoods against Favre.โ
Sharpe refused, and Favre sued for defamation, saying that Sharpe had falsely accused him of serious crimes and hurt his reputation. Sharpe responded that his remarks are โa classic example of the king of rhetorical hyperbole and loose, figurative languageโ protected by the First Amendment.
A federal judge ruled in Sharpe’s favor, and so did the 5th Circuit. โNothing in life or our law guarantees a person immunity from occasional sharp criticism,โ 5th Circuit District Judge Leslie H. Southwick wrote.
Favre has paid back the $1.1 million, but State Auditor Shad White said in February that Favre still owed more than $700,000 in interest.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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