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‘Better than it was’: Mississippi health report card shows mixed results

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‘Better than it was’: Mississippi health report card shows mixed results

A few of Mississippi’s health outcomes are improving, but the state has a long way to go in others, according to State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney.

Surrounded by white coats, Edney gave an on the steps of the Capitol rotunda on Thursday about Mississippi’s public health outlook, drawing from personal experience as a provider from the Delta.

“I have earned the gray hair on my head practicing medicine in west Mississippi,” Edney said. “I know what regular folks are up against in our communities, to have appropriate access to high quality care.”

Edney, flanked by posters with various health data points from the state’s newest health card, said it’s not all bleak — Mississippi has both made strides and fallen behind in the past year.

“I did want to share with you some good news,” he said. “It’s better than it was, to a year ago.”

Human immunodeficiency virus, tuberculosis and obesity rates are trending down, according to the 2023 State Health Report Card, which was unveiled Thursday by the Mississippi State Medical Association and the Mississippi State Health Department. The state’s diabetes ranking has also improved to 48th in the country.

Edney drew particular attention to the lower obesity rates. While Mississippi is still 45th in obesity rates, he said the lower numbers will result in decreases across the board, including in hypertension, diabetes and vascular and maternal health.

“We will see powerful dividends 10 years from now with population health,” he said, regarding the improvements. “We cannot take our off the accelerator.”

Though the report card notes that Mississippi has the highest vaccination rate in the nation, that may soon change. Last year, a federal judge ruled that parents in Mississippi can opt out of vaccinating their children for school for religious beliefs. As of September, the state has approved 1,800 religious vaccine exemptions for school children. 

The state remains dead last in the nation for infant mortality, which Edney said combined with the state’s abysmal maternal morbidity rates are the “driving force” of his agency’s work. And while there have been some positive results in congenital syphilis, the crisis is ongoing.

The leading causes of remain heart disease, malignant neoplasms and accidents, and the latter actually trended upward this past year.

Edney said malignancies cost his father his life. He died at 54 from colon cancer, a preventable illness. The state’s health issues all have , Edney said, but the agency can’t do the work alone.

“We’re proving that public health, science and policy works in partnership,” he said. “When our elected are part of that partnership, then it works powerfully. If we choose the right policies for our people, we will see us move off the radar from having the highest rate of preventable death (in the country).”

MSMA president, Dr. John Mitchell, said there’s another effective way to help stem the state’s health crisis.

One such way would be to expand access to health care to working ,” Mitchell said.

Medicaid expansion will be a top issue of this legislative session, as it has been for many years. The policy, which has been adopted by most other states, would expand Medicaid eligibility to the working poor in Mississippi. Researchers estimate between 200,000 to 300,000 Mississippians fall into a “coverage gap,” which means they make too much to qualify for Medicaid currently but can’t afford insurance on their own. 

In most cases, uninsured Mississippians don’t have access to preventative health care. Many rely on emergency rooms for help, where they cannot be turned away because of lack of insurance. Edney said access to preventative care for all Mississippians is integral to combatting Mississippi’s poor health. 

“I will continue to preach that until Mississippians, and that’s everyone, have appropriate access to medical care … we will continue to suffer with these outcomes which none of us are proud of,” Edney said.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Already dire lack of affordable housing for low-income Mississippians on verge of worsening

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mississippitoday.org – Simeon Gates – 2024-11-04 11:00:00

In Mississippi, where there’s already a dearth of 50,000 or more affordable homes for extremely low-income , that number could grow in the next five years.

Housing units available under the federal Low Income Tax Credit program could lose their affordability by 2030 –a number estimated nationwide to be 350,000 with 2,917 in Mississippi, alone; 496 in the already have.

The federal program responsible for most of the nation’s affordable housing is expiring.

The Low Income Housing Tax Credit, introduced as part of the Tax Reform Act of 1986,  provides for developers to buy, build and restore low-income housing units. Under the deal, the housing only needs to stay low-rent for 30 years. Construction began in the early 1990s. 

Some LIHTC housing will remain affordable due to other subsidies, nonprofits, state and individual landlords.

“I think the low-income housing tax credit has done everything that it can to address the need for affordable housing around the state,” said Scott Spivey, executive director of the Mississippi Housing Corporation, a state office that administers the program and works with the state and those in the affordable housing industry to create and support affordable housing

Spivey supports the proposed Affordable Housing Credit and Improvement Act, a federal bill that would expand upon the low-income housing tax credit in several ways, including giving developers more credit for certain projects for low-income households and changing tenant eligibility rules. 

The bill was introduced in the House and the Senate last , and is co-sponsored by Mississippi Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker and in the House by Reps. Mike Ezell, and Michael Guest. As of this spring, both bills are in committee. 

While housing has become a major issue for Americans, getting legislation passed has been challenging. “Everybody knows that housing is an issue, but it gets caught up with everything else…and it kind of gets lost in the shuffle,” said Spivey.

This issue is especially important in Mississippi, where demand for housing is high across all incomes. 

“All the market studies that we see that with the applications tell us that there’s a huge need for affordable housing across the state at all the income bands” said Spivey.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, almost a third of Mississippi renters are extremely low income; 65% of them are severely cost burdened, meaning they spent more than half their income on rent. The majority of these households are seniors, disabled people, single caregivers of young children, people enrolled in school, or other. 

Director of Housing Law at the Mississippi Center for Justice, Ashley Richardson said housing problems worsened after Mississippi stopped participating in the federal rental assistance program in 2022.

MCJ’s work on housing includes a statewide eviction hotline, investigating instances of housing discrimination, and more. 

Richardson praised the LIHTC program, but echoed Spivey’s concerns. “Even with the affordable housing we do have in Mississippi, we are still at a lack,” she said. 

The National Housing Preservation Database estimates Mississippi is short 52,421 affordable and available rental homes for low-income people. The National Low Income Housing Coalition puts the figure at 49,478.

Richardson wants the state to deal with issues like providing more tenant protections and rental assistance. There’s also a need to improve homes that are or in poor condition, and many housing nonprofits are running out of

Spivey said people should to their property managers and learn about their rights. MHC’s website has resources for homebuyers and renters.

As the housing crisis goes on, there are options for people struggling to find and keep affordable housing and an effort to take action at the federal and state levels.  

Some aspiring low-income homeowners may qualify for Habitat for Humanity, a program that builds homes for families in need. Families who qualify work on the homes alongside volunteers, pay an affordable mortgage and receive financial literacy education.

New applicants must meet the qualifications, including a good debt-income ratio, 125 hours of sweat equity and taking classes on financial literacy, home repairs, and being a good neighbor.

Merrill McKewen, executive director for Habitat for Humanity Mississippi Capital Area, emphasized the importance of housing to individuals and communities. 

“There are untold studies that have been done that, you’ve gotta have a safe, decent, affordable place to live. The children are better , the parents are better employees…it grounds you to a community that you can contribute to and be a part of. It is the American dream, to own a home, which is what we’re all about,” she said. 

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

Mississippi Election 2024: What will be on Tuesday’s ballot?

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mississippitoday.org – Bobby Harrison – 2024-11-04 10:00:00

will go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5, to elect federal and judicial posts and some local offices, such as for election commissioners and school board members.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday. To find your polling place, use the secretary of state’s locator, or call your local county circuit clerk.

READ MORE: View the Mississippi sample ballot.

The following is a list of the candidates for federal and judicial posts with brief bios:

President

  • Kamala Harris, current vice president and Democratic nominee for president. Her running mate is Tim Walz.
  • Donald Trump, former president and current Republican nominee. His running mate is J.D. Vance.
  • Robert Kennedy Jr. remains on the ballot in Mississippi even though he has endorsed Trump. His running mate is Nicole Shanahan.
  • Jill Stein is the Green Party candidate. Her running mate is Rudolph Ware.
  • Five other candidates will be on the Mississippi ballot for president. For a complete list of presidential candidates, see the sample ballot.

U.S. Senate

  • Ty Pinkins is the Democratic nominee. He is a Rolling Fork native and attorney, representing, among other clients, those alleging unfair working conditions. He served 21 years in the U.S. Army, combat stints, other overseas deployment and posts in the White House,
  • Roger Wicker is the Republican incumbent senator. He resides in Tupelo and has served in the U.S. Senate since late 2007 after first being appointed to fill a vacancy by then-Gov. Haley Barbour. He was elected to the post in 2008. He previously served in the U.S. House and as a state senator. He is an attorney and served in the United States Force.

House District 1

  • Dianne Black is the Democratic nominee. She is a small business owner in Olive Branch in DeSoto County.
  • Trent Kelly is the Republican incumbent. He was elected to the post in a special election in 2015. He previously served as a district attorney and before then as a prosecuting attorney for the city of Tupelo. He is a major general in the Mississippi Army National Guard.

House District 2

  • Bennie Thompson is the Democratic incumbent. He was first elected to the post in 1993. Before then, he served as a supervisor and as alderman and then as mayor of Bolton.
  • Ronald Eller is the Republican nominee. He grew up in Virginia and moved to central Mississippi after retiring from the military. He is a physician assistant and business owner.

House District 3

  • Michael Guest is the Republican incumbent and is unopposed.

House District 4

  • Mike Ezell is the Republican incumbent first being elected in 2022. He previously served as sheriff.
  • Craig Raybon is the Democratic nominee. Raybon is from and began a nonprofit “focused on helping out the community as a whole.”

Central District Supreme Court

  • Jenifer Branning currently serves as a member of the state Senate from Neshoba County.
  • Byron Carter is a Hinds County attorney and previously served as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Armis Hawkins.
  • James Kitchens is the incumbent. He has served on the state’s highest court since 2008.
  • Ceola James previously served on the Court of Appeals.
  • Abby Gale Robinson is a Jackson attorney. She previously was a commercial builder.

Southern District Supreme Court

  • Dawn Beam is the incumbent, been first appointed in 2016 by then-Gov. Phil Bryant and later winning election to the post. She is a former chancellor for the Hattiesburg area.
  • David Sullivan is an attorney in Harrison County and has been a municipal judge in D’Iberville since 2019. His father, Michael, previously served on the state Supreme Court.

Northern District Supreme Court seats

  • Robert Chamberlin of DeSoto County is unopposed.
  • James Maxwell of Lafayette County is unopposed.

Court of Appeals 5th District seat

  • Ian Baker is an assistant district attorney in Harrison County.
  • Jennifer Schloegel is a Chancery Court judge for Harrison, Hancock and Stone counties.
  • Amy St. Pe is a Municipal Court judge in Gautier.

Court of Appeals District 2

  • Incumbent Latrice Westbrooks is unopposed.

Court of Appeals District 3

  • Incumbent Jack Wilson is unopposed.                                                      

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

On this day in 1750

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mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-11-04 07:00:00

Nov. 4, 1750

A painting of Jean Baptiste Point DuSable by Blackshear II. Credit: National Postal

Jean Baptiste Point DuSable, the “Father of Chicago,” was born. 

A man of African descent, he became the first known settler in the area that became the of Chicago. He married a Potawatomi woman, Kitiwaha (Catherine), and they had two

According to , the property included a log cabin with two barns, a horse-drawn mill, a bakehouse, a poultry house, a dairy, a smokehouse, a fenced garden and an orchard. At his trading post, DuSable served Native Americans, British and French explorers and spoke a number of languages. 

“He was actually by the British for being thought of as an American Patriot sympathizer,” Julius Jones, curator at the Chicago History Museum told WLS, but DuSable beat those charges. 

In Chicago , a school, street, museum, harbor, park and bridge bear his name. The place where he settled near the mouth of the Chicago is now a National Historic Landmark, part of the city’s Pioneer Court.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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