Mississippi Today
Biden visits tornado scenes, FEMA expands aid for victims
Biden visits tornado scenes, FEMA expands aid for victims
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden visited Rolling Fork on Friday to meet with survivors and witness damages from a deadly tornadoes that destroyed homes across Mississippi a week ago.
After landing Friday morning in Jackson’s Medgar Wiley Evers Airport, Biden and his team flew in a crew of helicopters to Yazoo County, where they then hopped into a motorcade that took them to Rolling Fork.
The president and first lady met with survivors in Rolling Fork, as well as with state and local officials, including Gov. Tate Reeves and Rolling Fork Mayor Eldridge Walker.
“This is tough stuff,” Biden told the press pool following his visit. “The most important thing is we got to let people know the reason for them to have hope, especially those who have lost somebody.”
At least 21 people died in the storm, 13 of them in Sharkey County, and 90 others were injured.
Biden’s staff announced Friday that the federal government is covering all of the costs of the state’s emergency response for up to 30 days of the recovery period, including removing debris, opening shelters, and providing overtime pay for first responders.
“We’re not just here for today,” Biden told residents, according to reports from the press pool. “I’m determined we’re going to leave nothing behind. We’re going to get it done for you.”
On Thursday, Federal Emergency Management Agency approved Montgomery and Panola counties as eligible for Individual Assistance. Anyone who was affected by the March 24-25 storms in those counties — as well as in Carroll, Monroe, Humphreys and Sharkey counties — can apply for money to pay for needs such as temporary housing and home repairs by calling 800-621-3362, or visiting disasterassistance.gov.
FEMA today announced registration centers to help affected Mississippians apply for assistance at the following locations:
- Carroll County: J.Z. George High School at 900 George St., Carrollton, MS 38947 (closed on Sunday, Apr. 2)
- Humphreys County: Humphreys County Library at 105 Hayden St., Belzoni, MS 39038
- Sharkey County: Heritage Manor at 431 W. Race St., Rolling Fork, MS 39159
- Monroe County: The Old Amory National Guard Building at 101 South 9th St., Amory, MS 38821
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said her agency is also going “door-to-door” in affected areas to help survivors apply for aid. Altogether, over 300 federal personnel are in Mississippi helping recovery efforts.
Criswell added that she spoke with the mayor of Amory, Corey Glenn, who told her that the city lifted its boil water notices. On Thursday, Glenn said the city still has over 400 homes without power, down from about 4,000 immediately after the storm.
The White House administration excluded local press’ access to the day’s events, despite two of Biden’s stops being marked as “Open Press” on his schedule. At one of those stops, where officials landed at the Yazoo County Airport, officers instructed local reporters to stand on a levee about 100 yards from the entrance of the airport. Mississippi Today gathered information on the visit from pool reports shared by national media.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1997
Dec. 22, 1997
The Mississippi Supreme Court upheld the conviction of white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith for the 1963 murder of Medgar Evers.
In the court’s 4–2 decision, Justice Mike Mills praised efforts “to squeeze justice out of the harm caused by a furtive explosion which erupted from dark bushes on a June night in Jackson, Mississippi.”
He wrote that Beckwith’s constitutional right to a speedy trial had not been denied. His “complicity with the Sovereignty Commission’s involvement in the prior trials contributed to the delay.”
The decision did more than ensure that Beckwith would stay behind bars. The conviction helped clear the way for other prosecutions of unpunished killings from the Civil Rights Era.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Medicaid expansion tracker approaches $1 billion loss for Mississippi
About the time people ring in the new year next week, the digital tracker on Mississippi Today’s homepage tabulating the amount of money the state is losing by not expanding Medicaid will hit $1 billion.
The state has lost $1 billion not since the start of the quickly departing 2024 but since the beginning of the state’s fiscal year on July 1.
Some who oppose Medicaid expansion say the digital tracker is flawed.
During an October news conference, when state Auditor Shad White unveiled details of his $2 million study seeking ways to cut state government spending, he said he did not look at Medicaid expansion as a method to save money or grow state revenue.
“I think that (Mississippi Today) calculator is wrong,” White said. “… I don’t think that takes into account how many people are going to be moved off the federal health care exchange where their health care is paid for fully by the federal government and moved onto Medicaid.”
White is not the only Mississippi politician who has expressed concern that if Medicaid expansion were enacted, thousands of people would lose their insurance on the exchange and be forced to enroll in Medicaid for health care coverage.
Mississippi Today’s projections used for the tracker are based on studies conducted by the Institutions of Higher Learning University Research Center. Granted, there are a lot of variables in the study that are inexact. It is impossible to say, for example, how many people will get sick and need health care, thus increasing the cost of Medicaid expansion. But is reasonable that the projections of the University Research Center are in the ballpark of being accurate and close to other studies conducted by health care experts.
White and others are correct that Mississippi Today’s calculator does not take into account money flowing into the state for people covered on the health care exchange. But that money does not go to the state; it goes to insurance companies that, granted, use that money to reimburse Mississippians for providing health care. But at least a portion of the money goes to out-of-state insurance companies as profits.
Both Medicaid expansion and the health care exchange are part of the Affordable Care Act. Under Medicaid expansion people earning up to $20,120 annually can sign up for Medicaid and the federal government will pay the bulk of the cost. Mississippi is one of 10 states that have not opted into Medicaid expansion.
People making more than $14,580 annually can garner private insurance through the health insurance exchanges, and people below certain income levels can receive help from the federal government in paying for that coverage.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, legislation championed and signed into law by President Joe Biden significantly increased the federal subsidies provided to people receiving insurance on the exchange. Those increased subsidies led to many Mississippians — desperate for health care — turning to the exchange for help.
White, state Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, Gov. Tate Reeves and others have expressed concern that those people would lose their private health insurance and be forced to sign up for Medicaid if lawmakers vote to expand Medicaid.
They are correct.
But they do not mention that the enhanced benefits authored by the Biden administration are scheduled to expire in December 2025 unless they are reenacted by Congress. The incoming Donald Trump administration has given no indication it will continue the enhanced subsidies.
As a matter of fact, the Trump administration, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is looking for ways to cut federal spending.
Some have speculated that Medicaid expansion also could be on Musk’s chopping block.
That is possible. But remember congressional action is required to continue the enhanced subsidies. On the flip side, congressional action would most likely be required to end or cut Medicaid expansion.
Would the multiple U.S. senators and House members in the red states that have expanded Medicaid vote to end a program that is providing health care to thousands of their constituents?
If Congress does not continue Biden’s enhanced subsidies, the rates for Mississippians on the exchange will increase on average about $500 per year, according to a study by KFF, a national health advocacy nonprofit. If that occurs, it is likely that many of the 280,000 Mississippians on the exchange will drop their coverage.
The result will be that Mississippi’s rate of uninsured — already one of the highest in the nation – will rise further, putting additional pressure on hospitals and other providers who will be treating patients who have no ability to pay.
In the meantime, the Mississippi Today counter that tracks the amount of money Mississippi is losing by not expanding Medicaid keeps ticking up.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1911
Dec. 21, 1911
Josh Gibson, the Negro League’s “Home Run King,” was born in Buena Vista, Georgia.
When the family’s farm suffered, they moved to Pittsburgh, and Gibson tried baseball at age 16. He eventually played for a semi-pro team in Pittsburgh and became known for his towering home runs.
He was watching the Homestead Grays play on July 25, 1930, when the catcher injured his hand. Team members called for Gibson, sitting in the stands, to join them. He was such a talented catcher that base runners were more reluctant to steal. He hit the baseball so hard and so far (580 feet once at Yankee Stadium) that he became the second-highest paid player in the Negro Leagues behind Satchel Paige, with both of them entering the National Baseball Hame of Fame.
The Hall estimated that Gibson hit nearly 800 homers in his 17-year career and had a lifetime batting average of .359. Gibson was portrayed in the 1996 TV movie, “Soul of the Game,” by Mykelti Williamson. Blair Underwood played Jackie Robinson, Delroy Lindo portrayed Satchel Paige, and Harvey Williams played “Cat” Mays, the father of the legendary Willie Mays.
Gibson has now been honored with a statue outside the Washington Nationals’ ballpark.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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