Mississippi Today
Louisianans on Medicaid expansion can get care across river at Natchez hospital
Louisianans on Medicaid expansion can get care across river at Natchez hospital
Just across the Mississippi River bridge from Natchez are the Louisiana towns of Vidalia, Ferriday and other communities where there are people who have health care coverage through the expansion of Medicaid.
Those Louisianans, if they are in the correct Medicaid health care network, can obtain medical services across the bridge in Mississippi at Merit Natchez hospital. People in Mississippi, of course, also can receive health care at Merit, one of the largest health care providers in southwest Mississippi.
But those Mississippians cannot take advantage of Medicaid expansion to help pay their medical bills because Mississippi, unlike Louisiana, does not have Medicaid expansion.
“Expanding Medicaid was Gov. (John Bell) Edwards’ first official act when he took office in 2016,” Laura Leist, a spokeswoman for the Democratic governor, told Mississippi Today via email. “He often says it’s the easiest big decision he’s made as governor.”
Kay Ketchings, a spokesperson for the Natchez hospital, said Merit will work with Louisianans who are not in network to provide them medical care as it will with Mississippians who have no access to Medicaid expansion. But Merit Natchez, like other Mississippi hospitals, have a difficult time collecting payment from many poor people who are not covered by Medicaid expansion. They often do not have the money to pay, leaving hospitals to eat those costs or pass the costs on to other patients.
“Medicaid covers the most vulnerable residents in Mississippi …,” Ketchings said. “It is an important step toward advancing the overall health of Mississippians because it provides sustainable coverage for continued access to preventive care and physician assistance with chronic conditions. Like others in healthcare, we are supportive of efforts to expand coverage for vulnerable Mississippians.”
Louisiana is one of the few Southern states to expand Medicaid. Medicaid provides health care coverage for primarily the working poor who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty level or about $18,750 for an individual. The federal government pays 90% of the cost plus substantial incentives for the states that have not expanded Medicaid to do so.
South Dakota voters earlier this month voted to expand Medicaid. Now 11 states, mostly in the Southeast, have not taken advantage of the expansion as is offered as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
A map of the states that have not expanded Medicaid looks much the same as a footprint of the NCAA’s Southeastern Conference with four notable exceptions – Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky and Missouri. Those four states, including two contiguous to Mississippi, have expanded Medicaid.
Of the 11 states that have not expanded Medicaid, seven have schools in the Southeastern Conference, and all seven have higher percentages of their population uninsured or lacking health care coverage than does the nation at a whole.
The four SEC states that have expanded Medicaid have higher percentages of their population with health insurance coverage than those that have not expanded Medicaid.
“Today, more than 747,000 of Louisiana’s working poor have access to health care, including mammograms and other preventive heath screenings, mental health resources and substance abuse services,” said Leist. “Louisiana’s uninsured rate has dropped from 22.7% in 2015 prior to expansion to just 9.4%, and rural hospitals that were on the verge of closing before expansion have been able to stay open and continue serving their communities.”
In Mississippi, the Hospital Association, with many of its member medical centers in financial straits, is one of the most vocal supporters of Medicaid expansion. Mississippi's State Health Officer Daniel Edney has said that 38, or 54%, of the state’ rural hospitals are in danger of closing. Hospital Association officials say Medicaid expansion would provide a boost to those struggling hospitals by decreasing the amount of uncompensated care they deliver.
But Mississippi political leaders have blocked efforts to expand Medicaid. They have provided a litany of reasons for opposing the expansion, ranging from the state cannot afford it to not wanting to expand welfare programs in the state.
Susan Dunlap, a spokesperson for Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, said Medicaid expansion has been a positive in the Bluegrass state.
“Costs to the state have matched what was anticipated,” she said. “Expansion of this program resulted in economic growth through increased state and local tax revenue, the creation of new jobs and additional (health care) provider revenue.”
She said the expansion has resulted in people being able to get medical care, including important but non-life threatening procedures, such as knee replacements, shoulder surgeries and tonsillectomies.
In three Southern states, Louisiana, Arkansas and Kentucky, Medicaid was expanded under Democratic governors. But in those states, the expansion has been largely supported by Republican-controlled legislatures that have not tried to repeal the program. And in Arkansas, it has been continued under a Republican governor. And Arkansas-Gov. elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former spokesperson for President Donald Trump, has not advocated for the repeal of that state’s version of Medicaid expansion. In Arkansas, the state uses the federal Medicaid expansion matching funds to purchase private insurance for those who otherwise would be eligible for the Medicaid expansion program.
“Out of the 38 (states that have expanded Medicaid), none have stopped,” Tim Moore, chief executive with the Mississippi Hospital Association, recently told the Senate Public Health Committee during a hearing on the financial difficulties facing Mississippi hospitals.
“They continue to use it. They continue to take down federal dollars. It has been a good thing for everybody, including the state, the patients and the providers.”
The states with the highest uninsured rates in the nation are primarily Southern states that have not expanded Medicaid. Texas is the highest at 18.4%, while Georgia and Florida are at 13.2% followed by Mississippi at 13%, according to a recent report by the Health Foundation.
The national uninsured rate is 9.2%, according to the same study. The Southern states that have expanded Medicaid all have uninsured rates near or below the national average. Kentucky's uninsured rate is 6.4%.
Uninsured rates across the national have declined significantly since the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act that also includes the health care exchange that allows people to buy insurance coverage in most cases with the help of a government subsidy.
But there are people who do not qualify for health insurance policies through the health care exchange because their income is below a certain level. The architects of the Affordable Care Act envisioned they would be covered through Medicaid expansion, not contemplating there would be states like Mississippi that opted not to participate in the program.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Ties that bind, not lines that divide, at the heart of “Little Women” are what make Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel such an enduring classic. More than a century and a half since its 1868 publication, the March sisters’ coming-of-age tale continues to resonate in fresh approaches, say cast and crew in a musical version opening this week at New Stage Theatre in Jackson, Mississippi.
“Little Women, The Broadway Musical” adds songs to Alcott’s story of the four distinct March sisters — traditional, lovely Meg, spirited tomboy and writer Jo, quiet and gentle Beth, and artistic, pampered Amy. They are growing into young women under the watchful eye of mother Marmee as their father serves as an Army chaplain in the Civil War. “Little Women, The Broadway Musical” performances run March 25 through April 6 at New Stage Theatre.
In a serendipitous move, the production coincides with Women’s History Month in March, and has a female director at the helm — Malaika Quarterman, in her New Stage Theatre directing debut. Logistics and scheduling preferences landed the musical in March, to catch school matinees with the American classic.
The novel has inspired myriad adaptations in film, TV, stage and opera, plus literary retellings by other authors. This musical version debuted on Broadway in 2005, with music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Mindi Dickstein and book (script) by Allan Knee.
“The music in this show brings out the heart of the characters in a way that a movie or a straight play, or even the book, can’t do,” said Cameron Vipperman, whose play-within-a-play role helps illustrate the writer Jo’s growth in the story. She read the book at age 10, and now embraces how the musical dramatizes, speeds up and reconstructs the timeline for more interest and engagement.
“What a great way to introduce kids that haven’t read the book,” director Quarterman said, hitting the highlights and sending them to the pages for a deeper dive on characters they fell in love with over the two-and-a-half-hour run time.
Joy, familial warmth, love, courage, loss, grief and resilience are all threads in a story that has captivated generations and continues to find new audiences and fresh acclaim (the 2019 film adaptation by Greta Gerwig earned six Academy Award nominations).
In current contentious times, when diversity, equity and inclusion programs are being ripped out or rolled back, the poignant, women-centered narrative maintains a power to reach deep and unite.
“Stories where females support each other, instead of rip each other apart to get to the finish line — which would be the goal of getting the man or something — are very few and far between sometimes,” Quarterman said. “It’s so special because it was written so long ago, with the writer being such a strong dreamer, and dreaming big for women.
“For us to actualize it, where a female artistic producer chooses this show and believes in a brand new female director and then this person gets to empower these great, local, awesome artists — It’s just really been special to see this story and its impact ripple through generations of dreamers.” For Quarterman, a 14-year drama teacher with Jackson Public Schools active in community theater and professional regional theater, “To be able to tell this story here, for New Stage, is pretty epic for me.”
Alcott’s story is often a touchstone for young girls, and this cast of grown women finds much in the source material that they still hold dear, and that resonates in new ways.
“I relate to Jo more than any other fictional character that exists,” Kristina Swearingen said of her character, the central figure Jo March. “At different parts of my life, I have related to her in different parts of hers.”
The Alabama native, more recently of New York, recalled her “energetic, crazy, running-around-having-a-grand-old-time” youth in high school and college, then a career-driven purpose that led her, like Jo, to move to New York.
Swearingen first did this show in college, before the loss of grandparents and a major move. Now, “I know what it’s like to grieve the loss of a loved one, and to live so far away from home, and wanting to go home and be with your family but also wanting to be in a place where your career can take off. .. It hits a lot closer to home.”
As one of four sisters in real life, Frannie Dean of Flora draws on a wealth of memories in playing Beth — including her own family position as next to the youngest of the girls. She and siblings read the story together in their homeschooled childhood, assigning each other roles.
“Omigosh, this is my life,” she said, chuckling. “We would play pretend all day. … ‘Little Women’ is really sweet in that aspect, to really be able to carry my own experience with my family and bring it into the show. … It’s timeless in its nature, its warmth and what it brings to people.”
Jennifer Smith of Clinton, as March family matriarch Marmee, found her way in through a song. First introduced to Marmee’s song “Here Alone” a decade ago when starting voice lessons as an adult, she made it her own. “It became an audition piece for me. It became a dream role for me. It’s been pivotal in opening up doors for me.”
She relishes aging into this role, countering a common fear of women in the entertainment field that they may “age out” of desirable parts. “It’s just a full-circle moment for me, and I’m grateful for it.”
Quarterman fell in love with the 1969 film version she watched with her sister when they were little, adoring the family’s playfulness and stability. Amid teenage angst, she identified with the inevitable growth and change that came with siblings growing up and moving on. Being a mom brings a whole different lens.
“Seeing these little people in your life just growing up, being their own unique versions, all going through their own arc — it’s just fun, and I think that’s why you can stay connected” to the story at any life juncture, she said.
Cast member Slade Haney pointed out the rarity of a story set on a Northeastern homestead during the Civil War.
“You’re getting to see what it was like for the women whose husbands were away at war — how moms struggled, how sisters struggled. You had to make your own means. … I think both men and women can see themselves in these characters, in wanting to be independent like Jo, or like Amy wanting to have something of value that belongs to you and not just just feel like you’re passed over all the time, and Meg, to be valuable to someone else, and in Beth, for everyone to be happy and content and love each other,” Haney said.
New Stage Theatre Artistic Director Francine Reynolds drew attention, too, to the rarity of an American classic for the stage offering an abundance of women’s roles that can showcase Jackson metro’s talent pool. “We just always have so many great women,” she said, and classics — “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Death of a Salesman,” for instance — often offer fewer parts for them, though contemporary dramas are more balanced.
Reynolds sees value in the musical’s timing and storyline. “Of course, we need to celebrate the contributions of women. This was a woman who was trying to be a writer in 1865, ’66, ’67. That’s, to me, a real trailblazing thing.
“It is important to show, this was a real person — Louisa May Alcott, personified as Jo. It’s important to hold these people up as role models for other young girls, to show that you can do this, too. You can dream your dream. You can strive to break boundaries.”
It is a key reminder of advancements that may be threatened. “We’ve made such strides,” Reynolds said, “and had so many great programs to open doors for people, that I feel like those doors are going to start closing, just because of things you are allowed to say and things you aren’t allowed.”
For tickets, $50 (discounts for seniors, students, military), visit www.newstagetheatre.com or the New Stage Theatre box office, or call 601-948-3533.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Tracy Harden stood outside her Chuck’s Dairy Bar in Rolling Fork, teary eyed, remembering not the EF-4 tornado that nearly wiped the town off the map two years before. Instead, she became emotional, “even after all this time,” she said, thinking of the overwhelming help people who’d come from all over selflessly offered.
“We’re back now, she said, smiling. “People have been so kind.”
“I stepped out of that cooler two years ago and saw everything, and I mean, everything was just… gone,” she said, her voice trailing off. “My God, I thought. What are we going to do now? But people came and were so giving. It’s remarkable, and such a blessing.”
“And to have another one come on almost the exact date the first came,” she said, shaking her head. “I got word from these young storm chasers I’d met. He told me they were tracking this one, and it looked like it was coming straight for us in Rolling Fork.”
“I got up and went outside.”
“And there it was!”
“I cannot tell you what went through me seeing that tornado form in the sky.”
The tornado that touched down in Rolling Fork last Sunday did minimal damage and claimed no lives.
Horns honk as people travel along U.S. 61. Harden smiles and waves.
She heads back into her restaurant after chatting with friends to resume grill duties as people, some local, some just passing through town, line up for burgers and ice cream treats.
Rolling Fork is mending, slowly. Although there is evidence of some rebuilding such as new homes under construction, many buildings like the library and post office remain boarded up and closed. A brutal reminder of that fateful evening two years ago.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
George Foreman, surely one of the world’s most intriguing and transformative sports figures of the 20th century, died over the weekend at the age of 76. Please indulge me a few memories.
This was back when professional boxing was in its heyday. Muhammad Ali was heavyweight champion of the world for a second time. The lower weight divisions featured such skilled champions and future champs as Alex Arugello, Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran, Tommy “Hit Man” Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard.
Boxing was front page news all over the globe. Indeed, Ali was said to be the most famous person in the world and had stunned the boxing world by stopping the previously undefeated Foreman in an eighth round knockout in Kinshasa, Zaire, in October of 1974. Foreman, once an Olympic gold medalist at age 19, had won his previous 40 professional fights and few had lasted past the second round. Big George, as he was known, packed a fearsome punch.
My dealings with Foreman began in January of 1977, roughly 27 months after his Ali debacle with Foreman in the middle of a boxing comeback. At the time, I was the sports editor of my hometown newspaper in Hattiesburg when the news came that Foreman was going to fight a Puerto Rican professional named Pedro Agosto in Pensacola, just three hours away.
Right away, I applied for press credentials and was rewarded with a ringside seats at the Pensacola Civic Center. I thought I was going to cover a boxing match. It turned out more like an execution.
The mismatch was evident from the pre-fight introductions. Foreman towered over the 5-foot, 11-inch Agosto. Foreman had muscles on top of muscles, Agosto not so much. When they announced Agosto weighed 205 pounds, the New York sports writer next to me wise-cracked, “Yeah, well what is he going to weigh without his head?”
It looked entirely possible we might learn.
Foreman toyed with the smaller man for three rounds, almost like a full-grown German shepherd dealing with a tiny, yapping Shih Tzu. By the fourth round, Big George had tired of the yapping. With punches that landed like claps of thunder, Foreman knocked Agosto down three times. Twice, Agosto struggled to his feet after the referee counted to nine. Nearly half a century later I have no idea why Agosto got up. Nobody present– or the national TV audience – would have blamed him for playing possum. But, no, he got up the second time and stumbled over into the corner of the ring right in front of me. And that’s where he was when Foreman hit him with an evil right uppercut to the jaw that lifted the smaller man a foot off the canvas and sprayed me and everyone in the vicinity with Agosto’s blood, sweat and snot – thankfully, no brains. That’s when the ref ended it.
It remains the only time in my sports writing career I had to buy a T-shirt at the event to wear home.
So, now, let’s move ahead 18 years to July of 1995. Foreman had long since completed his comeback by winning back the heavyweight championship. He had become a preacher. He also had become a pitch man for a an indoor grill that bore his name and would sell more than 100 million units. He was a millionaire many times over. He made far more for hawking that grill than he ever made as a fighter. He had become a beloved figure, known for his warm smile and his soothing voice. And now he was coming to Jackson to sign his biography. His publishing company called my office to ask if I’d like an interview. I said I surely would.
One day at the office, I answered my phone and the familiar voice on the other end said, “This is George Foreman and I heard you wanted to talk to me.”
I told him I wanted to talk to him about his book but first I wanted to tell him he owed me a shirt.
“A shirt?” he said. “How’s that?”
I asked him if remembered a guy named Pedro Agosto. He said he did. “Man, I really hit that poor guy,” he said.
I thought you had killed him, I said, and I then told him about all the blood and snot that ruined my shirt.
“Man, I’m sorry about that,” he said. “I’d never hit a guy like that now. I was an angry, angry man back then.”
We had a nice conversation. He told me about finding his Lord. He told me about his 12 children, including five boys, all of whom he named George.
I asked him why he would give five boys the same name.
“I never met my father until late in his life,” Big George told me. “My father never gave me nothing. So I decided I was going to give all my boys something to remember me by. I gave them all my name.”
Yes, and he named one of his girls Georgette.
We did get around to talking about his book, and you will not be surprised by its title: “By George.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
://mississippitoday.org”>Mississippi Today.
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