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‘Now is not the time to go radio silent’: Medicaid drops 29,000 Mississippians

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2 years ago

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The Mississippi Division of Medicaid removed 29,000 Mississippians from its rolls, marking the first wave of disenrollments as the agency reviews eligibility of its beneficiaries after the end of pandemic-era protections.

As disenrollments continue, the leader of an organization tasked with serving as one of Medicaid’s community partners doesn’t think the agency is doing enough to get the word out about redeterminations.

Roy Mitchell is the executive director of the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program, an organization aimed at improving health policies in Mississippi that was chosen as a community partner for Medicaid in increasing public awareness about redeterminations.

Mitchell’s organization has received materials from Medicaid to spread the word about redetermination, but he thought there would be more coordination between the two groups.

Instead, communications with Medicaid have been sparse, he said.

“Even though we’ve enlisted in this, we get emails maybe once a month,” Mitchell said. “Right now, communications with the community and advocates should be stronger than it’s ever been. Now is not the time to go radio silent in the middle of this complex process that could have grave health and financial consequences for Mississippi families.”

Division of Medicaid spokesperson Matt Westerfield did not respond to Mississippi Today’s questions about the amount of emails, letters and other forms of outreach that have been disseminated since the inception of the agency’s “Stay Covered” campaign to bring awareness to the end of the federal COVID-19 emergency and ensuing redeterminations. He also did not answer questions about the demographic breakdown of the people who were disenrolled or how many people the Mississippi Division of Medicaid estimated would ultimately lose coverage in total.

Mississippi Today also asked Medicaid Executive Director Drew Snyder for a sit-down or phone interview with a Medicaid employee who could answer questions about the unwinding process. Snyder did not respond by the time of the story’s publication.

Mississippi is one of only three states that does not have Medicaid online accounts as of January 2023, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Medicaid is a federal-state program that provides health insurance for low-income people. State Medicaid agencies, which administer the program, were prohibited by federal law from removing people from its rolls starting March 2020 during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Mississippi Medicaid enrollment increased by 187,894 people, or 26%, from March 2020 to June of this year, the agency said in a press release Monday.

In Mississippi, long one of the poorest states in the nation, last month was the first time in Medicaid’s history that its rolls went over 900,000.

The agency in April began examining the records of 67,695 Mississippians whose coverage would be up for review in June. It found that 29,000, or 43%, were no longer eligible. That’s about 3% of the agency’s total June enrollment.

Many of them could be children — kids in low-income families make up more than half of Mississippi’s overall Medicaid beneficiaries.

About 60% of the 29,000 who were removed from Medicaid’s rolls had remained insured during the pandemic because of the extended eligibility rules, according to the agency.

In its press release, Medicaid said if beneficiaries believe they have been disenrolled in error, they can appeal the determination. If disenrolled because beneficiaries didn’t provide information required to remain enrolled, once that information is provided, that coverage may be reinstated.

Westerfield said people whose membership could be not automatically re-enrolled were mailed renewal forms in mid-April. They had 30 days to complete and return that paperwork — if they didn’t, they were disenrolled, and have 120 days to be reconsidered without a new application.

More than 1 million people nationwide have been removed from Medicaid so far, many for not filling out paperwork, indicating that they might still be qualified for coverage.

Mississippi Medicaid’s “Stay Covered” campaign used outreach efforts including postcard mailing, text and email blasts and flyers to inform Mississippians about the redeterminations and the importance of updating their contact information.

Mitchell has been monitoring the disenrollment process closely and said awareness could be aided by “genuine interaction” and collaboration between Medicaid and its community partners.

As an increasing number of Mississippians are disenrolled, Mitchell said it will put further stress on the state’s already-strained hospital system, especially in a non-expansion state such as Mississippi.

One report puts a third of the state’s rural hospitals at risk of closure, and Republican state leaders have long opposed expanding Medicaid to the working poor.

“More Mississippians will join the ranks of the uninsured,” Mitchell said. “And a lot of people may not know their eligibility status until they show up to a provider, and that’s a concern.”

Redeterminations will continue for a year. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that up to 24 million people nationally could lose Medicaid coverage during the unwinding.

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

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Mississippi Today

1964: Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party was formed

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6 hours ago

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April 26, 2025

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mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-26 07:00:00

by Jerry Mitchell, Mississippi Today
April 26, 2025

April 26, 1964

Aaron Henry testifies before the Credentials Committee at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

Civil rights activists started the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to challenge the state’s all-white regular delegation to the Democratic National Convention. 

The regulars had already adopted this resolution: “We oppose, condemn and deplore the Civil Rights Act of 1964 … We believe in separation of the races in all phases of our society. It is our belief that the separation of the races is necessary for the peace and tranquility of all the people of Mississippi, and the continuing good relationship which has existed over the years.” 

In reality, Black Mississippians had been victims of intimidation, harassment and violence for daring to try and vote as well as laws passed to disenfranchise them. As a result, by 1964, only 6% of Black Mississippians were permitted to vote. A year earlier, activists had run a mock election in which thousands of Black Mississippians showed they would vote if given an opportunity. 

In August 1964, the Freedom Party decided to challenge the all-white delegation, saying they had been illegally elected in a segregated process and had no intention of supporting President Lyndon B. Johnson in the November election. 

The prediction proved true, with white Mississippi Democrats overwhelmingly supporting Republican candidate Barry Goldwater, who opposed the Civil Rights Act. While the activists fell short of replacing the regulars, their courageous stand led to changes in both parties.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Mississippi River flooding Vicksburg, expected to crest on Monday

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21 hours ago

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April 25, 2025

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mississippitoday.org – @alxrzr – 2025-04-25 16:04:00

by Alex Rozier, Mississippi Today
April 25, 2025

Warren County Emergency Management Director John Elfer said Friday floodwaters from the Mississippi River, which have reached homes in and around Vicksburg, will likely persist until early May. Elfer estimated there areabout 15 to 20 roads underwater in the area.

A truck sits in high water after the owner parked, then boated to his residence on Chickasaw Road in Vicksburg as a rising Mississippi River causes backwater flooding, Friday, April 25, 2025.

“We’re about half a foot (on the river gauge) from a major flood,” he said. “But we don’t think it’s going to be like in 2011, so we can kind of manage this.”

The National Weather projects the river to crest at 49.5 feet on Monday, making it the highest peak at the Vicksburg gauge since 2020. Elfer said some residents in north Vicksburg — including at the Ford Subdivision as well as near Chickasaw Road and Hutson Street — are having to take boats to get home, adding that those who live on the unprotected side of the levee are generally prepared for flooding.

A rising Mississippi River causing backwater flooding near Chickasaw Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.
Old tires aligned a backyard as a deterrent to rising water north of Vicksburg along U.S. 61, Friday, April 25, 2025.
As the Mississippi River rises, backwater flooding creeps towards a home located on Falk Steel Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

“There are a few (inundated homes), but we’ve mitigated a lot of them,” he said. “Some of the structures have been torn down or raised. There are a few people that still live on the wet side of the levee, but they kind of know what to expect. So we’re not too concerned with that.”

The river first reached flood stage in the city — 43 feet — on April 14. State officials closed Highway 465, which connects the Eagle Lake community just north of Vicksburg to Highway 61, last Friday.

Flood waters along Kings Point Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

Elfer said the areas impacted are mostly residential and he didn’t believe any businesses have been affected, emphasizing that downtown Vicksburg is still safe for visitors. He said Warren County has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to secure pumps and barriers.

“Everybody thus far has been very cooperative,” he said. “We continue to tell people stay out of the flood areas, don’t drive around barricades and don’t drive around road close signs. Not only is it illegal, it’s dangerous.”

NWS projects the river to stay at flood stage in Vicksburg until May 6. The river reached its record crest of 57.1 feet in 2011.

The boat launch area is closed and shored up on Levee Street in Vicksburg as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
The boat launch area (right) is closed and under water on Levee Street in Vicksburg as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
City of Vicksburg workers shore up the bank along Levee Street as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
The old pedestrian bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Mississippi Today

With domestic violence law, victims ‘will be a number with a purpose,’ mother says

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21 hours ago

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April 25, 2025

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mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-25 15:07:00

by Mina Corpuz, Mississippi Today
April 25, 2025

Joslin Napier. Carlos Collins. Bailey Mae Reed. 

They are among Mississippi domestic violence homicide victims whose family members carried their photos as the governor signed a bill that will establish a board to study such deaths and how to prevent them. 

Tara Gandy, who lost her daughter Napier in Waynesboro in 2022, said it’s a moment she plans to tell her 5-year-old grandson about when he is old enough. Napier’s presence, in spirit, at the bill signing can be another way for her grandson to feel proud of his mother. 

“(The board) will allow for my daughter and those who have already lost their lives to domestic violence … to no longer be just a number,” Gandy said. “They will be a number with a purpose.” 

Family members at the April 15 private bill signing included Ashla Hudson, whose son Collins, died last year in Jackson. Grandparents Mary and Charles Reed and brother Colby Kernell attended the event in honor of Bailey Mae Reed, who died in Oxford in 2023. 

Joining them were staff and board members from the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the statewide group that supports shelters and advocated for the passage of Senate Bill 2886 to form a Domestic Violence Facility Review Board. 

The law will go into effect July 1, and the coalition hopes to partner with elected officials who will make recommendations for members to serve on the board. The coalition wants to see appointees who have frontline experience with domestic violence survivors, said Luis Montgomery, public policy specialist for the coalition. 

A spokesperson from Gov. Tate Reeves’ office did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Establishment of the board would make Mississippi the 45th state to review domestic violence fatalities. 

Montgomery has worked on passing a review board bill since December 2023. After an unsuccessful effort in 2024, the coalition worked to build support and educate people about the need for such a board. 

In the recent legislative session, there were House and Senate versions of the bill that unanimously passed their respective chambers. Authors of the bills are from both political parties. 

The review board is tasked with reviewing a variety of documents to learn about the lead up and circumstances in which people died in domestic violence-related fatalities, near fatalities and suicides – records that can include police records, court documents, medical records and more. 

From each review, trends will emerge and that information can be used for the board to make recommendations to lawmakers about how to prevent domestic violence deaths. 

“This is coming at a really great time because we can really get proactive,” Montgomery said. 

Without a board and data collection, advocates say it is difficult to know how many people have died or been injured in domestic-violence related incidents.

A Mississippi Today analysis found at least 300 people, including victims, abusers and collateral victims, died from domestic violence between 2020 and 2024. That analysis came from reviewing local news stories, the Gun Violence Archive, the National Gun Violence Memorial, law enforcement reports and court documents. 

Some recent cases the board could review are the deaths of Collins, Napier and Reed. 

In court records, prosecutors wrote that Napier, 24, faced increased violence after ending a relationship with Chance Fabian Jones. She took action, including purchasing a firearm and filing for a protective order against Jones.

Jones’s trial is set for May 12 in Wayne County. His indictment for capital murder came on the first anniversary of her death, according to court records. 

Collins, 25, worked as a nurse and was from Yazoo City. His ex-boyfriend Marcus Johnson has been indicted for capital murder and shooting into Collins’ apartment. Family members say Collins had filed several restraining orders against Johnson. 

Johnson was denied bond and remains in jail. His trial is scheduled for July 28 in Hinds County.  

He was a Jackson police officer for eight months in 2013. Johnson was separated from the department pending disciplinary action leading up to immediate termination, but he resigned before he was fired, Jackson police confirmed to local media. 

Reed, 21, was born and raised in Michigan and moved to Water Valley to live with her grandparents and help care for her cousin, according to her obituary. 

Kylan Jacques Phillips was charged with first degree murder for beating Reed, according to court records. In February, the court ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial, according to court documents. 

At the bill signing, Gandy said it was bittersweet and an honor to meet the families of other domestic violence homicide victims.

“We were there knowing we are not alone, we can travel this road together and hopefully find ways to prevent and bring more awareness about domestic violence,” she said.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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