Mississippi Today

Q&A: Rev. Charlton Johnson on seeing Medicaid expansion not as a financial issue, but a moral necessity

Published

10 months ago

December 28, 2023

Q&A: Rev. Charlton Johnson on seeing Medicaid expansion not as a financial issue, but a moral necessity

Rev. Charlton Johnson only joined Together for Hope as leader of its Delta region in September, but he began thinking about Medicaid expansion long before that.

Together for Hope, an organization that works with people in the poorest counties in the country, has ramped up its efforts advocating for Medicaid expansion in Mississippi. The nonprofit hosts summits all over the states to bring together faith leaders, medical experts and health care advocates to raise awareness about Medicaid expansion. The policy, which would provide health insurance for an additional 200,000 to 300,000 Mississippians, would greatly improve health care access for the communities they work with, according to the organization.

But Gov. Tate Reeves remains steadfast in his opposition, despite support from a majority of Mississippians, and has derisively referred to Medicaid expansion as adding more people to “welfare rolls.”

Mississippi is one of only 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid. Over its first few years of implementation, research shows expansion would bring in billions of dollars to Mississippi and help the state‘s struggling hospitals.

Johnson, who was born in Greenville and who has worked as a chaplain for hospitals in Memphis and Jackson, acknowledges its financial benefits. But expansion is about more than that, according to Johnson — it’s really about helping your neighbor.

Johnson spoke with Mississippi Today about the need for Medicaid expansion, and what the Governor’s refusal to consider the policy says about morality in Mississippi.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Mississippi Today: Talk to me a little bit about what Together for Hope is and what it does for people who have not heard of it.

Rev. Charlton Johnson: It is a coalition with its focus on fighting rural, persistent poverty. Persistent poverty is defined as an area that has been under the federal threshold for poverty for consistently 30 years, and in Mississippi alone, we have 53 counties that meet that definition of persistent poverty. We are a national group, so I’m serving what we call the Delta region, which comprises the poorest counties in Mississippi, in Arkansas and Missouri; some parishes in Louisiana; Illinois — basically along the Mississippi River.

MT: Can you explain a little more in detail what the organization does, specifically?

Johnson: We serve as a bridge for grassroots organizations and what we call grass-top organizations that are trying to find ways to make an impact on the ground. For instance, there is this group that we partner with out of the Delta called Hands for Hope. They have tried to intervene with the food scarcity in that area because they don’t have a lot of grocery stores and fresh foods. Most people do their grocery shopping at Family Dollar or Dollar General. Now, they have a space where they receive fresh foods, like a distribution. Our job is making that connection between the community and that organization. A lot of grassroots organizations have a mission or idea of how they want to help the community, but they don’t always have the resources to turn something around.

MT: What kind of work does Together for Hope do around Medicaid expansion?

Johnson: It’s largely advocacy, with hosting the summit. Expansion has not been framed the right way. That was even mentioned in our last staff meeting, that we almost need to just pull it back from saying Medicaid expansion versus just starting to meet those who are in the gap. There are so many people who are in that void of not being able to receive health care.

As a chaplain in hospitals, I’ve seen people use the emergency room as their primary care physicians, or they can’t go to the doctor and get sick enough they end up in the ER. That’s because people don’t have insurance. Seeing that was an awakening moment for me — it was when I began to recognize that people are not just running in here because they’re sick. It’s because the hospital has become their only option.

MT: I’m sure you were hearing about expansion long before starting this job. How do you think we have been talking about expansion, and how do you think we should be talking about it?

Johnson: Before coming into this role, I heard conversations about the need to expand Medicaid, which came while President Obama was in office. But there was so much resistance from red states to support that kind of initiative. People were trying to do their best to tear it apart. And Mississippi, of course, being the red state that it has long been, did not accept monies to help make this program more robust in Mississippi. So to hear Governor Reeves saying that he still isn’t interested in expanding Medicaid, to me it is just continuing the talking point that I heard from people who share his political ideology. When I heard that this organization Together for Hope was out there trying to help people better understand how it helps, not just people but the community as a whole and to also fight poverty, I wanted to be on the front lines.

MT: I’m wondering how you, as a pastor, square red states that are really religious with this resistance to helping some of the most vulnerable people in the state?

Johnson: I have a hard time. As a person of faith, it’s so hypocritical to me, because when you look at the 10 commandments, Jesus teaches that all of those commandments can be boiled down to two. The first is loving God, but the second one is loving your neighbor as yourself. And if I love my neighbor, then I recognize that we have a mutual interest in each other doing well.

That’s not something that I readily see in a hospitality state like Mississippi. So that’s hard for me to square for myself personally, but I also recognize that we’re all at different places in our walk of faith. I think if you’re Christian, you walk the walk of Christ long enough at some point, it changes your heart, and it begins to alter the way you see those around you, so I have hope that one day they’ll see that change.

But until that day, it just means that those of us who do see the need for change, need to not only be vocal, but need to be out front with doing those acts of compassion, of grace and mercy.

MT: If you were to explain what Medicaid expansion is to someone who wasn’t familiar with it, or someone who opposes it, what would you say about the policy and its significance?

Johnson: I’ve been holding on to a passage in Psalms 23 which says that “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.” It’s not that we don’t have something to fear, but Christ is with us. Christ is with the hurting. And to say that we are Christ’s followers means that we need to follow Christ to where those who are hurting to help, to offer grace, to offer support.

And I see access to health care as a means of offering grace to people, or expanding Medicaid, bridging the gap — whatever phrase people want to put to it.

MT: Together for Hope advocates for expansion because of their work in communities of poverty, as I understand it, so can you talk a little bit about the connection between poverty and poor health outcomes?

Johnson: If people are not getting the medical care they need, the health disparities are going off the charts. People are dying unnecessarily because they don’t even have the option of going to the doctor when they need it. When they get sick, they have to just muster through it and hope that they’ll be okay. And I don’t think that’s what it means to live in a community.

MT: If Mississippi continues to forgo expansion, what are the consequences for the communities you work with?

Johnson: Those health outcomes will continue to get worse and worse is the short answer. But I don’t think that robs compassionate people of ingenuity. We’re going to find a way to help people.

Expansion seems the most logical way that it can be done, but if we have to find an I’ll-climb-the-mountain-side way of helping people with health care access, we will.

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 1875

Published

3 hours ago

November 2, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Jerry Mitchell – 2024-11-02 07:00:00

Nov. 2, 1875

Pictured here are U.S. Sen. Hiram Revels of Mississippi, left, with six Black members of the U.S. House, Ben J.S. Turner of Alabama, Josiah T. Walls of Florida, Jefferson H. Long of Georgia, and Robert C. De Large, Joseph H. Rainy and R. Brown Elliot, all of South Carolina. Credit: Library of Congress

The first Mississippi Plan, which included violence against Black Americans to keep them from voting, resulted in huge victories for white Democrats across the state.

A year earlier, the Republican Party had carried a majority of the votes, and many Black Mississippians had been elected to office. In the wake of those victories, white leagues arose to challenge Republican rule and began to use widespread violence and fraud to recapture control of the state.

Over several days in September 1875, about 50 Black Mississippians were killed along with white supporters, including a school teacher who worked with the Black community in Clinton.

The governor asked President Ulysses Grant to intervene, but he decided against intervening, and the violence and fraud continued. Other Southern states soon copied the Mississippi plan.

John R. Lynch, the last Black congressman for Mississippi until the 1986 election of Mike Espy, wrote: “It was a well-known fact that in 1875 nearly every Democratic club in the State was converted into an armed military company.”

A federal grand jury concluded: “Fraud, intimidation, and violence perpetrated at the last election is without a parallel in the annals of history.”

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

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Mississippi Today

Mississippi Today’s NewsMatch Campaign is Here: Support Journalism that Strengthens Mississippi

Published

15 hours ago

November 1, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Mary Margaret White – 2024-11-01 12:34:00

High-quality journalism like ours depends on reader support; without it, we simply couldn’t exist. That’s why we’re proud to join the NewsMatch movement, a national initiative aimed at raising $50 million for nonprofit newsrooms that serve communities like ours here in Mississippi, where access to reliable information has often been limited.

In a time when trusted journalists and media sources are disappearing, we believe the stakes couldn’t be higher. Without on-the-ground, trustworthy reporting, civic engagement suffers, accountability falters and corruption often goes unaddressed. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Here at Mississippi Today we act as watchdogs, holding those in power accountable, and as storytellers, giving a platform to voices that have been ignored for too long. And we’re committed to keeping our stories free for everyone because information should be accessible when it’s needed most.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

Why NewsMatch and Why Now?

This year’s NewsMatch campaign runs from November 1 through December 31, giving us a special opportunity to make each dollar you give go even further. Through matching funds provided by local foundations like the Maddox Foundation, and national funders like the MacArthur Foundation, the Rural Partner Fund and the Hewlett Foundation, your gift will be matched dollar for dollar up to $1,000. Plus, if 100 new donors join us, we’ll unlock an additional $2,000 in funding, bringing us even closer to our goal. Boiled down: your donation goes four times as far.

Every dollar raised strengthens our ability to serve you with fact-based journalism on issues that impact your everyday life—whether it’s covering local election issues or reporting on decisions affecting schools, safety and economic growth in Mississippi. Your support makes it possible for us to stay rooted in the community, offering nuanced perspectives that help Mississippians understand and engage with what’s happening around them.

Special Event: “Freedom of the Press: Southern Challenges, National Impact”

As part of the campaign, we’re excited to host a special virtual event, “Freedom of the Press: Southern Challenges, National Impact.” Join Deep South Today newsrooms Mississippi Today and Verite News, along with national experts on press freedom, for an in-depth discussion on the unique challenges facing journalists in the Deep South. This one-hour session will explore the critical role local newsrooms play in holding power accountable, highlighting recent restrictions on press freedom such as Louisiana’s “25-foot law,” which affects journalists’ ability to report vital news.

We’ll examine what’s at stake if local newsrooms lose press freedoms and will discuss how you, as members of the public, can help protect it. This event is open to Mississippi Today and Verite News members as a special thank-you for supporting local journalism and standing with us in this mission. Donate today to RSVP!

How You Can Help

Make Your Gift Today

Together, let’s ensure Mississippi has the robust, independent journalism it needs to thrive. Your support fuels our ability to expose the truth, elevate marginalized stories and build a more informed Mississippi.

Thank you for believing in the power of journalism to strengthen the communities we love—not only during election season but year-round. With your help, we’ll keep Mississippi informed, engaged and connected for generations to come.

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

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Mississippi Today

Hinds County loses fight over control of jail

Published

21 hours ago

November 1, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Mina Corpuz – 2024-11-01 12:57:00

The Hinds County sheriff and Board of Supervisors have lost an appeal to prevent control of its jail by a court-appointed receiver and an injunction that orders the county to address unconstitutional conditions in the facility.

Two members from a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with decisions by U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves to appoint a receiver to oversee day-to-day jail operations and keep parts of a previous consent decree in place to fix constitutional violations, including a failure to protect detainees from harm.

However, the appeals court called the new injunction “overly broad” in one area and is asking Reeves to reevaluate the scope of the receivership.

The injunction retained provisions relating to sexual assault, but the appeals court found the provisions were tied to general risk of violence at the jail, rather than specific concerns about the Prison Rape Elimination Act. The court reversed those points of the injunction and remanded them to the district court so the provisions can be removed.

The court also found that the receiver should not have authority over budgeting and staff salaries for the Raymond Detention Center, which could be seen as “federal intrusion into RDC’s budget” – especially if the receivership has no end date.

Hinds County Board of Supervisors President Robert Graham was not immediately available for comment Friday. Sheriff Tyree Jones declined to comment because he has not yet read the entire court opinion.

In 2016, the Department of Justice sued Hinds County alleging a pattern or practice of unconstitutional conditions in four of its detention facilities. The county and DOJ entered a consent decree with stipulated changes to make for the jail system, which holds people facing trial.

“But the decree did not resolve the dispute; to the contrary, a yearslong battle ensued in the district court as to whether and to what extent the County was complying with the consent decree,” the appeals court wrote.

This prompted Reeves to hold the county in contempt of court twice in 2022.

The county argued it was doing its best to comply with the consent decree and spending millions to fix the jail. One of the solutions they offered was building a new jail, which is now under construction in Jackson.

The county had a chance to further prove itself during three weeks of hearings held in February 2022. Focuses included the death of seven detainees in 2021 from assaults and suicide and issues with staffing, contraband, old infrastructure and use of force.

Seeing partial compliance by the county, in April 2022 Reeves dismissed the consent decree and issued a new, shorter injunction focused on the jail and removed some provisions from the decree.

But Reeves didn’t see improvement from there. In July 2022, he ordered receivership and wrote that it was needed because of an ongoing risk of unconstitutional harm to jail detainees and staff.

The county pushed back against federal oversight and filed an appeal, arguing that there isn’t sufficient evidence to show that there are current and ongoing constitutional violations at the jail and that the county has acted with deliberate indifference.

Days before the appointed receiver was set to take control of the jail at the beginning of 2023, the 5th Circuit Court ordered a stay to halt that receiver’s work. The new injunction ordered by Reeves was also stayed, and a three-person jail monitoring team that had been in place for years also was ordered to stop work.

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

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