Mississippi Today

Reddit AMA recap: Medicaid expansion in Mississippi with Senior Political Reporter Geoff Pender

Published

3 years ago

November 21, 2022

Reddit AMA recap: Medicaid expansion in Mississippi with Senior Political Reporter Geoff Pender

by Mississippi Today, Mississippi Today
November 21, 2022

Mississippi's growing health crisis threatens to close at least a dozen hospitals across the state and puts Mississippi in the lead nationally for rates of uninsured people.

Studies have shown and advocates have long touted the benefits of Medicaid expansion, but state leaders remain steadfast in their opposition. As such, Mississippi remains one of only 11 states in the country not to expand the federal-state program.

Mississippi Today launched an ongoing series looking at the impact of the health care crisis on the people and institutions of the state.

As part of that project, Senior Political Reporter Geoff Pender answered readers' questions on Reddit about Medicaid expansion (or the lack thereof) in the state. Here's a recap:

Click to jump to a specific question

Greenwood Leflore Hospital's potential closing/State government's refusal of aid

Underlying motives of those arguing against Medicaid expansion

Can Medicaid expansion prevent local hospitals from closing?

Why advocate so intensely for expanding a program that’s heading toward insolvency?

Q: Thank you for doing this and continuing to push on this topic.

As I sit here seeing the Greenwood hospital closing while the governor touts tax breaks for companies and the state government refuses this aid… I just do not get it.

Unless I think of all of the non-rational reasons for it.

A: Unfortunately, we are hearing from many corners that Greenwood may be the canary in the coal mine right now. We have heard some dire predictions of late from state hospital and other officials. State Health Officer Dr. Edney recently warned that we're looking at at least half a dozen hospitals on the brink, and others are saying our entire system is troubled. I don't know that Medicaid expansion would be the panacea for all that, but most experts are saying the influx of billions of federal dollars for health care would stave off many of these problems.

Q: As the Q&A article describes, there are political and economic arguments against expansion, but what in your opinion are the underlying motives for the stance? Are the politicians perhaps more driven by financial incentive from opposition groups in addition to maintaining their political platforms for the sake of the party? And as for general people, do you think it’s related to a mentality of being against handouts and of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps”? What do you think are the underlying feelings and motivations to these stances?

And lastly, how do you think these underlying reasons can be negotiated with to make progress towards achieving expansion?

A: As far as the current drivers of opposition to expansion, I would say they are now more political than economic, and have been so for quite a while. For one thing, we have empirical evidence from other states, including now Louisiana and Arkansas, that show expansion isn’t the budget-buster our leaders once feared.

We also have reams of studies and evidence from other states showing we would see net positive benefits – thousands of jobs created, savings of double-digit percentages in uncompensated care for hospitals, more workforce participation (ours is typically lowest in the country), net GDP growth and even projected growth in population. Also, we’ve seen firsthand over the last two years that Mississippi, with our economy so heavily dependent on federal spending, sees booming state budget growth when there is an influx of billions of federal dollars. We’re sitting on more than $2 billion in basically surplus state money right now, largely the result of the influx of federal pandemic spending.

And again, this expansion is aimed primarily at the “working poor,” people in the gap between being poor enough for other help or being able to afford private insurance or pay medical bills out of pocket. As many have pointed out, a lot of the folks we’re talking about with this are working more than one job. As for pulling one’s self up by bootstraps, too many folks are one ER visit away from not having any bootstraps, and once someone gets a chronic illness because of lack of preventive care, it costs taxpayers anyway (and more).

No, the opposition now would appear to be more purely political (partisan) and philosophical – not wanting expansion of “Obamacare,” and opposition to expansion of a government program, even if in the long run it’s projected to benefit the workforce and private sector.

That opposition to government programs, however, appears to be selective among state leaders. One recent anecdote struck me in particular. Gov. Reeves recently held a press conference to trumpet the state’s work on expanding broadband internet across rural Mississippi. This is being funded with federal tax dollars. Instead of lamenting such government largesse, Reeves vowed to see that “we not only get our fare share, but that we get more than our fair share.” It would appear it’s OK to take hundreds of millions of federal dollars for internet service to areas where the private sector won’t do it, but not OK to take federal money to help keep people alive and well and working.

As for how this opposition might be overcome – I don’t know that anyone has a simple answer to that. One thing I hear all the time, though, even from some who have opposed expansion, is time. I have heard over and again in recent years that it’s probably just a matter of time before Mississippi expands Medicaid. Polling in recent years would indicate the populace may already be a bit ahead of our politicians on this policy … and, of course, look at other states relenting, such as Arkansas, Louisiana.

We attempted to delve into some of this opposition, past and present, here.

Q: Can Medicaid expansion prevent local hospitals from closing?

A: It's unclear if it definitely would — rural hospitals in particular are facing major headwinds with personnel shortages and costs, supplies, inflation, uncompensated care. But most projections by experts have shown net benefits, and we've seen in other states that expansion helped. Particularly, in Louisiana, rural hospitals saw reductions in uncompensated care costs in the 55% range. This alone could give struggling rural hospitals some breathing room.

This study indicates hospitals in expansion states are less likely to close.

Q: With Medicaid expansion costing far more than initially predicted in other states, it delivering consistently poor health outcomes for those on the program, and it failing to ultimately help save rural providers as seen in Colorado and Indiana…why advocate so intensely for expanding a program that’s heading toward insolvency besides the fact that it will pad the pockets of and expand profits for big hospitals?

A: As for costing more than predicted, as I understand, this has not truly been the case at least on the state level. Some states have seen more people than initially predicted, but that has also been offset by people shifting from their traditional Medicaid to that with the higher match rate from the feds, and other non-direct economic benefits.

As for Colorado, I just recently read a report that rural hospitals there are "about 6 times less likely to close than hospitals in non-expansion states, according to a study by researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus." I'm not sure what you are looking at, but would like to see it if you can forward a link.

As for poor health outcomes, I'm not sure Mississippi would have anywhere to go but up. Mississippi Medicaid has had poor health outcomes, but that has been primarily because only the sickest of the sick, so to speak, are on its adult population. Proponents say that the working-poor expansion population would receive more preventive care and improve outcomes — but you are right, that has been one major argument against expansion in Mississippi.

I don't know that expansion would pad the pockets and profits of big hospitals. It would help ameliorate the $600 million or so in uncompensated care that is hammering, in particular, smaller rural hospitals.

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

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Mississippi Today

Jackson’s performing arts venue Thalia Mara Hall is now open

Published

22 hours ago

June 30, 2025

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-06-30 17:29:00

by Maya Miller, Mississippi Today
June 30, 2025

After more than 10 months closed due to mold, asbestos and issues with the air conditioning system, Thalia Mara Hall has officially reopened.

Outgoing Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba announced the reopening of Thalia Mara Hall during his final press conference held Monday on the arts venue’s steps.

“Today marks what we view as a full circle moment, rejoicing in the iconic space where community has come together for decades in the city of Jackson,” Lumumba said. “Thalia Mara has always been more than a venue. It has been a gathering place for people in the city of Jackson. From its first class ballet performances to gospel concerts, Thalia Mara Hall has been the backdrop for our city’s rich cultural history.”

Thalia Mara Hall closed last August after mold was found in parts of the building. The issues compounded from there, with malfunctioning HVAC systems and asbestos remediation. On June 6, the Mississippi State Fire Marshal’s Office announced that Thalia Mara Hall had finally passed inspection.

“We’re not only excited to have overcome many of the challenges that led to it being shuttered for a period of time,” Lumumba said. “We are hopeful for the future of this auditorium, that it may be able to provide a more up-to-date experience for residents, inviting shows that people are able to see across the world, bringing them here to Jackson. So this is an investment in the future.”

In total, Emad Al-Turk, a city contracted engineer and owner of Al-Turk Planning, estimates that $5 million in city and state funds went into bringing Thalia Mara Hall up to code.

The venue still has work to be completed, including reinstalling the fire curtain. The beam in which the fire curtain will be anchored has asbestos in it, so it will have to be remediated. In addition, a second air-conditioning chiller needs to be installed to properly cool the building. Until it’s installed, which could take months, Thalia Mara Hall will be operating at a lower seating capacity of about 800.

“Primarily because of the heat,” Al-Turk said. “The air conditioning would not be sufficient to actually accommodate the 2,000 people at full capacity, but starting in the fall, that should not be a problem.”

Al-Turk said the calendar is open for the city to begin booking events, though none have been scheduled for July.

“We’re very proud,” he said. “This took a little bit longer than what we anticipated, but we had probably seven or eight different contractors we had to coordinate with and all of them did a superb job to get us where we are today.”

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

The post Jackson’s performing arts venue Thalia Mara Hall is now open appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

The article presents a straightforward report on the reopening of Thalia Mara Hall in Jackson, focusing on facts and statements from city officials without promoting any ideological viewpoint. The tone is neutral and positive, emphasizing the community and cultural significance of the venue while detailing the challenges overcome during renovations. The coverage centers on public investment and future prospects, without partisan framing or editorializing. While quotes from Mayor Lumumba and a city engineer highlight optimism and civic pride, the article maintains balanced, factual reporting rather than advancing a political agenda.

Mississippi Today

‘Hurdles waiting in the shadows’: Lumumba reflects on challenges and triumphs on final day as Jackson mayor

Published

1 day ago

June 30, 2025

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – @ayewolfe – 2025-06-30 17:08:00

by Anna Wolfe and Molly Minta, Mississippi Today
June 30, 2025

On his last day as mayor of Jackson, Chokwe Antar Lumumba recounted accomplishments, praised his executive team and said he has no plans to seek office again.

He spoke during a press conference outside of the city’s Thalia Mara Hall, which was recently cleared for reopening after nearly a year of remediation. The briefing, meant to give media members a peek inside the downtown theater, marked one of Lumumba’s final forays as mayor.

Longtime state Sen. John Horhn — who defeated Lumumba in the Democratic primary runoff — will be inaugurated as mayor Tuesday, but Lumumba won’t be present. Not for any contentious reason, the 42-year-old mayor noted, but because he returns to his private law practice Tuesday.

“I’ve got to work now, y’all,” Lumumba said. “I’ve got a job.”

Thalia Mara Hall’s presumptive comeback was a fitting end for Lumumba, who pledged to make Jackson the most radical city in America but instead spent much of his eight years in office parrying one emergency after another. The auditorium was built in 1968 and closed nearly 11 months ago after workers found mold caused by a faulty HVAC system – on top of broken elevators, fire safety concerns and vandalism.

“This job is a fast-pitched sport,” Lumumba said. “There’s an abundance of challenges that have to be addressed, and it seems like the moment that you’ve gotten over one hurdle, there’s another one that is waiting in the shadows.”

Outside the theater Monday, Lumumba reflected on the high points of his leadership instead of the many crises — some seemingly self-inflicted — he faced as mayor.

He presided over the city during the coronavirus pandemic and the rise in crime it brought, but also the one-two punch of the 2021 and 2022 water crises, exacerbated by the city’s mismanagement of its water plants, and the 18-day pause in trash pickup spurred by Lumumba’s contentious negotiations with the city council in 2023.

Then in 2024, Lumumba was indicted alongside other city and county officials in a sweeping federal corruption probe targeting the proposed development of a hotel across from the city’s convention center, a project that has remained stalled in a 20-year saga of failed bids and political consternation.

Slated for trial next year, Lumumba has repeatedly maintained his innocence.

The city’s youngest mayor also brought some victories to Jackson, particularly in his first year in office. In 2017, he ended a furlough of city employees and worked with then-Gov. Phil Bryant to avoid a state takeover of Jackson Public Schools. In 2019, the city successfully sued German engineering firm Siemens and its local contractors for $89 million over botched work installing the city’s water-sewer billing infrastructure.

“I think that that was a pivotal moment to say that this city is going to hold people responsible for the work that they do,” Lumumba said.

Lumumba had more time than any other mayor to usher in the 1% sales tax, which residents approved in 2014 to fund infrastructure improvements.

“We paved 144 streets,” he said. “There are residents that still are waiting on their roads to be repaved. And you don’t really feel it until it’s your street that gets repaved, but that is a significant undertaking.”

And under his administration, crime has fallen dramatically recently, with homicides cut by a third and shootings cut in half in the last year.

Lumumba was first elected in 2017 after defeating Tony Yarber, a business-friendly mayor who faced his own scandals as mayor. A criminal justice attorney, Lumumba said he never planned to seek office until the stunning death of his father, Chokwe Lumumba Sr., eight months into his first term as mayor in 2014.

“I can say without reservation, and unequivocally, we remember where we started. We are in a much better position than we started,” Lumumba said.

Lumumba said he has sat down with Horhn in recent months, answered questions “as extensively as I could,” and promised to remain reachable to the new mayor.

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

The post 'Hurdles waiting in the shadows': Lumumba reflects on challenges and triumphs on final day as Jackson mayor appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

The article reports on outgoing Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba’s reflections without overt editorializing but subtly frames his tenure within progressive contexts, emphasizing his self-described goal to make Jackson “the most radical city in America.” The piece highlights his accomplishments alongside challenges, including public crises and a federal indictment, maintaining a factual tone yet noting contentious moments like labor disputes and governance issues. While it avoids partisan rhetoric, the focus on social justice efforts, infrastructure investment, and crime reduction, as well as positive framing of Lumumba’s achievements, aligns with a center-left perspective that values progressive governance and accountability.

Mississippi Today

Feds unfreeze $137 million in Mississippi education money

Published

1 day ago

June 30, 2025

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – @devnabose – 2025-06-30 15:37:00

by Devna Bose, Mississippi Today
June 30, 2025

The federal government is restoring $137 million in education funds to Mississippi schools.

The U.S. Department of Education notified states last week that it would reinstate pandemic relief funds. The decision comes less than three months after the federal government revoked billions nationwide as part of Trump administration efforts to cut government spending.

State education agencies and school districts originally had until March 2026 to spend the money, but the federal government claimed that because the pandemic was over, they had no use for the money.

That March 2026 deadline has been reinstated following a series of injunctive orders.

A coalition of Democratic-led states sued the federal government in April over the decision to withhold the money. Then, a federal judge granted plaintiff states injunctive orders in the case, which meant those states could continue spending their COVID-relief dollars while other states remained restricted.

But the education department decided that wasn’t fair, wrote Secretary Linda McMahon in a letter dated June 26, so the agency was restoring the money to all states, not just the ones involved in the lawsuit.

“The original intent of the policy announced on March 28 was to treat all states consistently with regards to safeguarding and refocusing their remaining COVID-era grant funding on students,” she wrote. “The ongoing litigation has created basic fairness and uniformity problems.”

The Mississippi Department of Education notified school districts about the decision on Friday.

In the meantime, schools and states have been requesting exemptions for individual projects, though many from across the country have been denied.

Eleven Mississippi school districts had submitted requests to use the money to fund services such as tutoring and counseling, according to records requested by Mississippi Today, though those are now void because of the federal government’s decision.

Starting immediately, school districts can submit new requests to the state education department to draw down their federal allocation.

Mississippi Today previously reported that about 70 school districts were relying on the federal funds to pay for a range of initiatives, including construction projects, mental health services and literacy programs.

In 2023, almost half of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, pandemic relief money allocated to schools across the country, went to students’ academic, social, and emotional needs. A third went to operational and staff costs, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Education.

Though Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann previously said that legislative leaders might consider helping agencies that were impacted by federal funding cuts, House Speaker Jason White said Monday that he did not have an appetite for directing state funds to pandemic-era programs.

Small school districts were already feeling the impact of the federal government’s decision to rescind the money. In May, Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School Board voted to terminate a contract on a school construction project funded with federal dollars.

The litigation is ongoing, so the funding could again be rescinded.

Clarification: A previous version of this article misstated the status of school districts’ pandemic relief money.

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

The post Feds unfreeze $137 million in Mississippi education money appeared first on mississippitoday.org

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article primarily reports on the federal government’s decision to restore $137 million in education funds to Mississippi schools after a temporary freeze. It presents factual information about the timeline, legal actions, and responses from various state officials without adopting a partisan tone. The piece mentions the involvement of Democratic-led states suing the federal government and notes Republican-aligned efforts to cut spending, but does so in a balanced way focused on reporting events and statements rather than promoting a political viewpoint. The language remains neutral and factual, avoiding loaded or biased framing, making it a straightforward news report with centrist bias.