Mississippi Today

House Medicaid Committee passes postpartum coverage extension

Published

1 year ago

February 28, 2023

House Medicaid Committee passes postpartum coverage extension

by Devna Bose, Mississippi Today
February 28, 2023

After months of contention, extended postpartum health coverage coverage for Mississippi moms is one step closer to becoming law.

The House Medicaid Committee, in its first meeting this legislative session, voted Tuesday to advance legislation that would extend postpartum Medicaid benefits from two months to a year.

“This bill demonstrates that we as policymakers also recognize that our commitment to life cannot end once a baby takes his or her first breath,” said Rep. Missy McGee, R-Hattiesburg.

Health professionals and medical organizations have long recommended the policy change. Citing data that shows Mississippi's already-dismal mortality rate is getting worse, they say health problems continue for people who give birth for far longer than two months postpartum. The legislation has the potential to affect thousands — two-thirds of babies born in Mississippi are born to people on Medicaid.

Dr. Dan Edney, state health officer, told Mississippi Today the passage of this legislation is “absolutely necessary” to improve health outcomes in Mississippi.

“This is low hanging fruit for us … because we have way too many of our moms dying related to pregnancy,” Edney said. “It's one of the worst health disparities that we have.”

“I'm so proud to see where we're moving with postpartum. Everybody that's in this wheelhouse agrees — there are no dissenters.”

Until now, House leadership has made the final steps toward the legislation becoming law impossible – despite the fact that most representatives support the legislation, according to a survey conducted by Mississippi Today.

Over the past two years, the Senate has passed multiple measures to extend postpartum coverage in Mississippi. House Speaker Philip Gunn blocked the legislation from coming to a vote last year in the House and appeared poised to do so again this year.

But Gov. Tate Reeves, who has adamantly opposed the legislation, reversed course this weekend and urged state politicians to pass it.

Following his announcement, Division of Medicaid Executive Director Drew Snyder, whose department for months has refused to take a stance on postpartum coverage extension, wrote a letter on Feb. 27 to House Speaker Philip Gunn voicing his support for the legislation's passage. The Division of Medicaid is housed under the governor's office.

Gunn subsequently said that he would not block the legislation from coming to the House floor, as he did during the 2022 legislative session, though he appeared to walk the statement back slightly in an interview with SuperTalk on Feb. 28.

“I noticed on your website here you say that Speaker Gunn is going to let the people vote,” Gunn said. “Well, we've not decided to do that yet. We decided to move the bill out of the committee and keep it alive.”

In his letter, Snyder estimated the policy change would cost the state $7.1 million, according to House Medicaid Committee Chair Joey Hood, R-Ackerman. The state currently has $3.9 billion in surplus funds.

Rep. John Hines, D-Greenville, said during the meeting that he was disappointed that it took the leadership of the state feeling like their backs were “against the wall” for this legislation to pass the committee.

“It is a shame that we have to wait for the political winds to turn or somebody that feels like they're not going to be able to be reelected to do something like this,” he said. “This is a moment that we should be celebrating the lives of women who actually bring life. But yet, it is a political ploy in this process.”

About the allegation of political theater, Hood had “no comment” in an interview with reporters.

As the state expects thousands more births following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last summer to overturn abortion rights, McGee said this measure is necessary to protect the lives of Mississippians and their babies — by providing longer postnatal care, the risk of preterm birth lowers. Mississippi has the highest infant mortality rate, preterm birth rate and low birthweight rate in the country.

“Healthy moms equal healthy babies, and if we care about babies, we must show that we care for and value their mothers,” she said.

Despite the legislation's passage in the house committee, now its future is up to Hood — he decides when and if it makes it onto the House floor.

Following the meeting, Hood said there was “no timetable” regarding when the legislation might make it to the House.

“It's on the calendar. We're just going to continue to work it through the process,” he said, citing a line he's repeated to the media in recent weeks.

“You know how the legislative process is,” he said. “We still have a long way to go.”

If the legislation passes, Mississippi will join 29 other states that have extended postpartum Medicaid coverage to one year.

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

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Mississippi Today

Read Mississippi Today’s Pulitzer Prize finalist series ‘’Unfettered Power: Mississippi Sheriffs”

Published

4 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Staff Editor

Mississippi Today's “Unfettered Power: Mississippi Sheriffs” investigation has been named a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting.

The 2023 investigation from the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting at Mississippi Today and The New York Times' Local Investigations Fellowship revealed how Mississippi sheriffs rule like kings, wielding vast power, exploiting and abusing the very people they are called to protect with no one stopping them.

The seven-part 2023 series, which has continued into 2024, included new details about the Rankin County “Goon Squad.”

Click the links below to read the Pulitzer Prize-recognized series.

Sex Abuse, Beatings and an Untouchable Mississippi Sheriff

Where the Sheriff is King, These Women Say He Coerced Them Into Sex

New Evidence Raises Questions in Controversial Mississippi Law Enforcement Killing

The Sheriff, His Girlfriend and His Illegal Subpoenas

How a ‘Goon Squad' of Deputies Got Away With Years of Brutality

Days After Rankin's ‘Goon Squad' Tortured Two Men, Supervisors Gave the Sheriff a Pay Boost

Who Investigates the Sheriff? In Mississippi, Often No One.

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

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Mississippi Today

Mississippi Today named 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist for “Unfettered Power: Mississippi Sheriffs” investigation

Published

4 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Staff Editor

Mississippi Today's “Unfettered Power: Mississippi Sheriffs” investigation has been named a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting.

The 2023 investigation from the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting at Mississippi Today and The New York Times revealed how Mississippi sheriffs rule like kings, wielding vast power, exploiting and abusing the very people they are called to protect with no one stopping them.

The series included new details about the Rankin County “Goon Squad.”

“I feel so blessed to see our work investigating sheriffs in Mississippi recognized by the Pulitzer Prize Board,” investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell said. “This honor doesn't belong to us. It belongs to the people who dared to stand up and share their stories — victims of violence, sexual assault and many other abuses.”

This is Mississippi Today's second consecutive honor from the Pulitzer Prizes. The newsroom won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting for its “The Backchannel” investigation into key players in the welfare scandal, making it the seventh Mississippi news outlet to win in the history of the prizes.

“This series shocked the conscience of Mississippi, and the impact this group of incredible journalists had is enormous,” said Adam Ganucheau, Mississippi Today's editor-in-chief. “Anyone who has read the stories can see how much time and energy they put into serving the state, and they are so deserving of this recognition.”

The seven-part “Unfettered Power” series documented in vivid detail the stunning abuse of residents by officers across Mississippi for more than two decades. Officers spied on and tortured suspects and used their power to jail and punish political enemies.

The reporting was based on difficult-to-get interviews and a deep examination of records, including thousands of pages of Taser logs. Using other department records, the reporting team determined which device was assigned to each deputy, allowing reporters to substantiate allegations of torture by victims and witnesses.

“None of this would have happened without the hard work of our three tremendously talented investigative reporters, Ilyssa Daly, Brian Howey and Nate Rosenfield,” Mitchell said. “They are a model for what dedication, determination and perseverance can accomplish. Because of them, we know that the future of investigative reporting is in great hands.”

The impact of the series was profound. The reporting prompted federal investigations and the drafting of several pieces of Mississippi legislation to limit the power of sheriffs.

“In a short time Mississippi Today has built a prize-winning newsroom that has produced a string of accountability stories,” said Dean Baquet, executive editor of The New York Times' Local Investigations Fellowship. “Our combined coverage of horrific abuses by sheriffs in the state is an example of the power and importance of local investigative reporting. It has yielded results, and the work continues.”

The Pulitzer Prize is the most prominent award earned by Mississippi Today, the state's flagship nonprofit newsroom that was founded in 2016. The newsroom and its journalists have won several national awards in recent years, including: two Goldsmith Prizes for Investigative Reporting; a Sidney Award for thorough coverage of the Jackson water crisis; a Collier Prize for State Government Accountability; and the John Jay/Harry Frank Guggenheim Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Award.

Mississippi Today and its staff have also won dozens of regional and statewide prizes, including dozens of Society of Professional Journalists Green Eyeshade Awards; several Mississippi Press Association awards for excellence, including a Bill Minor Prizes for Investigative Reporting; and the 2023 Silver Em Award at University of Mississippi.

“We as Mississippians are so fortunate to have strong investigative journalism in our state,” said Mary Margaret White, Mississippi Today CEO and Executive Director. “This level of reporting takes a great deal of focus, determination and grit. The journalists being honored today are public servants in the truest sense, catalyzing accountability and change and standing up for, and with, those whose voices are otherwise ignored.”

This is Mitchell's second time to be named a Pulitzer finalist. He was previously named a finalist in 2006 for his relentless reporting on the successful conviction of Edgar Ray Killen, who orchestrated the killing of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia in 1964.

The ongoing work on the sheriffs series is far from done, he said.

“We've just begun to shine a light into the darkness in Mississippi, and we can already see the roaches scattering,” Mitchell said.

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

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Mississippi Today

Could Spencer Rattler be Saints quarterback of the future? Archie Manning thinks so.

Published

8 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Staff Editor

mississippitoday.org – Rick Cleveland – 2024-05-06 11:38:53

Probably the biggest surprise in the recent NFL Draft came in the fifth round when the New Orleans Saints, who just last year signed veteran quarterback Derek Carr to a four-year, $150 million contract, chose South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler.

The Saints hadn't been expected to take a quarterback. Rattler had been expected to go much higher.

At least one expert, a former New Orleans Saints quarterback and a Mississippi legend, believes the drafting of Rattler was a wise choice by his hometown team.

“I like Spencer,” Archie Manning said recently. “I like him as a person and as a player. I can't wait to see what he does for the Saints.”

Rattler, an Arizona native, played college ball first at Oklahoma and then for the past two seasons at South Carolina. Manning knows Rattler best from when he was a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy the summer between Oklahoma and South Carolina.

“I really enjoyed Spencer at our camp,” Manning said. “His attitude was great. He worked hard, got along great with all the other quarterbacks and the campers. At our meeting to start every day, he always came in early, sat front and center and just seemed to soak everything in. He had a maturity about him. He wanted to learn. He just had this little gleam in his eye. Obviously, he can really throw the football.”

Manning, who counts South Carolina coach Shane Beamer as a friend, watched Rattler for the past two seasons, even visiting Columbia for practices and attending quarterback meetings.

“I just couldn't be any more impressed with how Spencer handled things, including some disappointments,” Manning said. “I think he has a bright future in the NFL.”

There are several knocks on Rattler that might have caused him to fall in the draft. For one, he stands just a shade over six feet tall and he is not particularly fleet of foot. That will bother some teams a lot more than it should bother the Saints, who were led to their only Super Bowl championship by a six-foot quarterback with average speed named Drew Brees.

Also, there was the transfer from Oklahoma to South Carolina after Rattler lost the starting quarterback job to Caleb Williams (the first pick of the 2024 draft). And there have been reports that an unflattering 2019 Netflix documentary, filmed during Rattler's senior year of high school when he was the nation's No. 1 quarterback recruit, caused some NFL teams to lower their evaluations. Said Manning, “I haven't seen that documentary but I've heard about it. All I know about his attitude and makeup is what I've seen first-hand.”

Clearly, Rattler has some upside. At Oklahoma and South Carolina combined, Rattler threw for over 10,800 yards, 77 touchdowns and 32 interceptions with a 68.5% completion rate. As a junior at South Carolina, he led the Gamecocks to eight victories including back-to-back wins over No. 5 Tennessee and No. 8 Clemson. He threw for 438 yards and six touchdowns against the Vols, 360 yards and two TDs against Clemson. Then, in the Gator Bowl against Notre Dame, he threw for 360 yards and two scores.

Last season, when South Carolina replaced much of its offensive line, Rattler was sacked 30 times but still threw for 3,196 yards and 19 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. Rattler was outstanding in the Senior Bowl, winning MVP honors.

A cynic might joke that the 30 sacks will be excellent preparation for the Saints, who hope to have solved some of their pass-blocking woes by taking Oregon State offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga with their first round choice. Fuaga did not allow a sack his entire senior season.

Rattler is expected to battle Nathan Peterman and Jake Haener for the back-up role behind Carr this preseason. Many, including Manning, believe he could project as a long-range starter down the road.

It has been amazing to watch the devaluation of the running back position in the NFL over recent seasons. Not a single running back was selected in the first round in the 2024 draft. Texas halfback Jonathan Brooks was the first back taken with the 14th pick of the second round, the 46th pick of the draft. Greenville native Trey Benson was the second running back taken (by the Arizona Cardinals) with the second pick of the third round. And get this: Benson's high school teammate Dillon Johnson, the Washington Huskies running star, wasn't taken in the draft at all.

Johnson, who runs with both power and speed, ran for 1,195 yards and 16 touchdowns, helping the Huskies to the national championship game despite a broken bone his right foot, a sprained left ankle and a ruptured bursa sac in his left knee. Seems to me the steal of the 2024 draft might be someone who wasn't drafted at all. Also seems to me those injuries to Johnson are an indication of why running backs are not valued as highly as was once the case. The shelf life of NFL running backs is not particularly long.

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

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