by Kate Royals and Sophia Paffenroth, Mississippi Today
June 3, 2025

Former Mississippi Medicaid Director Drew Snyder is stepping down as head of the federal Medicaid agency. 

Snyder, an attorney, was tapped by the Trump administration in January to serve as the deputy administrator and director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services.

Snyder is resigning due to personal family matters, a source familiar with the situation told Mississippi Today on Tuesday. 

Caprice Knapp, former North Dakota Medicaid director, will take over as interim acting director of the Centers for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS), the nation’s public health insurance program for children, pregnant women and people who have low incomes or disabilities. 

“Drew has played an invaluable role leading our Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services as we began strengthening the programs to better serve the nation’s most vulnerable,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement. “Caprice is an incredibly talented leader and will help lead the Center through this transition, ensuring we continue building upon Drew’s efforts.” 

Snyder declined to comment to Mississippi Today. Politico first reported the news of his departure. 

Snyder led the Mississippi Division of Medicaid for nearly seven years and was the agency’s longest-serving director. He served under two Republican governors who successfully opposed expanding the Medicaid program to include working low-income Mississippians. 

Snyder also briefly led The Healthcare Collaborative, which represents dozens of hospitals that splintered off from the Mississippi Hospital Association. The Collaborative is housed under Capitol Resources, a powerful multistate lobbying firm that has donated thousands of dollars to Republican officials’ campaigns. 

Snyder’s resignation comes as the Medicaid program faces monumental changes under what Trump calls a “big, beautiful bill” of tax breaks and spending cuts, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives and will begin making its way through the Senate this week. 

The bill directs states to impose work requirements for Medicaid, lowers the federal match for states that have expanded the program under the Affordable Care Act and requires agencies to conduct eligibility checks more often.

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

The post Former Medicaid head steps down from federal role 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: Center-Right

The article maintains largely factual and neutral reporting on Drew Snyder’s resignation from his federal Medicaid leadership role. It outlines Snyder’s background, including his service under Republican governors opposing Medicaid expansion, and notes his association with a lobbying group linked to Republican campaigns, which subtly frames his political alignment. The coverage includes references to the Trump administration and legislation that reflect conservative policy priorities, such as Medicaid work requirements and funding cuts. However, the tone remains measured, presenting information without overt editorializing or partisan language. Overall, the article reports on ideological positions without strongly advocating a viewpoint, but the contextual emphasis slightly leans toward a center-right perspective due to its focus on Republican-aligned figures and policies.

by Rick Cleveland, Mississippi Today
June 3, 2025

Ty Grisham, John’s son, grew up going with his famous dad to the old Dudy Noble Field, sitting in the Left Field Lounge, gorging himself, he says, on “barbecue, crawfish and college baseball.”

“I thought that was the way college baseball everywhere,” Ty Grisham says.

Years later, Ty Grisham played baseball for Brian O’Connor, the new Mississippi State baseball coach, during O’Connor’s first two seasons at Virginia. Ty Grisham, who graduated from law school at Ole Miss, still lives and works as a lawyer in Charlottesville. So, yes, he seemed the perfect guy to talk to about State’s new baseball coach.

“Brian’s a first-class individual, savvy, intelligent, extremely thoughtful,” Ty Grisham said in a phone conversation Tuesday morning. “I live in Charlottesville, love college baseball and pull for Virginia, so I really, really hate to see him leave. It’s a tough loss for us, but at the same time it’s a home run hire for State.”

In this case, the numbers — and O’Connor’s resume — do not lie. In 22 years with O’Connor at the helm, Virginia has made the NCAA Tournament 18 times, won nine NCAA Regionals, played in seven College World Series, and won a national championship (2015). O’Connor’s overall record: 917-388-2, a winning percentage of better than 70%. Little wonder, at age 54, he already has been inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

“He’s just an incredible baseball coach,” Ty Grisham says. “He’s top five in the country if he’s not No. 1.”

Ty Grisham, an outfielder, was inherited, not recruited, by O’Connor. Dennis Womack, O’Connor’s predecessor, recruited the younger Grisham to Virginia from St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, where Grisham was a standout baseball and football player. Womack had a losing record over 23 seasons at Virginia. Things changed quickly under O’Connor, who had been an assistant under Paul Mainieri at Notre Dame.

“Things changed quickly. There was instantly an expectation to win,” Ty Grisham says. “You could just feel things shifting in the locker room. Brian was a gifted motivator. He was very thoughtful, but he was all about making us tougher and more competitive. I well remember the early morning wind sprints.”

That was 2003. O’Connor was 32. Ty Grisham was 19. Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina and Georgia Tech were the teams to beat in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia was a middle-of-the-pack ACC team. That changed abruptly. In 2004, O’Connor’s first season, the Cavs won 44, lost 15, finished 18-6 in the ACC and hosted an NCAA Regional. 

“He was definitely a players’ coach,” Ty Grisham says. “I would describe him as savvy, extremely intelligent, just very impressive all around. You don’t get a ton of coachspeak from him. He’s genuine and thoughtful in everything he says.”

I will echo that last part about “thoughtful.” O’Connor brought his 2009 Virginia team to Oxford for a memorable Super Regional. Ole Miss won game one 4-3 in 12 innings. Virginia won by the same score in a second game nail-biter and then clinched the series 5-1 the next day. I approached O’Connor after a press conference for one more question that turned into a 15-minute give-and-take. A week later after a College World Series press conference, he was every bit as engaging and interesting. Put it this way: I have not been surprised by his success in the decade and a half since.

Ty Grisham says he doesn’t know why O’Connor chose to leave Charlottesville for Starkville.

“I can’t speculate,” Grisham said. “He was here 22 years. He’s a legend. I would guess maybe he just wanted a new challenge. The facilities at UVA are good, but not the Mecca you have at Starkville. I don’t know… We haven’t talked since the change.”

So I asked Ty Grisham how he thinks O’Connor will fare in this new age of NIL and the transfer portal. After two consecutive CWS appearances in 2023 and 2024, Virginia faltered to 32-18 (16-11 in the ACC) this past season, missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.

“Brian was really, really good at finding transfer guys well before NIL and transfer portal opened up,” Grisham said. “He was gifted at evaluating talent, spotting lower level guys who came to UVA and contributed. I will be shocked if he doesn’t win big at State.”

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

The post Ty Grisham, the author's son, discusses Brian O'Connor's move to Mississippi State 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

This article offers a straightforward profile and personal perspective on Brian O’Connor’s coaching career and recent move to Mississippi State, focusing on his accomplishments and reputation. It presents factual information and direct quotes without promoting a political agenda or ideological viewpoint. The tone is respectful and admiring but stays within the realm of sports reporting and personal testimony rather than ideological framing. Therefore, the article maintains a neutral stance, centered on biographical and athletic evaluation rather than political or cultural bias.

by Taylor Vance, Mississippi Today
June 2, 2025

House Speaker Jason White removed Stacey Hobgood-Wilkes, a Republican from Picayune, as chairwoman of the House Drug Policy Committee last week, a rare move from a speaker two years into his first term as leader of the House. 

Hobgood-Wilkes said in a statement to Mississippi Today that she was removed as chairwoman over her advocacy for reforming pharmacy benefit manager practices in the state, a topic hotly debated by lawmakers earlier this year during their regular session. 

The Pearl River County lawmaker said the speaker’s decision to remove her as leader of the committee was “deeply hurtful,” because it wasn’t because of her objective performance as a legislator, but rather because she continued to speak up for her beliefs.

“I fought to lower drug costs for Mississippians and to support our independent pharmacists against the powerful PBMs working to drive them out of business,” Hobgood-Wilkes said. “I didn’t run for office to build my ego or pad my pocketbook. I ran because I love Pearl River County, and I love Mississippi.”

White, a Republican from West, did not respond to a request for comment. He replaced Hobgood-Wilkes as leader of the committee with Rep. Beth Luther Waldo, a freshman Republican from Pontotoc. 

Both chambers of the Legislature, earlier this year, introduced plans that sought to protect patients and independent pharmacists, who have warned that if legislators do not pass a law to regulate PBMs, which serve as middlemen in the pharmaceutical industry, some local pharmacies may be forced to close. They say that the companies’ low payments and unfair business practices have left them struggling to break even.

House Bill 1123, authored by the speaker, originally focused on the transparency aspect of PBMs. The Senate then beefed up the bill by adding provisions barring the companies from steering patients to affiliate pharmacies and prohibiting spread pricing – the practice of paying insurers more for drugs than pharmacists. 

Independent pharmacists, who flocked to the Capitol to advocate for reform during the session, widely supported the Senate’s version of the bill. Hobgood-Wilkes also continued to speak out in favor of stronger PBM legislation, even though White and other House leaders urged for a more middle-of-the-road approach.

Despite the legislative wrangling, a Democratic lawmaker defeated the bill by challenging it for violating procedural rules. 

It’s rare for a speaker or lieutenant governor to remove a legislator as a committee chair in the middle of a four-year term, unless there’s a vacancy or questionable behavior by the lawmaker. It’s even more notable that White, only halfway through his first term as speaker, appears to be punishing a fellow Republican over policy beliefs instead of conduct.

Another notable time a speaker relegated a House member to the sidelines was when former House Speaker Philip Gunn in 2019 appointed Rep. Doug McLeod, a Republican from Lucedale, to only one committee after he was arrested on charges of domestic violence. The former South Mississippi lawmaker was found not guilty of the charges.

White has also tweaked committee assignments for around a dozen Republicans and two Democrats, according to Rep. Robert Johnson III, the House Democratic leader from Natchez. 

White changed the committee assignments for Johnson and Rep. Daryl Porter, a Democrat from Summit. The two Democrats said they believed changing the committee makeup was to account for two new House members who were recently sworn into office and not a punishment from the leadership. 

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

The post Speaker White removes Rep. Hobgood-Wilkes as committee chair over advocacy for PBM reform 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: Center-Right

This article reports on the removal of a Republican lawmaker, Stacey Hobgood-Wilkes, from a committee chair position by House Speaker Jason White, also a Republican, primarily due to her advocacy for stronger pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reforms. The piece presents factual details about the internal legislative conflict without endorsing a partisan viewpoint. However, the focus on intra-party discipline and policy disagreements within the GOP, as well as the highlighting of efforts to protect independent pharmacists and lower drug costs, gives it a slight tilt toward supporting reform efforts often associated with more moderate or reform-minded conservatives. The article maintains a largely neutral tone while presenting the political dynamics, reflecting a center-right perspective consistent with the subjects involved and the framing of legislative processes.