Proposal to create Delta health authority draws fire from area’s lawmakers
A proposal to manage hospitals and clinics in the Delta under a new authority — and give political power over it to the governor — was met with distrust from the area’s lawmakers this week. Representatives from the Delta Council, an economic development organization that was one of the first non-health care groups to endorse […]
Proposal to create Delta health authority draws fire from area’s lawmakers
A proposal to manage hospitals and clinics in the Delta under a new authority — and give political power over it to the governor — was met with distrust from the area’s lawmakers this week. Representatives from the Delta Council, an economic development organization that was one of the first non-health care groups to endorse […]
Charged with no crime. Locked up for 12 days. He died waiting for help
James Tatsch was not charged with any crime. But when he was found unresponsive in an isolation cell at the Alcorn County Jail on Jan. 17, he had been locked up for 12 days. He died at the local hospital. Tatsch was waiting for mental health treatment through Mississippi’s involuntary commitment process. Every year, hundreds of […]
Is Mississippi Medicaid stalling on timely health care for Mississippi moms?
After the head of Mississippi Medicaid said his agency needed more time to research a policy that would make it easier for poor moms to receive timely health care, a medical advisory board said it would meet in January to decide whether to recommend that the Legislature establish it. However, with just a few days […]
New legislative leadership: Nothing off table in tackling Mississippi health issues
Last year, committee chairs in the House and Senate killed every Medicaid expansion bill without a debate or vote. Now, for the first time in a decade, a policy that has been politically forbidden in Mississippi will at least get a full hearing. That’s because of pivotal changes in House leadership. Newly elected Speaker Jason […]
Lawmakers work on remedy for hospital grant program failures
The state’s troubled hospital grant program has doled out money to a handful of hospitals, but it’ll take a new law to get hospitals the full amount of money they were promised a year ago. As Mississippi’s hospitals financially foundered, the state Legislature established the Mississippi Hospital Sustainability Grant program last session to give hospitals […]
Lawmakers work on remedy for hospital grant program failures
The state’s troubled hospital grant program has doled out money to a handful of hospitals, but it’ll take a new law to get hospitals the full amount of money they were promised a year ago. As Mississippi’s hospitals financially foundered, the state Legislature established the Mississippi Hospital Sustainability Grant program last session to give hospitals […]
‘My only hope’: Inside one Mississippi woman’s quest for Medicaid coverage
Just when Alexis Smith thought it couldn’t get any worse, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The 30-year-old mom of four had been recently widowed and lost her job of five years after missing work to care for her dying husband. Her grief, though, was soon replaced by the more imminent stress of a long […]
‘My only hope’: Inside one Mississippi woman’s quest for Medicaid coverage
Just when Alexis Smith thought it couldn’t get any worse, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The 30-year-old mom of four had been recently widowed and lost her job of five years after missing work to care for her dying husband. Her grief, though, was soon replaced by the more imminent stress of a long […]
‘Better than it was’: Mississippi health report card shows mixed results
A few of Mississippi’s health outcomes are improving, but the state has a long way to go in others, according to State Health Officer Dr. Dan Edney. Surrounded by white coats, Edney gave an update on the steps of the Capitol rotunda on Thursday about Mississippi’s public health outlook, drawing from personal experience as a […]