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The post Marshall Ramsey: Warm Welcome appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Bill Meredith of Sumrall was hospitalized 10 times in 2021.  

In September of last year, he passed out in the shower. The next thing he knew, he woke up in a hospital bed with no clothes.

The cause of most of those visits – and loss of consciousness – was hepatic encephalopathy. Hepatic encephalopathy is a nervous system disorder brought on by severe liver disease. Meredith’s liver doesn’t properly filter toxins, and as a result, they build up in his blood and travel to his brain. 

His hospitalization in December was the final straw for Meredith. He took a medical leave from his job, which he felt he could no longer adequately perform. 

A doctor he was seeing in Hattiesburg referred him to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, where he began seeing a team of specialists that helped him get the medicine he needed to decrease his frequent hospitalizations. He was put on the transplant list for a new liver on March 16.

But just two weeks later, on April 1, UMMC, which houses the state’s only organ transplant center, went out of network with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi, Meredith’s insurance company and the state’s largest private insurer. 

Meredith was paying close to $800 a month to keep his Blue Cross health insurance while on medical leave under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, commonly known as COBRA. 

When UMMC went out of network, Meredith and other transplant candidates who have Blue Cross were marked as “inactive.” The status change means the candidate stays on the list, but if his or her organ match becomes available in the time frame the hospital is out of network, the candidate won’t be getting a call.

UMMC and Blue Cross are at odds over reimbursement rates and Blue Cross’ quality care plan, which measures hospital performance and whether services provided to patients are adequate. UMMC officials say they are underpaid by Blue Cross compared to other academic medical centers in the region, while Blue Cross leaders say UMMC’s request is unreasonable and would necessitate an increase in member premiums. 

The stalemate between the two has left tens of thousands of Mississippians in the lurch — particularly those who receive care at UMMC that they cannot get elsewhere in Mississippi.

Emails between officials with the Mississippi Insurance Department, UMMC and Blue Cross show failed attempts on the part of Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney to get UMMC and Blue Cross to agree on a “single case agreement” on at least one occasion.

“As Insurance Commissioner, I have an additional request to make on Mr. (redacted) behalf. Please work to enter a single case agreement that will shield Mr. (redacted) from any excess charges above and beyond his standard cost-sharing responsibilities,” Chaney wrote to UMMC and Blue Cross attorneys on May 13.  “This single case approach will allow Mr. (redacted) to receive the life-saving (redacted) he so desperately needs without depleting his life savings and without him having to travel long distances to have the procedure done in a location where he has no family or other support group who could assist him in the recovery and healing process.”

Chaney said he is not aware of any single case agreements ever being signed by either UMMC or Blue Cross, and he has not been in communication with either party about the progress of mediation since August. 

UMMC declined to comment for this story. Blue Cross did not respond to Mississippi Today’s questions by publication time.

Meredith spent the first months of summer getting his long term disability insurance in place, hoping the dispute between UMMC and Blue Cross would be resolved. After the 90-day grace period that allowed certain people to continue paying in-network rates for care at UMMC expired, he began having to pay out of pocket for his appointments with UMMC doctors. 

He asked one of his doctors if it would be safe to wait until his next appointment in three months to see if the two parties reach an agreement, and she said yes. 

“Then as that began to draw to a close, I’m not hearing anything about where this negotiation is going,” he said, referring to the mediation the two parties began in June. “I finally gave up on that.”

In July, he decided to switch insurance companies so he could keep his care at UMMC, which has a nationally recognized liver transplant program.  

The process has been a stressful one, he said, and that’s had an impact on his health. 

“My numbers are back up. When I quit work, my MELD score dropped to 10 from a 16,” said Meredith, referring to his Model for End-Stage Liver Disease score, which is used as an indicator for how urgently someone needs a liver transplant. “Now it’s like 13 or 14, so it’s creeping back up.” 

As of Sept. 1, Meredith is inured by Ambetter, which offers health care plans on the federal Marketplace and is accepted by UMMC. Like Frank Dungan, another former Blue Cross member and liver transplant candidate at UMMC, he is starting completely over with his deductible. 

He will have to pay $6,000 out of pocket before his insurance kicks in this year, on top of the about $450 a month he pays in premium. In January, he will have to do it again.

Following his transplant, he will also have to pay for round-the-clock in-home care for anywhere from three weeks to three months.  

As a result, he’s launched a GoFundMe to help him financially – a measure he is not comfortable having to take but feels he must. 

So far, Meredith has raised nearly $8,000 of his $50,000 goal.

“I’ve never begged for money in my life,” said Meredith, a professional geologist. “… I’m not happy about having worked all my career, paid all my taxes, paid all my insurance premiums for years and years and years, and now they all evaporate or hold their hand out.”

Editor’s note: Kate Royals, Mississippi Today’s community health editor since January 2022, worked as a writer/editor for UMMC’s Office of Communications from November 2018 through August 2020, writing press releases and features about the medical center’s schools of dentistry and nursing. A longtime journalist in major Mississippi newsrooms, Royals had served as a Mississippi Today reporter for two years before her stint at UMMC. At UMMC, Royals was in no way involved in management decisions or anything related to the medical center’s relationship or contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi.

The post Sumrall man drops Blue Cross, fundraises to afford liver transplant appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi babies are likelier to die before their first birthday than infants anywhere else in the country, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday.

The state had an infant mortality rate of 8.12 per 1,000 live births, well above the national average of 5.42 in 2020, the most recent year for which the national data is available. Louisiana, second from the bottom, saw 7.59 deaths for every 1,000 live births. 

Mississippi has had the country’s highest infant mortality rate for years. In 2019, the state topped the list with a rate of 8.71.

Black babies are twice as likely to die as their white counterparts in Mississippi. In 2020, the infant mortality rate among white infants was 5.7, compared to 11.8 among Back infants, according to health department figures. In 2019, 322 babies died before their first birthday in the state. Nearly 60%, or 185, were Black, though Black infants accounted for just 43% of births. 

Nationally, the leading cause of infant mortality is birth defects. But in Mississippi, premature birth and pregnancy or delivery complications as well as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) are the leading causes. Mississippi has the country’s highest rate of premature birth, which is linked to chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes among mothers. 

The infant mortality rate is one of the many health indicators in which Mississippi “is not just 50th” but “50th by a mile,” as state health officer Dr. Daniel Edney put it during the first hearing held by the Senate Study Group on Women, Children and Families on Tuesday. 

The group, which was created by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, heard speaker after speaker indicate that the state is not prepared for the additional high-risk pregnancies that will occur in the wake of Mississippi’s abortion ban.

The health department estimates the state will see an additional 5,000 births every year. 

The Senate commission hearing, chaired by Sen. Nicole Boyd, R-Oxford, made clear that extending postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months will be a priority for the Senate in the next session. But the legislation likely faces an uphill battle in the House, where Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, killed the measure last year, claiming it would expand Medicaid– though it would not make more people eligible for the program. 

And while experts say extending Medicaid coverage after birth would help reduce maternal mortality and improve infant health as well, it would not help ensure women are healthy when they become pregnant. The Senate commission heard data indicating that one in six women of childbearing age are uninsured, making it hard for them to get care to manage conditions like hypertension that increase the risk of poor birth outcomes. 

The post Mississippi remains deadliest state for babies, CDC data shows appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The State Board of Education voted Thursday to adopt a new policy regarding weapons on campuses, eliminating an existing one that was not in line with state law. 

In 1990, the board created a policy which prohibited weapons in schools, except in the possession of law enforcement officials. The policy also allowed districts to create additional rules about weapons in their district. But in 2012, when state lawmakers passed an enhanced carry law that allowed enhanced permit holders to carry weapons on school campuses, the board never updated its policy.

The board voted in July to adopt a temporary rule change to address this issue, and after receiving and reviewing public comment, the board made its temporary change permanent on Thursday. The new policy reads “each local school district shall have a policy concerning weapons on school premises.”

In the July meeting, the Mississippi Department of Education’s (MDE) general counsel referenced an attorney general opinion from 2013, which clarifies that possessing a gun on school property is a felony according to Mississippi law unless one possesses an enhanced concealed carry permit. 

The opinion elaborates that people with enhanced concealed carry permits are allowed in the “public areas of a school,” but specifies that “school districts may bar persons, including persons with enhanced carry permits, from areas of the school to which the general public is not allowed.” 

In July and in Thursday’s press release, MDE recommended that local school boards consult with their board attorneys regarding revisions. 

On Thursday, state officials highlighted the new Mississippi School Safety Alliance, which is working to evaluate and revise current state laws, state board policies, protocols, and best practices relating to weapons and other school safety concerns. The alliance is a collaboration between MDE and the Department of Public Safety. 

The post State board finalizes updated policy on guns in schools appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center announced Thursday it will increase its capabilities for treatment of burn victims following the closure of the JMS Burn and Reconstruction Center at Merit Health Central in Jackson.

Merit Health Central announced in September that the JMS Burn and Reconstruction Center, the state’s only accredited burn program, would close on Oct. 14 due to staffing and financial challenges. Staff at the burn center told Mississippi Today that hospital administrators didn’t inform them of the decision until just over a month before the closure date, which left them scrambling to determine next steps and find care for the center’s current patients.

“It’s essential that burn patients in the area receive care in a timely manner, so we are stepping in to fill this need,” said Dr. Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs, in a press release.

Burn patients who require a higher level of care will either be accepted and cared for at UMMC or transferred to a regional burn center for treatment, the release stated. The care will be coordinated by Mississippi MED-COM, the emergency communications center for UMMC and hospitals and emergency providers throughout the state.

Although the University of Mississippi Medical Center has been out of network with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi since April 1, Blue Cross members are still able to receive emergency care at the in-network rate.

UMMC is Mississippi’s only Level 1 trauma center and academic medical center.

UMMC officials did not answer specific questions about whether caring for these patients will require hiring additional staff and physicians, purchasing additional equipment or what the timeline is.

They also did not answer whether the hospital would be using resources from the state’s Trauma Care Trust Fund. The Fund is used to cover administrative expenses of the statewide Trauma Care System and to fund trauma centers, ambulance districts and burn centers.

“There’s no additional information to provide at this time,” said Patrice Guilfoyle, director of communications for UMMC. “I’m sure there will be updates as it progresses.”

Editor’s note: Kate Royals, Mississippi Today’s community health editor since January 2022, worked as a writer/editor for UMMC’s Office of Communications from November 2018 through August 2020, writing press releases and features about the medical center’s schools of dentistry and nursing. A longtime journalist in major Mississippi newsrooms, Royals had served as a Mississippi Today reporter for two years before her stint at UMMC. At UMMC, Royals was in no way involved in management decisions or anything related to the medical center’s relationship or contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi.

The post UMMC says it will fill burn care void appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Scary appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Hot rods, packed hotels, and a steady cash flow: Mississippi’s largest event is about to kick off on the Coast, bringing with it one of biggest annual boosts to the state’s economy. 

Cruisin’ the Coast last year generated an economic impact of just over $36 million for the entire state from out-of-town spenders, according to a study commissioned by the car show’s founders. That was after record-breaking attendance, prompted by visitors hungry for travel following a nationwide lull to tourism from the pandemic. 

“It was the 25th anniversary and the weather was tremendous,” said Cruisin’ the Coast executive director Woody Bailey. “It was very special.” 

Bailey wasn’t sure this year would be able to touch that.

“But we’re actually pretty close to being on the same track as last year,” Bailey said. 

The bulk of cars will swarm the coast Saturday, Oct. 1 for the weeklong vintage car expo. Gulfport kicks off the scheduled events Sunday morning with the all-day “View the Cruise” downtown. The week’s events span several cities in Jackson, Harrison and Hancock counties before winding down on Oct. 9.

The number of pre-registered cars is just 17 shy of what it was last year. Cruisin’ won’t know the final count until on-site registration is over. About 9,500 cars registered by the end of the cruise week in 2021. 

So far, car owners have registered from 44 states and Canada. For the first time ever, a classic car owner from England has registered. Bailey said he has a ‘74 Thunderbird. 

Total attendance is hard to track. Most events are free. Up to 3,000 cars show up that opt not to register for the official events but just enjoy the scene, according to Bailey. 

At last year’s cruise week, the Bradley Research Group surveyed out-of-town attendees to help measure the event’s impact on both the local and state economy. Cruisin’ the Coast has the study completed every five years. 

At about $33 million, the event’s economic impact on the Coast’s three counties was up 27% since the last study in 2016. That’s more than doubled since the $15 million impact measured in 2004. 

Last year, the tax revenue generated by the event totaled more than $2.4 million statewide. About $1.2 million of that is sales tax collection in the Gulf Coast. 

Cruisin’ the Coast began in 1996 with just a few hundred cars. Casino and business leaders were looking for a way to extend the tourism season past the summer peak. 

It worked – probably better than any of the originators ever anticipated. 

This year, Jay Leno – the former talk show host and classic car lover – is doing a stand-up at the Beau Rivage during the car week. The Beau is also hosting two Beach Boys concerts to cater to Cruisin’ visitors. 

“Crusin’ the Coast is similar to a busy peak week in the summer,” said Collin Caranna, marketing director for Shaggy’s Restaurants. “The anticipation is here even before the uptick of visitors begins.” 

Shaggy’s – which has waterfront restaurants in Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pass Christian – extends its hours to accommodate for the surge in visitors. For a week, their parking lots are packed with vintage cars. 

Despite high gas prices and inflation, director of tourism bureau Coastal Mississippi Judy Young said the local tourism industry is expecting another banner year for Cruisin’ the Coast. 

“Everyone seems to be really excited,” Young said. “Who doesn’t want to participate in the No. 1 car show in the country?” 

The event itself also introduces new people to the Coast as a destination – an impact that’s hard to measure with exact figures. 

 “It really is an economic engine,” said Young. “And it’s the front door to economic development because tourism is marketing the region 356 days a year.” 

About a third of the non-local attendees surveyed last year were from other parts of Mississippi followed by about a quarter from Louisiana. The next highest concentrations were from Alabama, Texas, and Florida.

The research survey also asked attendees about their satisfaction with the coast’s hospitality. It earned high marks with more than 90% saying they were either “likely” or “very likely” to return and to recommend the event to someone else. 

Gulfport resident Lisa Evans said traffic might be a bear during the car celebration, but she is still a big fan. She has chatted up car enthusiasts showing off their ‘57 Chevy Bel Airs or antique vehicles from the 30s to learn more about the thousands of dollars – and hours – folks have put into their automobiles.

She usually sets a blanket out on the beach in Gulfport and lazily watches all the classic cars go by. Evans recently wrote a book: “100 Things to Do in Coastal Mississippi Before You Die.” Cruisin’ the Coast, of course, made the list. 

It’s become the quintessential Gulf Coast Mississippi event. 

“The economic impacts alone to the coast are mind blowing,” Evans said. “But when I’m trying to sell people on visiting, I start with the cool cars.” 

The post As the state’s largest event, Cruisin’ the Coast means big bucks for Mississippi appeared first on Mississippi Today.

OXFORD — Nearly 60 years to the day after James Meredith walked onto the University of Mississippi campus to enroll and was met with resistance and violence, he returned for one of a series of commemorative events honoring him as the first Black student to attend the school.

“Sixty years ago, our university was in turmoil,” said Donald Cole, emeritus professor and assistant provost. “So much did (Meredith) change our thinking that we will never go back.”

The two-hour presentation Wednesday night included remarks from Meredith and Black campus leaders reflecting on his legacy and the continuation of his work, as well as a series of awards in Meredith’s honor. 

Meredith applied to attend the University of Mississippi in 1961 and was denied based on race, a decision he successfully appealed with the assistance of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Meredith made multiple attempts to enroll but was repeatedly denied by Gov. Ross Barnett. On the night of Sep. 30, 1962, Meredith entered the campus to enroll, accompanied by U.S. Marshals. The marshals surrounded the Lyceum, an administration building in the center of campus, and a violent riot of white students and segregationists broke out, leaving two dead and hundreds injured. Thousands of federal reinforcements arrived in the night to quell the riot, and Meredith enrolled the next day. He graduated a year later in August of 1963. 

Wearing his characteristic Ole Miss baseball cap, Meredith was joined on stage by his wife, Judy Meredith, and several of their children and grandchildren. He expressed his gratitude to the university for assembling the event, but also addressed his ongoing concerns regarding racial discrimination. 

The university remains a predominantly white institution. In the 2020-21 school year, the most recent data available, 12.9% of the student body was Black. 

“Celebration is good, but I don’t think there’s anybody in this house or in the state of Mississippi that thinks the problem has been solved,” he said. 

Meredith expounded on his work continuing to challenge white supremacy after graduating, saying that while he was not in politics, he has always considered his actions political. 

“I didn’t just go to Ole Miss football games, I was doing politics and getting into the minds of people who thought they hated me,” he said. 

Ethel Scurlock, dean of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, delivered the keynote address, calling on students and staff to continue the work Meredith began 60 years ago. 

“James Meredith put his life in danger because he believed that he was on a mission from God,” Scurlock said. “He understood the assignment. His valiant efforts remind us that simply understanding the assignment is not enough. We must take on the assignment and take risks to complete the assignment. We must know that somebody is counting on us to finish our assignment.” 

At the end of the event, Meredith received nearly 15 awards and gifts. These included being deputized as an honorary U.S. Marshall, an annual James Meredith day on Oct. 1 in the city of Oxford, awards and scholarships for undergraduate students in his honor, and the Mississippi Humanitarian Award. 

“I am honored and humbled to present Mr. James Meredith a gift that represents the seed he planted in 1962 and the fruit that was produced 60 years later,” said Dee Harris, president of the Black Student Union. “I feel like I am standing on your shoulders to continue building your impeccable legacy.”  

The post James Meredith honored in UM ceremony 60 years after enrollment appeared first on Mississippi Today.

No doubt, sweet-swinging Sam Burns is the clear-cut favorite in this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship at Country Club of Jackson. Burns is by far the best player in the field, No. 12 in the world rankings. He won more than $7 million last season and won three tournaments. What’s more, Burns won here a year ago.

The 26-year-old Shreveport native goes off at 11-to-1 odds to win Mississippi’s only PGA Tour tournament. Sepp Straka at No. 36 is the next highest ranked player at CCJ. J.T. Poston, at 16-to-1, is the No. 2 betting favorite.

But if you’re feeling frisky and want risk a little to hit a huge jackpot, boy, have I got a deal for you.

Jackson’s own Wilson Furr goes off Thursday morning at 500-to-1 odds. In other words, you can bet $10 to win $5,000. You can bet a Benjamin ($100) and win 50 grand.

I mentioned that to Furr Wednesday afternoon as he took a break from practicing on the CCJ putting green. He smiled. “I’ll tell you what, that’s the best 500-to-1 odds you’re ever gonna get,” Furr said.

You could tell he really meant it.

The Vegas odds are 100-to-1 against Furr finishing in the top 5. The odds are 25-to-1 against him finishing in the top 10.

Sucker bets, you say?

Hear me out. The first time I ever followed Furr around the pristine fairways of CCJ was in July of 2015. He was 16 and competing in the 100th Mississippi State Amateur Championship. He shot 14-under par for 72 holes and won by eight. He was like golf’s version of Secretariat at the Belmont Stakes, all alone at the end. If Furr didn’t break a leg, he was going to win. He was driving the ball 50 yards past his competitors. His wedges were dialed in, and he rarely needed more than wedge to reach a par-4 green. He won going away.

My guess back then was that Furr would be playing – and winning – on the PGA Tour in 2022, if not before. He had won the Future Masters at 14. Every college golf team around was recruiting him. He was a prodigy.

Belden’s Hayden Buckley, who tied for second in that 2015 State Am, won $1.3 million on the Tour last season. Furr’s Alabama teammate, Davis Riley of Hattiesburg, has already won $3 million on tour. Furr hasn’t earned his PGA Tour privileges yet.

“Golf can humble you,” Furr said, and he knows that all too well. Over the last few years, he has been humbled more than once. His golf career has taken some detours.

After finishing his college career, Furr failed in the second round of PGA Tour qualifying last year. He earned a spot on the Canadian (MacKenzie) Tour this summer but started slowly there. He did play well and had top 25 finishes in the last two events of the summer, shooting a combined 30-under par for those two 72-hole events.

Then Furr went to Mobile last weekend for the first round of Tour qualifying. He advanced with ease, shooting 19-under par for 72 holes at Magnolia Groves Crossing, a tough Robert Trent Jones course. That’s 49-under par for his last three 72-hole events, if we are keeping score. And, in golf, we always are.

Furr left Mobile Friday afternoon headed for a friend’s wedding in Tampa, Fla., when his cell phone rang and Sanderson Farms Championship director Steve Jent was on the other end of the line. Jent told Furr he was being awarded a sponsor’s exemption into the Sanderson Farms Championship field.

“Man, I couldn’t have been happier,” Furr said. “First I played really well and qualified for the next phase and then I get that call. I was pumped.”

He drove on to Tampa for the wedding, then flew back to Jackson on Sunday for three days of preparation for the tournament.

“I am just sp happy to be here, to get this chance,” Furr said.

Does he believe he can win?

“Yeah, I really do,” he said. “I am comfortable here. I am really playing well. I really believe I belong out here.”

He plays off the first tee Thursday morning at 10:01 a.m. with a chance to prove to everyone what he says he knows about himself.

If Furr were to finish in the top 10, he would earn a berth in next week’s Shriner’s Children’s Open at Las Vegas. He is two weeks away from the second round of Tour qualifying at Valdosta, Ga.

Of course, if Furr were to win here, he wouldn’t even have to go to Valdosta. The odds are 500-to-1 against it. Crazy as it sounds, Furr likes his chances.

The post If you like long shots, boy oh boy, there’s one named Furr at CCJ appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The conservative blog Y’all Politics published on Sept. 21, 2022, that my mother, in her role as special assistant attorney general, had signed off on the language of a lease agreement to construct a University of Southern Mississippi volleyball stadium — a project now a focus of the state’s ongoing welfare scandal. I learned about this on the evening of Sept. 20, 2022, when the blog’s editor began calling around for comment.

Without hesitation, I consulted with Mississippi Today colleagues and with veteran journalism leaders outside our newsroom about what had been, to that point, unknown to everyone on our staff. We immediately implemented a permanent policy that would allow any reporting that may present a conflict to go forward without my direction. And after continued internal discussions, we decided to add an editor’s note to each future story mentioning the USM volleyball project, including retroactively adding the note to one earlier story that published after we learned the information.

None of this changes nor challenges a thing about Mississippi Today’s relentless reporting about the misuse of federal welfare funding intended to help the state’s most vulnerable people. In our three-plus years of coverage of the state’s welfare scandal — including breaking the very first story about the USM volleyball stadium being funded with welfare dollars — we have never stopped even an inch short of reporting the whole truth for any reason, whether personal or political.

Multiple journalists on staff, independent of my involvement, reviewed the information published by Y’all Politics and determined we have sufficiently and consistently reported that the Attorney General’s Office signed off on the volleyball contract. You can read some of that reporting here, here, here and here. And for years, we have made deliberate editorial decisions to not name dozens of state employees at multiple agencies who reviewed welfare-related documents or sat in relevant meetings but ultimately had no authority over how funds were spent.

That political actors are willing to leverage the bureaucratic role my own mother played in state government to try to discredit Mississippi Today’s reporting is notable. But it should not distract readers from the real story: Powerful Mississippians appear to have used the state government system to steer millions away from our neediest residents into their own pockets and the pockets of their wealthy friends.

We will follow and report the story wherever it leads us, just as we always have.

READ MORE: Our full investigative reporting on the Mississippi welfare scandal

The post Editor’s note on our welfare coverage appeared first on Mississippi Today.