Over half of Mississippi renters could face eviction during pandemic without protections from Congress

Data shows most renters were teetering before the pandemic, and much more rental assistance is needed to fill the gaps.

BY ANNA WOLFE | AUGUST 13, 2020

More than half of Mississippi’s roughly 352,000 renter households are at risk of eviction if Congress doesn’t extend protections for families struggling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers estimated.

More than a third of all Mississippians said they missed last month’s rent or mortgage payment or believed they wouldn’t be able to pay the next on time, Census survey results show, making Mississippi the third most vulnerable state in the nation for housing.

By Thursday, Congress remained locked in stalemate over issuing more COVID-19 relief to states after crucial protections expired at the end of July, thrusting many families into greater economic uncertainty.

The state is doling out millions in rental assistance to people impacted by the virus, but the program’s current funding is a small fraction of what’s needed to keep people housed during this recession.

Eviction filings were fairly rare when Rachel Harris, newly appointed Lee County Justice Court Clerk, started working at the court nearly 20 years ago. She’d receive these removal requests from landlords maybe once or twice a week.

In more recent years, she said the court sees two or three each day among a population of about 85,000.

Some landlords in the county were so determined to oust tenants who had gotten behind on rent, even as the pandemic began, they shut off the lights in some units to compel them to leave. A judge ordered the owners to restore power after an emergency motion by the Mississippi Center for Justice, and a statewide eviction freeze took effect shortly after. The state’s moratorium lifted June 1.

“We had a lot of them (landlords) that were aggravated when they couldn’t do evictions during the shutdown and everything,” Harris said. “But I think since everything’s kind of opened back up and they’re allowing evictions now, it hasn’t really picked up any more.”

“They picked up basically where they left off,” she added.

Housing researchers say the existing housing affordability crisis is about to get much worse now that the people seeking unemployment benefits by late July — some 200,000 in Mississippi, according to the most recent U.S. Department of Labor data — have seen their weekly benefit drop to as low as $30.

“The problem feels like an iceberg. It feels like we see some of it, but there’s a much greater portion of the problem that’s under the surface that we don’t see yet,” Scott Spivey, executive director of the Mississippi Home Corporation, said in mid-July.

Renters, who are disproportionately low income-earners, have been harder hit by the pandemic because job and income losses caused by shutdowns are concentrated in industries employing lower wage workers, such as food service, entertainment and hospitality. Evictions also disproportionately affect Black Mississippians, who are overrepresented in low wage jobs and nearly three times as likely to live in poverty and to be unemployed than white people.

A little less than a third of the state’s population — 915,000 people — live in Mississippi’s 352,000 renter households. A study by global advisory firm Stout Risius Ross shows as high as 58% of those households are at risk of eviction. The national figure is about 43%.

By mid-July, more than a third of all Mississippians either missed their previous month’s rent or mortgage payment or believed they would not be able to make the next month’s payment on time, according to a weekly survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Based on these most recent survey results, Mississippi is the nation’s third most housing insecure state, behind just Texas and Louisiana. Nationwide, about a quarter of Americans said they faced this scenario.

Over half of Mississippians also said they had lost income through their work since March 13, just slightly more than the national average.

“If you’re not going to continue the boost in unemployment, there has to be a plan B to provide for basic necessities in the middle of a pandemic when a lot of people don’t have the choice to go back to work,” Spivey said. “They have to do something. And being paralyzed by indecision is going to leave a lot of people in a really bad situation.”

Most renters in Mississippi were already teetering, spending more than 30% of their income on housing before the pandemic screeched the economy to a halt in March. This is increasingly the case as housing costs continue to rise while wages stagnate.

As a result, thousands are evicted every year — resulting in hasty moves, lost belongings, displaced family members and homelessness. In Jackson, the capital city, between seven and eight families are evicted from their homes every day, according to 2016 data, the most recent available, gathered by the Princeton University-based research group the Eviction Lab. Of all large cities in the nation, it had the fifth highest eviction rate that year.

While Congress continues to negotiate the details of the next stimulus package, President Donald Trump issued an order on Saturday indicating he would consider extending the federal eviction moratorium, which expired July 25, but it only applies to renters living in federally subsidized housing.

He also ordered to continue a boost to unemployment benefits by $400-a-week, down from $600. But because Trump is requiring that states pay 25% of the supplement, Gov. Tate Reeves said he wasn’t sure if Mississippi would participate.

In an earlier relief package, the federal government offered states almost $3 billion in rental assistance grants to cover the gaps for people who found themselves unable to afford rent due to the pandemic. Mississippi initially received $8 million — which it began administering through three housing programs in northern, central and southern regions of the state in late June — and then another $10 million.

Housing advocates say these programs provide the maximum benefit by keeping tenants housed and landlords financially secure, preventing the hefty back-end costs of evictions and homelessness.

But it will take at least $100 million to meet the enormous need across the state, researchers estimate.

Many landlords say they’re committed to working with tenants who are struggling and have shown an attempt to pay. Becky Ivison, who owns about 1,200 units across the state, said some renters were confused by the moratorium, believing they did not have to pay rent during those months. Now they’re several months behind, but Ivison said her property managers have set up payment plans as opposed to rushing the tenants out.

“Our goal is not to have to process any evictions,” Ivison said. “These people are trying to get back to work, trying to take care of their families … the last thing that they need is for us to have to process an eviction.”

The organizations administering rental assistance also say they’re communicating with landlords so they know how to direct their tenants to seek help.

By July 31, these organizations had received 2,934 calls, were processing 2,037 applications and had committed just $342,500 to needy renters. The program typically covers an approved applicant’s rent for three months, unless they become ineligible in the meantime. And they must demonstrate they are short on rent because of the pandemic.

While the state has issued grants to small businesses, paid for broadband expansion and distance learning and funded colleges and workforce development, advocates argue it has done little to enact protections or direct aid to families facing hardships to ensure they can continue to support themselves.

“The Mississippi Legislature looked fully at institutional needs and kind of ignored basic household needs in their allocation of coronavirus relief funds and are leaving it up to the federal government to make sure that families have a roof over their head and food on their plate,” John Sullivan, a policy director with national affordable housing nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners Gulf Coast, said.

Enterprise estimates it will cost between $107 million to $194 million to provide rental assistance to Mississippi households who will need it between now and the new year. The cost is between $196 million to $408 million to cover rents through July 2021, based on unemployment projections from the Congressional Budget Office and average rent costs.

According to these estimations, unemployment impacted roughly 80,000 renter households in April and will continue to impact around 50,000 well into 2021.

Mississippians in need of rental assistance should contact the Continuum of Care program covering their region: Central Mississippi Continuum of Care (769-237-1012) covers Hinds, Rankin, Madison, Warren and Copiah counties; Open Doors Homeless Coalition (228-604-2048) covers Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River, Stone and George counties and Mississippi United to End Homelessness (601-960-0557) covers the rest of the state.

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This past week Mississippi’s state health department has reported the lowest daily case totals of COVID-19 in about a month, but the state’s test positivity rate remains one of the highest in the nation.

The seven-day rolling average for new cases reached 847 on Wednesday, its lowest point since July 15. However, as testing numbers mirrored a similar decrease since the start of August, Mississippi’s weekly positivity rate — the number of new cases divided by the number of new tests, over a week’s span — has remained roughly the same over the last two weeks, at around 20%.

“We know we had another very good day of numbers today, at least relative to where we had been for the last four or five weeks,” Gov. Tate Reeves said in a Tuesday press conference, after the state health department announced 644 new cases that day. “We can celebrate that fact, but we must also realize that the trends will only continue if we do the right things.”

As Gov. Reeves mentioned, the seven-day new case average has dropped by over 30% since peaking in late July. The seven-day average for new tests dropped by 21% in that time.

Mississippi ranks sixth among all states in the seven-day average for positivity rates, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center. The state ranks 20th in new tests per 1,000 people.

When asked about the decline in reported tests, State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs said that Mississippians often only get tested when they experience symptoms.

“A lot of people in Mississippi don’t have a primary care doctor, and a lot of people don’t get care unless they’re sick,” Dobbs said. “So the high testing numbers a lot of the time reflect the number of people who are ill and symptomatic.

“So I think it’s a good sign to see the decline in testing demand, that’ll also help with the private lab capacity and their ability to get faster results.”

Dobbs added that the state doesn’t have a set target for the number of new tests, instead focusing on maximizing tests in highly impacted communities. For instance in Holmes County, which has the highest case rate per capita in the state, MSDH tested over 500 people this past weekend in Lexington, or roughly a quarter of the city’s population.

Regionally, counties in Central Mississippi and the Delta continue to have the highest rates of COVID-19 in the state, although some counties in the southern third of the state, especially Claiborne and Wayne counties, also rank highly.

Hospitalizations from the disease have slowed, as the seven-day rolling average has decreased for ten straight days, although patients in ICUs and using ventilators have increased in recent days.

As of Monday, Mississippi ranked third in new cases per capita, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute’s tracker.

The post Mississippi’s COVID-19 cases fall in last week, but positivity rate remains high appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Mississippi Today is pleased to announce Michelle Alexander as Donor Relations Director.

Alexander will lead Mississippi Today’s impact donor fundraising initiatives, working closely with senior leadership to further grow individual investment in our nonprofit newsroom. 

“Hiring a Donor Relations Director is a key element of our strategic growth, and we couldn’t be in better hands with Michelle Alexander,” said Mary Margaret White, Mississippi Today CEO & Executive Director. “Michelle intrinsically understands the critical mission of our nonprofit newsroom and brings high-level experience and expertise to our business team.”  

Alexander brings 15 years of not-for-profit fundraising experience to Mississippi Today. She has held leadership positions with Children’s of Mississippi, the American Heart Association and JDRF where she was instrumental in philanthropic development, as well as implementing mission-related strategies. In addition, Alexander ran a successful fundraising consulting practice. She has been responsible for securing over $14 million in gifts during her fundraising career and has earned a reputation for professionalism, engagement and an authentic passion for the missions of the organizations she has served. 

“I have been fortunate to work in wonderful organizations that strive to improve the lives of others,” said Alexander. “The meaning I find in my work and the opportunity to match a donor’s desire to make a difference with an organizational mission and purpose is extremely important to me. I look forward to accomplishing that type of work at Mississippi Today as we approach journalism in a way that informs and inspires our citizens to expect and learn more in order to achieve progress and positive change.”

Originally from Atlanta, Alexander is a 25-year resident of Jackson, where she relocated after beginning her career in Memphis. She is both a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Fund-Raising Executive. 

The post Michelle Alexander named Mississippi Today’s Donor Relations Director appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Julien Behal, PA Wire

Drugs in a pharmacy.

Magdalin Fulce used to take three different prescription medications for anxiety and depression.

She doesn’t take any now, not because she doesn’t need it, but because she can’t afford it.

Fulce, 24, of Weir lost the Medicaid covering her prescriptions on her 19th birthday. She then signed up for AmBetter through the Affordable Care Act, which again provided coverage. But when she turned in her earnings as a self-employed hairdresser in 2019, she was unable to afford the premiums any longer.

At times, she was paying as much as $100 or $200 for a month’s supply of Valium. So, she stopped taking it.

Fulce got her prescriptions through her primary care physician but believes she needs a psychiatrist’s evaluation. “But I don’t have $400 for a psych workup,” Fulce said.

She has struggled since, she said. “I’ll go three months doing well then maybe three months downhill.”

Four months ago, she overdosed on Klonopin, landing in the mental ward at St. Dominic’s Hospital in Jackson.

Many families stop buying these types of prescription drugs because of the high cost, said Tandi Karol Weaver Hawthorne, an educator and mental health advocate in Choctaw County.

When her late husband, David, was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in 1996, she said they paid up to $1,000 a month for his medication. If not for a combination of Medicare, a private drug plan and extended family support, they couldn’t have afforded his medication, she said. Magellan Health Service, a national leader in behavioral health care management, found that mental health drugs now account for a fourth of all pharmacy spending by private insurance and about a third of pharmacy spending by public payers such as Medicaid.

And that number is expected to increase 60% over the coming decade, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services predicted.

In Mississippi, approximately 77,000 Medicaid beneficiaries had behavioral health diagnoses (a number that includes children but not infants) in state fiscal year 2019, according to Matt Westerfield, communication director for Medicaid. The three primary diagnoses are schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. “The vast majority of that 77,000 – if not all of them – would be on some form of mental health medication,” Westerfield said.

Not having regular access to medication causes relapse

Availability of medication plays a major role in maintaining mental health, according to the study by the patient advocacy group Mental Health America.

“Sixty-nine percent of patients with medication access problems had adverse events compared to 40% for patients with no access problems,” according to Joyce West, director of the American Psychiatric Research Network.

Of patients with access problems, the studies found:

• 20% had emergency room visits
• 11% were hospitalized
• 23% had side effects significantly worsen—interfering with functioning and outweighing therapeutic benefits
• 22% had an increase in suicidal ideation or behavior.
• 15% had an increase in violent ideation or behavior.
• 3% became homeless for more than 48 hours.

Most patients look first to their insurance companies to provide prescription coverage. Mississippi Insurance Department spokeswoman Beth Reiss said health insurance companies use lists to determine which drugs they will or won’t cover.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Mississippi and United Healthcare did not respond to requests for information on how they construct these lists or the prior authorization process, which is how doctors attempt to convince the companies to cover the drugs not on their approved list.

Westerfield said the cost of high-priced drugs shouldn’t affect those on Medicaid.

“For beneficiaries in regular fee-for-service Medicaid, there is a $3 copay for any drug regardless of what medication is prescribed, and children, pregnant women and long-term care residents are exempt from that copay,” he said. “In Medicaid’s managed care program, two of the plans don’t charge beneficiaries a copay for medications, and the third plan charges a $1 copay.”

There is a limit, however, of how many prescriptions Medicaid patients can receive — six. Those under 21 are eligible for more if medication proves necessary.

Pharmacists are ‘a crucial part of the treatment team’

Pharmacists also offer solutions through generic medications as well as transportation and delivery options, said Bob Lomenick, whose pharmacies in Oxford, Holly Springs, and Potts Camp treat more than 3,000 people. “A lot of people are on fixed incomes.”

He said that insurance companies are starting to realize that restricting access to needed medications can be detrimental in the long run. “Payers are finding out that patients that don’t take their medications correctly costs the system a lot of money,” Lomenick said.

New drugs are expensive, Lomenick said, noting that Latuda, a mood stabilizer and anti-psychotic, costs him $41 dollars a dose, while the popular ADHD drug Vyvance costs him $10 a dose. “Those ADD drugs are being used a ton these days—some justified, some not.”

Terence H. Brown, a pharmacist at GAC Community Pharmacy in Canton, said many manufacturers work with patient assistance programs, such as RxAssist, RxHope and GoodRx.

Teresa Parker, compliance director for Region 7 Community Counseling in West Point, says that connecting clients with patient assistance programs is a part of their plans to aid patients in getting their psychiatric medications. “It used to take only five days to be approved,” she said. “Now it takes three months.”

Delays and costs leads some patients to choose pills for physical ailments over mental health medication, she said. “If you rely on a fixed income, any new medicine, even a $60 medicine addition, that money has to come from somewhere.”

Fulce said that something more needs to be done so that mental health patients like her don’t fall between the cracks. “For someone who’s never had a severe mental health issue, they don’t have any understanding of what this is like. It’s not making it day to day—it’s more like minute by minute.”

This story was produced by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization that seeks to inform, educate and empower Mississippians in their communities through the use of investigative journalism. Sign up for our newsletter. Email Julie Whitehead at julie.whitehead.mcir@gmail.com.

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