FOCUS: Medicaid Expansion • Pauper’s Field Burials • State Legislature • National News • Fact Checks • #MSWelfare/TANF Scandal • Jackson Water • Race & Racism
Rhea Williams-Bishop, director of Mississippi and New Orleans programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, believes that the richness of Mississippi’s soil should be passed down to every young person in the state, cultivating generations of healthy eaters.
The omicron surge has likely passed its tipping point in Mississippi, declining on a quick trajectory comparable to delta’s sudden fall. New cases have fallen sharply this week, but surveillance in the state’s hospital system is a more valuable sign of decreasing transmission.Â
The 2022 Legislative Session has been remarkably rapid, compared to some of the gridlock seen in the Mississippi Capitol during the pandemic era. With the deadline for general bills to pass out of their original chamber approaching this Thursday, some of the session’s most significant goals are already checked off.
Solar energy is on the rise in southeastern states, but Mississippi is lagging behind; less than 1 percent of the state’s electricity comes from solar power. Our region and nation remain heavily dependent on dirty, expensive fossil fuels. Fortunately, Mississippi has a secret weapon in the fight for affordable, clean energy: rural electric cooperatives.
Being sick took a financial toll on me due to the amount of time I was out from work during quarantine. However, the time away from the daily rat race also gave me the opportunity to think and reflect on my goals in life, which got me back on track with the future I envisioned for myself and my family. I found renewed motivation for all of my endeavors, and now new opportunities await.
It has been 16 years since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Mississippi Gulf Coast region. The City of Biloxi is a coastal community that sits quietly along a small peninsula in the heart of the Gulf of Mexico. Category 5 winds destroyed residential communities and businesses throughout Harrison County. Unfortunately, the negative impact on the infrastructure is still felt today.Â
Hospitals across Mississippi are suing patients over medical debt, a practice that typically generates little revenue but can harm patients. In Part 3 of his MCIR series on medical debt, Giacomo Bologna reports potential solutions.
Debt collectors are supposed to mirror the values of St. Dominic, a nonprofit hospital in Jackson that says access to affordable healthcare is the community’s most urgent need. But an investigation found that their contract debt collectors often sue Mississippians in low-wage industries and garnish their wages, tacking on expensive attorney’s fees, court costs and interest rates.
Thousands of Mississippians who have gone to the nonprofit St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson for medical care and were later sued over medical debt, a tactic that rarely brings much revenue to hospitals, but can have devastating impacts on patients. Giacomo Bologna investigates.
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