News

More than one in five Mississippians don’t have health insurance. “We screen people to see if they are eligible for Medicaid or if their children are eligible for Medicaid,” Mitchell said. “There are little-known ways to gain Medicaid eligibility that we have found over the years to find people eligible for Medicaid,” he said. “We’ve had to do a lot of Medicaid outreach. We’ve done it not just with providers but also hospitals.”If individuals don’t qualify for Medicaid, Tammy Bullock, Medicaid consumer advocate with Mississippi Health Advocacy, said she checks to see if they can sign up under the Affordable Care Act. “But a lot of these people work part-time jobs,” she said. “In rural areas, they don’t even make enough to afford the premiums.”Mississippi Today, Read More.

More than 40,000 people in South Mississippi have tested positive for the coronavirus since the first case in the state was identified on March 11.That means 8.2% of the 491,305 estimated residents in the six counties of South Mississippi have tested positive for COVID-19. The figures show that 1.9% of those who tested positive in South Mississippi died from the virus.Sun Herald, Read More.

The Mississippi State Department of Health announced Monday it confirmed the first case of a COVID-19 variant in the state that is known to spread more easily and quickly than other strains. The United Kingdom first identified the strain, called B.1.1.7, last fall. MS Free Press, Read More.

Less than 9% of COVID-19 vaccines administered in Harrison County have gone to Black recipients, though 26% of county residents are Black. The disparity, shown in data the health department provided to the Sun Herald last Friday, is significantly worse than the racial gap in vaccine distribution statewide. And that is also true for all but one county on the Coast. As of Wednesday, 20% of vaccines in Mississippi had gone to Black people, in a state that is 38% Black. Sun Herald, Read More.

Moms can’t wait — this has been our ongoing message for years as we urged Congress to extend Medicaid coverage for pregnant individuals to 12 months postpartum to help address the nation’s maternal mortality crisis. This crisis is grave and disproportionately impacts Black and Brown mothers. The Hill, Read More.