Mississippi

No, dead people are not receiving Medicaid benefits

Published

1 year ago

December 8, 2024

No, dead people are not receiving Medicaid benefits

People do not get paid any money for being on Medicaid.

There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. People do not receive cash assistance for being on Medicaid. They only receive health care.

Still, there are people, including some politicians who should know better, who either say outright or imply that people — even dead people — are getting paid for being on Medicaid.

That’s not the case.

In an August social media post, a headline from state Auditor Shad White said, “Medicaid going to dead people.”

In the video that accompanied the post, White said that his office found “over $600,000 in Medicaid funds being spent on citizens who have died but still remained in the Medicaid rolls.”

Such comments beg the question of how is a dead person receiving health care, which is the only benefit offered to Medicaid recipients? Perhaps more importantly, who are the health care providers who are doling out medical treatment to dead people and shouldn’t the state Medical Licensure Board investigate those doctors?

When asked about the social media posts, Jacob Walters, a spokesman for the auditor, referred to an article stating that in some instances large insurance companies were still being paid for Medicaid recipients who had died.

The insurance companies have what are known as managed care contracts with the Mississippi Division of Medicaid. Through managed care, the Division of Medicaid pays the insurance companies a set amount of money to provide the health care for the Medicaid recipients.

Apparently, in some instances, the insurance company receives a portion of that set amount of money for Medicaid recipients who already had died.

So, in reality, Medicaid, or more precisely Medicaid funds, are not going to dead Medicaid recipients or their families but to the large, out-of-state insurance companies.

And maybe it should not be a surprise that some of those payments were made to the insurance companies for people who already had died. After all, the insurance companies are being paid to provide health care for tens of thousands of some of the sickest people in the state, so in some instances when a person dies, the Division of Medicaid might not receive notification of that death before a scheduled payment goes out to the insurance company.

Could the process be streamlined or made more efficient to prevent or at least limit such payments from being made? Perhaps.

And perhaps Shad White, whose office is tasked with ferreting out waste and corruption, could offer and has offered solutions to the Legislature to make that process more efficient.

But as those solutions are offered, it should be made clear that dead people are not receiving any Medicaid benefits. Health care, which is all that Medicaid provides, does not help dead people.

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Mississippi

Esquire names Mississippi seafood place among Top 33 best new restaurants

Published

9 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

Esquire names Mississippi seafood place among Top 33 best new restaurants

A Mississippi restaurant has made a short list of the hottest new restaurants in America for 2025. Esquire named the 33 best new places to eat.

“… This has been the Year of the Good Time,” writer Joshua David Stein noted. “A good time not in an ‘ostrich in the sand’ way or in a ‘decline and fall of the Roman Empire’ mode. A good time founded on the recognition that good times — with friends around a table, breaking bread — are more important than ever in chaotic, topsy-turvy years like these.”

The national list includes places that meet what Esquire’s Food & Drinks Editor Jeff Hordinier calls “’the five C’s’ —we’re looking for a sweet spot of hospitality that incorporates comfort, creativity, cool, community, and (of course) excellent cooking.”

Which Mississippi seafood place did Esquire call one of the best new restaurants?

Siren Social Club in Gulfport made the Esquire list of the Top 33 new restaurants in the U.S. Chef Adam Sumrall and his wife and business partner Tresse Sumrall recently attended a party in New York City to celebrate the honor.

“The old building used to be a mortuary, but it’s got plenty of life in it now. Festooned with images of tropical flora and ruled by a statue of an orange enchantress who looks ready for the Life of a Showgirl world tour, Siren Social Club makes it clear from the outset that you are here to shake off the cobweb,” chef Amethyst Ganaway wrote for Esquire.

The Sumralls opened Siren on Halloween night in 2024. It’s in the same building a Hotel Vela, a boutique option in Gulf Coast hospitality. The pair also run White Pillars in Biloxi.

They excel at elevated dining experiences in fun, elegant settings. The Michelin guide also gave both Siren Social Club and White Pillars nods in its first American South’s 2025 Recommended Restaurants list.

“Siren Social Club dares to be different,” the guide notes.

Southern Living also named it one of the 20 new restaurants in the South earlier this year.

“Swanky and cool, it’s a fun spot for early birds and night owls alike,” wrote Senior Food Editor Josh Miller.

What’s on the Siren Social Club menu?

Chef Adam Sumrall brings Southern cooking paired with haute cuisine training. He’s a graduate of Ole Miss and the Culinary Institute of America, according to the Hotel Vela website. The McComb native won the King of American Seafood title at the 2021 Great American Seafood Cook-off in New Orleans. He’s a James Beard Foundation semi-finalist for best chef in the South who’s been featured on several cooking shows. Sumrall won Food Network’s “Alex vs America.”

“Their admirably robust menu indulges coastal cravings via seasonal oysters and Gulf shrimp while appeasing land lovers with steakhouse favorites and handmade pastas,” Miller wrote.

Esquire highlighted the “luxe party food,” particularly crispy chicken with hot honey, thousand-layer potatoes, beef Wellington and a shrimp cocktail that comes with buttered crackers.

Current menu listings include a caviar service, beef tartare and pork chop paillard.

When can I go to Siren Social Club?

According to the website, Siren Social Club is open 5-9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

It’s at 1409 24th Ave., Gulfport.

Bonnie Bolden is the Deep South Connect reporter for Mississippi with USA TODAY Network. Email her at bbolden@gannett.com.

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Mississippi

Mississippi Lottery Mississippi Match 5, Cash 3 results for Dec. 16, 2025

Published

21 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

Mississippi Lottery Mississippi Match 5, Cash 3 results for Dec. 16, 2025

The Mississippi Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Dec. 16, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Mississippi Match 5 numbers from Dec. 16 drawing

02-09-13-18-29

Check Mississippi Match 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Cash 3 numbers from Dec. 16 drawing

Midday: 3-3-2, FB: 4

Evening: 5-9-3, FB: 9

Check Cash 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Cash 4 numbers from Dec. 16 drawing

Midday: 3-9-2-0, FB: 4

Evening: 9-8-3-6, FB: 9

Check Cash 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Cash Pop numbers from Dec. 16 drawing

Midday: 05

Evening: 02

Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Story continues below gallery.

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

Winnings of $599 or less can be claimed at any authorized Mississippi Lottery retailer.

Prizes between $600 and $99,999, may be claimed at the Mississippi Lottery Headquarters or by mail. Mississippi Lottery Winner Claim form, proper identification (ID) and the original ticket must be provided for all claims of $600 or more. If mailing, send required documentation to:

Mississippi Lottery Corporation

P.O. Box 321462

Flowood, MS

39232

If your prize is $100,000 or more, the claim must be made in person at the Mississippi Lottery headquarters. Please bring identification, such as a government-issued photo ID and a Social Security card to verify your identity. Winners of large prizes may also have the option of setting up electronic funds transfer (EFT) for direct deposits into a bank account.

Mississippi Lottery Headquarters

1080 River Oaks Drive, Bldg. B-100

Flowood, MS

39232

Mississippi Lottery prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing date. For detailed instructions and necessary forms, please visit the Mississippi Lottery claim page.

When are the Mississippi Lottery drawings held?

Cash 3: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
Cash 4: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).
Match 5: Daily at 9:30 p.m. CT.
Cash Pop: Daily at 2:30 p.m. (Midday) and 9:30 p.m. (Evening).

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Mississippi editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Mississippi

Ohio man pleads guilty to possessing device-making equipment in Mississippi

Published

1 day ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Ohio man pleads guilty to possessing device-making equipment in Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – An Ohio man pled guilty last week to illegally possessing credit card encoding devices in Mississippi.

According to court documents, Sean Matthew Langston, Jr., 33, was arrested in Rankin County on April 28, 2024, following a traffic stop. Investigators said Langston and his co-defendant, John Carleton Johnson, Jr., were found to be in possession of 322 gift cards, 17 reencoded instruments containing stolen bank card data, and two magstripe encoding devices.

Prosecutors said Langston and Johnson could be seen on CCTV footage at various retail stores throughout the Jackson-metro area purchasing gift cards with known cloned instruments.

Langston pled guilty to one count of illegal possession, production, or trafficking in device-making equipment with intent to defraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 14, 2026, and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.

Sean Matthew Langston, Jr. (Courtesy: Madison Co. Detention Center)

A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment against Langston and Johnson on February 20, 2025. Johnson pled guilty on June 30, 2025, and was sentenced to serve two years in federal prison and ordered to pay a fine of $5,000 on November 3, 2025.

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