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Food Policy Council News
Farmers markets go year-round as eat-local trend grows
December 20, 2011- USA Today
As Americans show greater interest in eating locally grown food, more farmers markets are selling year-round.
School lunch proposals set off a dispute
November 1, 2011 - New York Times
The government has some thoughts on how to make the federally financed school lunch program more nutritious: A quarter-cup of tomato paste on pizza will no longer be considered a vegetable. Cut back on potatoes and add more fresh peaches, apples, spinach and broccoli. And hold the salt.
Tenn. program for healthy foods sees mixed results
October 16, 2011 - USA Today
The kids who visit Givens Community Market sometimes grab peaches instead of potato chips, grapes instead of grape soda. The cramped convenience store is being hailed as a health savior to many in its North Nashville, Tenn., neighborhood, considered a food desert because it lacks a full-sized supermarket and so many residents don’t have their own transportation.
Grant encourages healthy habits
October 8, 2011 - Clarion Ledger
Madison Station received a $3,000 grant to encourage students to eat healthy and play actively for 60 minutes a day so they can grow up to a healthy weight.
Starkville preschool replacing processed foods
September 16, 2011 - Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
The Emerson Family School is replacing processed foods with fresh ingredients and meals made from scratch.The Fresh Start Campaign was the idea of a few concerned parents who were uncomfortable with their young children being fed processed food at school.
Health Care Reform News
MHAP to Strengthen Health Care Reform Implementation in Mississippi
January 26, 2012 - Mississippi Health Advocacy Program
The Mississippi Health Advocacy Program (MHAP) of Jackson, MS has been awarded a 3 year, $1.5 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to expand the dialogue around health care reform and strengthen its implementation in Mississippi.
U.S. says 28 states took steps on health insurance exchanges
January 18, 2012 - Reuters
The Obama administration said on Wednesday that 28 states have taken steps to establish insurance exchanges under the 2010 healthcare law, despite the legal and political uncertainties threatening the overhaul.
The Affordable Care Act, helping Americans curb health-care costs
January 5, 2012 - Washington Post
The rising cost of health insurance coverage has imposed a heavy burden on our nation. Over the past decade,insurance premiums for working families have grown three times faster than have wages. Small businesses have seen health care become one of their biggest operating expenses. And rising state and federal spending on health programs has crowded out critical investments in better schools, new roads and other areas.
States get say on health benefits in Obama’s law
December 16, 2011 - Yahoo News
The Obama administration Friday rolled out a benefits framework for millions of people who will get private insurance through the health care overhaul, but states will decide the specifics.
Health law keeps 2.5 million young adults insured
December 14, 2011 - Reuters
U.S. healthcare reforms have enabled 2.5 million young adults to join or remain in their parents’ health insurance plans, the U.S. government said on Wednesday, up from 1 million reported earlier this year.
Health Help Mississippi News
Health law keeps 2.5 million young adults insured
December 14, 2011 - Reuters
U.S. healthcare reforms have enabled 2.5 million young adults to join or remain in their parents’ health insurance plans, the U.S. government said on Wednesday, up from 1 million reported earlier this year.
A scramble to shape the new health insurance exchanges
November 5, 2011 - Washington Post
From insurance companies to drug stores to doctors, just about any industry that touches the health care system has a different opinion on how the Obama administration should shape the new insurance markets at the heart of the health-care reform law.
Kids Health Concerns
WJTV
Kids Health Concerns
Mississippi is once again at the bottom of a national list.
Suit filed on Medicaid cuts: Nursing homes want reserve funds used
Clarion Ledger, April 9, 2010
The Mississippi Health Care Association, the Independent Nursing Home Association and dozens of nursing homes from across the state filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to stop the Mississippi Division of Medicaid from making a planned $14 million cut in payments to providers.
Get help navigating CHIP and Medicaid
Clarion Ledger, March 23, 2010
In February, the organization set up the Health Help for Kids program to assist parents or guardians who want to enroll kids for the first time, reenroll kids or simply get help with any part of the process, said Jarvis Dortch of MHAP.
Medicaid/SCHIP News
Medicaid Assistance: Non-Smokers Only?
January 30, 2012 - Jackson Free Press
Medicaid recipients—and the agencies that provide services to them—could face a slew of new restrictions, including random drug tests, community service and nicotine testing if several bills in the Senate pass.
Health budget cut feared
January 22, 2012 - Clarion Ledger
Legislative budget writers want to slash the state general fund appropriation for the state Department of Health to $20.7 million - the lowest level it has seen since 1990, when it received $20.3 million.
Study: Fewer U.S. kids lack health insurance
November 30, 2011- USA Today
Even with more children living in poverty because of the rough economy, the number of children without health insurance in the U.S. has dropped by 1 million in the past three years, according to a report released Tuesday by Georgetown University.
Mental health proposal divisive
August 28, 2011 - Clarion Ledger
Experts are split over whether Mississippians with serious mental illness will be better served or “devastated” by new proposals targeting community mental health centers.
Brain injury patients have few options for treatment in state
July 24, 2011 - Clarion Ledger
Like many survivors of traumatic brain injury (TBI), Mike Barnes, 49, needs the kind of rehabilitative care this state apparently can’t provide - which hasn’t stopped his mother from seeking it.