Reeves holds mysterious healthcre meetings

Gov. Tate Reeves is holding a health care conference as the state's hospital crisis continues, but his office has declined to disclose the content of the meeting.

His staff also claims there are no official documents about these meetings, despite internal documents showing otherwise and Reeves proposing detailed changes to health care policy. .

Several experts, including a former governor, said the lack of documentation about the meeting and the lack of details on Reeves' calendar is unusual. One country expert called this a “bad habit.”

Mr. Reeves appears to have attended meetings held at the governor's mansion from May to August on topics ranging from “Medicaid policy'' to “health care industry issues'' and “health care policy,'' and Mississippi Today reported that he was on the governor's calendar. This was revealed through a records request.

During that time, Mississippi's healthcare industry experienced significant disruption. As hospitals struggle, the state's Medicaid department has disenrolled thousands of beneficiaries. One hospital has closed, and several others have closed departments and applied to close inpatient beds due to financial difficulties.

Amid the turmoil, it is not clear exactly what happened or who attended these meetings. Reeves' calendar only shows the time, date, and location of most meetings, and even if it lists the meeting agenda, it usually doesn't list who he met with. His spokeswoman, Shelby Wilcher, did not respond to multiple emails asking for details about who attended these medical meetings or what was on the agenda.

When Mississippi Today requested official documents from the meeting, Reeves' office claimed that no notes or documents were produced from the meeting, other than a few email threads regarding the schedule.

One of the email threads created as a result of this request revealed that the governor is requesting briefing documents with information about the topics to be discussed with meeting attendees before every meeting.

Reeves' scheduler, Barry Nelson, said in one thread that “we are required to provide documentation in advance of any and all meetings with him.” “Could you please give me some information so I can make sure I can keep the ducks?”

But when Mississippi Today later requested briefing documents from the medical conference, Reeves' office claimed they didn't exist either.

The state public records law defines public records. Record as written materials used “in the conduct, dealings, or performance of any business, trade, task, function, or office of a public body.” In other words, if these briefing documents existed, they would theoretically be considered public records.

John Pelissero, director of government ethics at Santa Clara University's Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, was perplexed by the discrepancies in the briefing document.

“This is surprising because there was an email indicating that they were expected to submit documents for a meeting with the governor,” he said. “Even if they're not hiding anything, even if they're trying to be transparent, they can't seem transparent. Creating the perception that something is wrong will undermine the public's trust in the governor's office, so it's not going to be transparent.” It would have caused a problem.”

He further added that the strategy is directly against the governor's interests and that it is important for the public to know whether public business was discussed at the meeting or whether decisions affecting the people were made there. said.

“Being governor usually means you're more effective when you're transparent,” Pelissero said. “The people who elected that person to be governor expect the governor to act on what he campaigned for as a candidate, so they have an expectation for voters that the governor will: You have an obligation to show that you're actually working on what you worked out for. ”

Ronnie Musgrove, who served as governor from 2000 to 2004, said his calendar included more detailed information. In most cases, it included both who Mr. Musgrove met with and a summary of the meeting's agenda.

When Musgrove was governor, PowerPoint and paper documents were common for most meetings, and copies of those would have been provided to his office, he said.

“Of course, I can't say why they haven't put out the information, but if the information exists, it definitely should come out,” he said. “Perhaps (Reeves) thinks that showing his hand early could create some difficult discussions, but anything in the medical field is going to create a lot of debate.”

Musgrove acknowledged that he sometimes kept quiet about specific projects, but said he did so only when “the details would be harmful if made public.”

“The governorship is an elected position, and it's a position that is paid for by taxpayers,” he said. “I believe the public has a right to know what a potential policy is and its details, especially before the policy goes into effect.”

Former Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican from 2012 to 2020, declined to be interviewed.

Tom Hood, executive director of the Mississippi Ethics Commission, said the commission's ability to investigate public records issues is “very limited.” He said the commission can only make a decision once a complaint about the records is filed.