OUR VIEW : Center for Justice and Women’s Fund — 10 years of making a better state
www.msbusiness.com
October 18, 2013 • Vol. 35, No. 42 • $1 • 36 pages HEALTH INSURANCE
MBJ’s 50 Leading Business Women magazine — INSIDE
Around town {P 4} » AGRITOURISM — Officials say agritourism is now of the fastest tourism markets, providing employment and revenue for local business owners. Retail {P 6} » Belk at Dogwood in Flowood expands to meet growing demand The List {P 19} » Mississippi’s Top 100 private companies
Inside Biz {P 31} » Martin Willoughby takes a look at Joey Havens and the leadership he brings to HORNE
MBJ SPECIAL REPORT
BLUE CROSS CONTRACT IMPASSE WITH HMA MAY CREATE OPENING FOR OTHER INSURERS
THE 2013
» Other plans more than happy to step in, says head of Mississippi Association of Health Plans By TED CARTER I STAFF WRITER ted.carter@msbusiness.com
STATE GROWTH GETS NATIONAL ATTENTION » Optimism abounds for the future, but Mississippi still has problems to solve » Plus, a look at some of the biggest names among the state’s private businesses — begins Page 13
The market’s invisible hand eventually will decide the outcome of a nearly two-month standoff between Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi and Health Management Associates over provider reimbursement levels. In the meantime, executives of INSIDE Mississippi’s » HMA: Blue Cross Blue other health Shield of reinstatement of care insurers 4 hospitals a positive step will have their but crisis still looms. P2 eyes on new opportunities that could accompany any market pullback by Blue Cross & Shield, which HMA says controls 81 percent of the state’s private health care market.’ Most health insurers operating in Mississippi are mum on whether they are ready to fill a void that Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi would create by continuing to refuse to renew its contracts with Health Management Associates, a Naples., Fla., hospital company that owns 10 See iMPASSE, Page 2
BOOKBIZ
A GREAT READ Wine-splashed escapade Page 31