What would happen if every mother in Mississippi – or in Mississippi’s neediest counties – received no-questions-asked cash assistance during pregnancy and months after a baby is born? Lawmakers pondered these questions at the state Capitol Thursday.

The conversation focused on a program called Rx Kids, that started in Flint, Michigan, and is branded as a “prescription to poverty.” Dr. Mona Hanna, the program’s founder, presented her initiative to Mississippi lawmakers in House and Senate Public Health committees as a way to combat infant mortality. Nationwide, infants die at a higher rate in Mississippi than any other state.

Mississippi doctors offered context during the hearing on rising infant deaths. In August, the state health department declared a public health emergency, and this

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