MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2020 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Representatives Mims, Mickens, Paden, Dortch, Foster, Hines, Johnson, Bell (65th), McCray, Thompson

House Bill 1782

AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FROM THE BUDGET CONTINGENCY FUND TO THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH AND THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING FOR PURPOSES ADDRESSING OR RELATED TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

     BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1.  The following sum, or so much of it as may be necessary, is appropriated out of any money in the Budget Contingency Fund not otherwise appropriated, to the State Department of Health for the purposes described in Section 2 of this act, for the period beginning upon July 1, 2020, and ending December 30, 2020 . $ 94,399,500.00.

     SECTION 2.  The funds appropriated under Section 1 of this act shall be expended by the State Department of Health for the following purposes:

(a)  Purchasing personal protective equipment (PPE) from one or more wholesalers to be provided to the surgery centers licensed by the department, for themselves and their office staff, for protection against Covid-19 from current patients, and to have sufficient PPE in preparation for the expected new cases during the continuation of the current Covid-19 public health emergency later this year.......... $ 562,500.00.

(b)  Purchasing PPE from one or more wholesalers to be provided to the permitted EMS units licensed by the department, for staff, for protection against Covid-19 from current patients, and to have sufficient PPE in preparation for the expected new cases during the continuation of the current Covid-19 public health emergency later this year $ 933,000.00.

(c)  Purchasing PPE from one or more wholesalers to be provided to the nursing homes licensed by the department, for themselves and their office staff, for protection against Covid-19 from current patients, and to have sufficient PPE in preparation for the expected new cases during the continuation of the current Covid-19 public health emergency later this year .....................................................

................................................ $ 1,055,000.00.

(d)  Purchasing PPE from one or more wholesalers to be provided to dentists licensed by the Board of Dental Examiners, for themselves and their office staff, for protection against Covid-19 from current patients, and to have sufficient PPE in preparation for the expected new cases during the continuation of the current Covid-19 public health emergency later this year.......................................

................................................ $ 4,224,000.00.

(e)  Providing additional funds to the Federally Qualified Health Centers in the state to recruit and pay additional physicians for a limited period of time, who are needed because the other physicians of the centers will be treating patients with Covid-19, and to properly address the continuation of the current Covid-19 public health emergency and treating those patients...................... $ 1,500,000.00.

(f)  Providing funds to the Mississippi Center for Rural Health Innovation within the Office of Rural Health of the department, as established by House Bill No. 94, 2020 Regular Session, for assisting rural hospitals with understanding how to best operate during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on the loss of revenue for hospitals below their normal revenue stream due to circumstances caused by the pandemic, and making sure that correct personnel are in place in the hospitals who have the requisite expertise to properly address the continuation of the current Covid-19 public health emergency........... $1,600,000.00.

(g)  Providing funds for community workers with the Office of Community Engagement of the department who are involved in minority and low income areas to help educate the residents of those areas about Covid-19 and assist them in learning how to prevent infections from the coronavirus....................................... $1,925,000.00.

(h)  Providing funds to the City of Senatobia for the North Oak Regional Medical Center or its successor entity to prepare for the purpose of meeting the health care needs of the community during the continuation of the current Covid-19 public health emergency................................................. $2,000,000.00.

(i)  Reimbursing hospitals for business interruption and taking care of the expenses of providing treatment and services for their Covid-19 patients from March 15 through April 30, 2020, and for taking care of the expected additional patients during the continuation of the current Covid-19 public health emergency later this year. $ 80,000,000.00.

     As a condition of receiving the funds under this paragraph (i), each hospital shall provide the department with detailed information about the expenses of the hospital related to treating Covid-19 patients and the costs of business interruption for the hospital as a result of treating Covid-19 patients.

(j)  Reimbursing hospitals that have more than twenty-five (25) hospitalized Covid-19 patients but were unable to receive a rural provider payment from the United States Department of Health and Human Services because of being located in a county that is part of a metropolitan statistical area and not being designated as a critical access hospital..................................... $500,000.00.

     As a condition of receiving the funds under this paragraph (i), each hospital shall provide the department with detailed information about the expenses of the hospital related to treating Covid-19 patients and the costs of business interruption for the hospital as a result of treating Covid-19 patients.

(k)  For expenses of the department in administering the funds expended under paragraphs (a) through (j) of this section........

.................................................. $ 100,000.00.

SECTION 3.  The following sum, or so much of it as may be necessary, is appropriated out of any money in the Budget Contingency Fund not otherwise appropriated, to the State Department of Mental Health for the purposes described in Section 4 of this act, for the period beginning upon July 1, 2020, and ending December 30, 2020 .. $ 6,400,000.00.

     SECTION 4.  The funds appropriated under Section 3 of this act shall be expended by the State Department of Mental Health for the following purposes:

(a)  Providing funds to the fourteen (14) community mental health regions to pay for mental health services provided to persons who are or have been unemployed and/or displaced from their homes due to the Covid-19 pandemic................................. $1,400,000.00.

(b)  Increasing the number of substance use beds and related services at the East Mississippi State Hospital in Meridian for the treatment of patients needing those beds and services due to the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic................................

................................................ $ 5,000,000.00.

SECTION 5.  The following sum, or so much of it as may be necessary, is appropriated out of any money in the Budget Contingency Fund not otherwise appropriated, to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning for the purposes described in Section 6 of this act, for the period beginning upon July 1, 2020, and ending December 30, 2020 $ 14,600,000.00.

     SECTION 6.  The funds appropriated under Section 5 of this act shall be expended by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning for the following purposes:

(a)  Providing funds to Jackson State University to create the HBCU Response Endowment and the Mississippi Health Disparities Commission program to address the disproportionate impact on the minority community of coronavirus infections and deaths from Covid-19, by developing and implementing plans to reduce and mitigate those occurrences and negative outcomes in the minority community during the continuation of the current Covid-19 public health emergency later this year.. $ 6,000,000.00.

(b)  Providing funds for the Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program to pay for an entire medical school class to serve the rural area of our state because the rural communities continue to lack primary coverage to deal with the Covid-19 public health emergency and those communities are in dire need of more primary care physicians to prepare for the expected additional patients during the continuation of the current Covid-19 public health emergency later this year ....

................................................ $ 3,600,000.00.

(c)  Providing funds to the Office of Physician Workforce for five (5) hospitals to start or expand their physician residency programs to address the dire shortage of physicians in the state, especially primary care physicians, which limits the ability of the state to properly address patient needs and the disproportionate effects on the minority communities during the continuation of the current Covid-19 public health emergency, in order for the state to be better prepared to take care of existing Covid-19 patients and the expected additional patients during the continuation of the current Covid-19 public health emergency later this year........................ $ 5,000,000.00.

     SECTION 7.  None of the funds appropriated under this act shall be expended or otherwise used for any purpose by the State Department of Health, the State Department of Mental Health or the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning or by any recipient of those funds from any of those agencies if the agency or recipient has received reimbursement for that expenditure or other use from another source of funds.

     SECTION 8.  (1)  As a condition of receiving and expending the funds appropriated to the State Department of Health under Section 1 of this act, the department shall certify to the Department of Finance and Administration that each expenditure of the funds appropriated to the Department of Health under Section 1 of this act is in compliance with the guidelines, guidance, rules, regulations and/or other criteria, as may be amended from time to time, of the United States Department of the Treasury regarding the use of monies from the Coronavirus Relief Fund established by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

     (2)  As a condition of receiving and expending the funds appropriated to the State Department of Mental Health under Section 3 of this act, the department shall certify to the Department of Finance and Administration that each expenditure of the funds appropriated to the Department of Mental Health under Section 3 of this act is in compliance with the guidelines, guidance, rules, regulations and/or other criteria, as may be amended from time to time, of the United States Department of the Treasury regarding the use of monies from the Coronavirus Relief Fund established by the federal CARES Act.

     (3)  As a condition of receiving and expending the funds appropriated to the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning under Section 6 of this act, the board of trustees shall certify to the Department of Finance and Administration that each expenditure of the funds appropriated to the board of trustees under Section 6 of this act is in compliance with the guidelines, guidance, rules, regulations and/or other criteria, as may be amended from time to time, of the United States Department of the Treasury regarding the use of monies from the Coronavirus Relief Fund established by the federal CARES Act.

     (4)  If the Office of Inspector General of the United States Department of the Treasury, or the Office of Inspector General of any other federal agency having oversight over the use of monies from the Coronavirus Relief Fund established by the federal CARES Act (a) determines that the State Department of Health, the State Department of Mental Health or the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning ("the agency") have expended or otherwise used any of the funds appropriated to the respective agencies under this act for any purpose that is not in compliance with the guidelines, guidance, rules, regulations and/or other criteria, as may be amended from time to time, of the United States Department of the Treasury regarding the use of monies from the Coronavirus Relief Fund established by the federal CARES Act, and (b) the State of Mississippi is required to repay the federal government for any of those funds that the Office of the Inspector General determined were expended or otherwise used improperly by the agency, then the agency that expended or otherwise used those funds improperly shall be required to repay those funds to the federal government.

     SECTION 9.  The money appropriated by this act shall be paid by the State Treasurer out of any money in the Budget Contingency Fund not otherwise appropriated, upon warrants issued by the State Fiscal Officer; and the State Fiscal Officer shall issue his warrants upon requisitions signed by the proper person, officer or officers in the manner provided by law.

     SECTION 10.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.