MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2002 Regular Session
To: Public Health and Welfare
By: Representative Moody, Myers, Espy
AN ACT TO CREATE THE HEALTHCARE COORDINATING COUNCIL TO ESTABLISH A COMPREHENSIVE PREVENTIVE HEALTH CARE PLAN; TO PROVIDE FOR THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE COUNCIL AND FOR THE ELECTION OF OFFICERS; TO PROVIDE FOR MEETINGS AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE COUNCIL; TO AUTHORIZE THE PAYMENT OF TRAVEL EXPENSES OF COUNCIL MEMBERS; TO SPECIFY THE DUTIES OF THE COUNCIL; TO REQUIRE THE COUNCIL TO MAKE ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE LEGISLATURE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) There is created the Healthcare Coordinating Council, which will be responsible for making recommendations to the Legislature regarding the establishment of a long-range, comprehensive preventive health care plan.
(2) The council will consist of fifteen (15) members to be appointed as follows:
(a) Two (2) members of the Mississippi House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to serve four-year terms;
(b) Two (2) members of the Mississippi Senate appointed by the Lieutenant Governor to serve four-year terms;
(c) One (1) representative of an appropriate state agency appointed by the Lieutenant Governor to serve a six-year term;
(d) One (1) representative of an appropriate state agency appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to serve a two-year term;
(e) Two (2) members from appropriate state agencies appointed by the Governor to serve four-year terms;
(f) One (1) health advocate appointed by the Governor to serve a two-year term;
(g) One (1) consumer of health care services who is not a health care provider appointed by the Lieutenant Governor to serve a four-year term;
(h) One (1) health advocate appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to serve a six-year term;
(i) One (1) health care provider appointed by the Lieutenant Governor to serve a two-year term;
(j) One (1) consumer of health care services who is not a health care provider appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to serve a four-year term;
(k) One (1) health care provider appointed by the Governor to serve a six-year term; and
(l) One (1) consumer of health care services who is not a health care provider appointed by the Governor to serve a four-year term.
(3) The appointing officers shall give due regard to gender, race and geographic distribution in making their appointments to the council.
(4) At its first meeting, the council shall elect a chairman and other necessary officers from among its membership. The chairman and other officers shall be elected annually by the council. The council shall adopt bylaws and rules for its efficient operation. The council may establish committees that will be responsible for conducting specific council programs or activities.
(5) The council shall meet and conduct business at least quarterly. All meetings of the council and any committees of the council will be open to the public, with opportunities for public comment provided on a regular basis. Notice of all meetings shall be given as provided in the Open Meetings Act (Section 25-41-1 et seq.) and appropriate notice also shall be given to all persons so requesting of the date, time and place of each meeting. Eight (8) members of the council will constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
(6) The council is assigned jointly to the Mississippi Forum on Children and Families, the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program and the Children's Defense Fund Black Community Crusade for Children for administrative purposes only. Those three (3) organizations shall designate staff to assist the council. (7) Members of the council who are not legislators, state officials or state employees may be reimbursed for mileage and actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties by the three (3) administering organizations designated in subsection (6) of this section, if funds are available to the organizations for that purpose. Legislative members of the council will be paid from the contingent expense funds of their respective houses in the same manner as provided for committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session. However, legislative members will not be paid per diem or expenses for attending meetings of the council while the Legislature is in session. No council member may incur per diem, travel or other expenses unless previously authorized by vote, at a meeting of the council, which action must be recorded in the official minutes of the meeting.
SECTION 2. The Healthcare Coordinating Council has the following duties:
(a) Develop recommendations for a long-range preventive health care plan for the period beginning July 1, 2002, through July 1, 2020;
(b) Consider the feasibility of implementing the following preventive health care strategies, known as the 20-20 Vision:
(i) Bridge the gap between Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by expanding coverage under Medicaid for pregnant women up to two hundred percent (200%) of the federal poverty level;
(ii) Expand that coverage for pregnant women beyond two hundred percent (200%) of the federal poverty level with a sliding fee scale for both premiums and health care services;
(iii) Expand CHIP income eligibility and implement a sliding fee scale for both premiums and health care services;
(iv) Establish supplemental coverage for gaps in private coverage such as vision and dental health care for children up to the CHIP income eligibility limit;
(v) Increase the period of postnatal care provided under Medicaid;
(vi) Expand Medicaid to include continuously enrolled college students that "age-off" family coverage plans held by their parents;
(vii) Establish a business buy-in plan that expands coverage to the parents of CHIP and Medicaid eligible children and other income-eligible adults;
(viii) Include the state as an eligible employer in the business buy-in plan;
(ix) Expand coverage for individuals with mental illness, specifically addressing the need for therapeutic care for children, day treatment nurseries for preschool-age children, foster home care, group home care, diagnostic and evaluation emergency shelters, and intensive in-home care;
(x) Expand breast and cervical cancer screenings and treatment;
(xi) Establish a demonstration treatment program for heart disease;
(xii) Establish a demonstration treatment program for diabetes;
(xiii) Certify all allowable spending in the state as matching funds to reduce the demand for general fund revenue;
(xiv) Evaluate the potential of increasing the number of health care providers accepting CHIP and Medicaid patients by participating in a fee-based system of enhanced and optional services;
(xv) Pursue disproportionate share formulas for other health care providers;
(xvi) Expand school-based services such as the school nurse program;
(xvii) Expand scholarship programs to include all needed health care service providers;
(xviii) Establish public education campaigns to increase wellness by reducing high-risk behavior; and
(xix) Expand consumer assistance services to ensure prompt and accurate resolution of issues of denial and billing;
(c) Consider the feasibility of including additional preventive health care strategies in the plan;
(d) For each element of the plan recommended by the council, the following should be established:
(i) Performance benchmarks,
(ii) Projected costs, and
(iii) Projected benefits;
(e) At the meetings of the council, the council shall review level of spending by category, revise spending estimates, assess feasibility of expansions, consider cost options and note changes in applicable federal policy;
(f) Make an annual report to the Legislature by September 1 on the status of the implementation of the plan including recommendations for legislative action; and
(g) Make the annual report available to the public.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.