MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Public Health and Human Services
By: Representative Scott
AN ACT TO REENACT SECTIONS 41-105-1 AND 41-105-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH WERE REPEALED BY OPERATION OF LAW BY SECTION 7, CHAPTER 402, LAWS OF 2017, FOR THE PURPOSE OF RECONSTITUTING THE HEALTHCARE ADVISORY COUNCIL AND DIRECTING THE APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS TO THE COUNCIL; TO ESTABLISH A COMPREHENSIVE PREVENTIVE HEALTH CARE PLAN FOR MISSISSIPPI AND DIRECT THE COUNCIL TO DEVELOP AND MAKE A REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE AND THE GOVERNOR FOR THE 2025 REGULAR SESSION; TO SPECIFY HEALTH CARE GOALS FOR THE STATE THAT THE COUNCIL SHALL CONSIDER; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 41-105-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, which was repealed by operation of law by Section 7, Chapter 402, Laws of 2017, is reenacted as follows:
41-105-1. (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. Appointments to the council shall be made before July 1, 2024, by the appointing officers named in subsection (2) and the council shall develop and make a report to the 2025 Regular Session of the Legislature on the health goals for Mississippi specified in Section 41-105-3.
(2) The council shall 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) registered 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) dietary nutritionist 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) The Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall jointly call the first meeting of the council on or before July 1, 2024. 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 shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
(6) The council is assigned jointly to the State Department of Health, 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 four(4) 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 four (4) 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. Section 41-105-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, which was repealed by operation of law by Section 7, Chapter 402, Laws of 2017, is reenacted as follows:
41-105-3. 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, 2024, through July 1, 2034;
(b) Consider the feasibility of implementing the following preventive health care strategies:
(i) Maternal and child health goals for Mississippi, which shall include objectives to:
1. Reduce infant mortality by ten percent (10%) by 2033;
2. Reduce low-birth weight by ten percent (10%) by 2033;
3. Provide annual checkups for all mothers and children enrolled in WIC; and
4. Increase breast-feeding rate to Southeast region's average;
(ii) Health access goal for Mississippi shall be to increase the number of citizens with health insurance coverage by twenty-five percent (25%) by 2033;
(iii) Health education goals for Mississippi, which shall include objectives to:
1. Establish an early childhood education foundation;
2. Implement comprehensive health education for all children, Grades K-6; and
3. Establish child screening referral initiatives;
(iv) Chronic disease goals for Mississippi, which shall include objectives to:
1. Develop a diabetes practice standards plan to reduce diabetes by five percent (5%) by 2033;
2. Lower the Mississippi obesity rate to less than twenty percent (20%) by 2028;
3. Create a comprehensive student education, screening and referral program; and
4. Develop a practice plan for Cardio-Vascular Disease (CVD); and
(v) Other health goals for Mississippi, which shall include objectives to:
1. Increase long-term care (LTC) options;
2. Encourage public and private employers to promote wellness;
3. Counsel and recruit youth in public schools to increase number of minorities in health professions; and
4. Increase the high school graduation rate to seventy-five percent (75%) by 2028;
(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) After the initial report to the 2025 Regular Session of the Legislature, 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.