Jackson, Miss. – The Mississippi Senate voted on Friday to ease some restrictions on community-owned hospitals by allowing them to amalgamate or partner with healthcare facilities outside of the epidemic area. their current service.
Republican Senator Joey Fillingane, of Sumrall, said the bill is an attempt to maintain access to health care in a state where some hospitals are struggling financially because they serve people. serving a large number of uninsured patients.
“There are all kinds of barriers that we are trying to remove to allow these hospitals to be as flexible as possible to survive and thrive,” says Fillingane.
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Under current state law, government-owned community hospitals are not allowed to operate outside of service areas established when they first opened, he said. Those areas are usually bounded by city or county boundaries, or a little further. Fillingane said removing some of the barriers would allow those hospitals to merge or collaborate with each other by sharing some business functions.
Senators voted 48-0 to pass the bill, sending it to the House of Representatives for more work.
The state’s chief medical officer, Dr. Dan Edney, told lawmakers in November that 54% of Mississippi’s rural hospitals were at risk of closing because of financial pressure. Mississippi has a large population of uninsured residents, and healthcare facilities face rising costs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rural, impoverished plains have lost population over the past few years, and several hospitals in that area have cut services and cut jobs.
Mississippi is one of the poorest states and has high rates of heart disease, diabetes, and other illnesses. It is also one of 11 states that have not yet extended Medicaid to low-wage workers that do not offer private health insurance. The expansion is an option under federal healthcare law signed in 2010 by former President Barack Obama.
Legislative Democrats say Mississippi is losing about $1 billion in federal money each year due to its refusal to expand Medicaid. Republican Governor Tate Reeves has publicly opposed putting more people in state and federally funded health insurance programs.
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