2013 Mississippi Code
Title 41 - PUBLIC HEALTH
Chapter 105 - HEALTHCARE COORDINATING COUNCIL
§ 41-105-3 - Duties of council; annual report

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.