Lawmakers sent a bill to Gov. Tate Reeves for consideration Monday that seeks to ensure federal funding for rural health care is directed toward rural communities and the spending is reported to the Legislature.
The bill is a diluted version of oversight legislation passed by both chambers earlier in the session, which would have required a competitive bidding process for the distribution of hundreds of millions of dollars given to Mississippi by the federal government.
In December, Mississippi was awarded nearly $206 million as a part of the Rural Health Transformation Program. States will receive payments over five years as a part of the $50 billion program, which was designed to support rural health care and offset the disproportionate impact already-struggling rural hospitals are expected to bear as a result of federal spending cuts Congress passed into law last summer.
Lawmakers have publicly expressed frustration with the limited role they have played in the funding application and distribution process, which is being led by Reeves’ office.
Reeves posted the state’s program application on his website in December, but funding estimates are redacted, creating uncertainty about precisely how the money will be spent.
“This is all about transparency and prioritization of where this $206 million goes over the next five years,” said House Public Health and Human Services Chairman Sam Creekmore, a Republican from New Albany, on March 10 after offering amendments to the bill.
Senators unanimously agreed to the House’s amendments Monday. The bill will next go to Reeves’ desk. He can choose to sign the bill, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature. The bill would take effect immediately if it becomes law.
Has the governor already selected vendors?
A vendor for professional accounting, auditing, administration and consulting services was selected in January, before lawmakers crafted legislation to increase oversight of the funds.
The Department of Finance and Administration on Jan. 9 published a notice of intent to award a contract on behalf of the governor’s office for assistance administering the funds, showing that the highest score was awarded to state and local government consulting firm BDO Government Services, formerly HORNE. Respondents had less than a month to respond to the request for qualifications.
The contract went into effect the same day, according to the notice. The contract does not appear in the Department of Finance and Administration’s online registry of state contracts, even though the request for qualifications specified it should be publicly available in the database.
Reeves did not respond to a request for comment from Mississippi Today about whether vendors have been selected for the funds or if the administrative support contract has been executed.
How lawmakers say the rural health funding bill could enhance transparency
The legislation passed Monday puts “a few guardrails” on the use of funds distributed to the state as a part of the Rural Health Transformation Program, said Senate Public Health and Welfare Chairman Hob Bryan, a Democrat from Amory.
The bill calls for priority to be given to the following recipients when structuring grants or applications for the funding:
Rural areas and the Delta region. Programs that provide direct assistance to Mississippi providers and patients, rather than vendors. Grant recipients that have not received state or federal assistance for facility improvements or medical equipment in the past three years.It also requires each agency awarding grants or funding to provide quarterly reports to the Legislature.
The bill also requires a competitive procurement process for establishing a statewide health information exchange to support real-time data sharing between providers, and sets requirements for the program.
The original text of the bill passed by both chambers required vendors or subcontractors, including those tasked with providing medical equipment or creating workforce programming, to be selected by a competitive bidding process.
A separate bill, which retains this language, was sent to final negotiations by the House on March 17. Lawmakers could still choose to pass procurement regulations for the funds.
During a Senate Public Health Committee meeting March 3, members expressed concerns that the requirement could slow the disbursement of funds to rural communities in need. States must spend the funds within two years.
Sen. Rod Hickman, a Democrat from Macon, said the legislation was not intended to slow down the process.
“We want the process to move forward as quickly as possible,” he said. “We just wanted to put some guard rails to make sure that the state is protected and the state’s most needy places and hospitals are protected.”
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