Reports - Mississippi Renewal

THE GOVERNOR’S COMMISSION REPORT | 133The pool may be created in at leasttwo ways. First, the Mississippi EmploymentSecurity Commission coulduse a portion of unemployment taxespaid by providers to fund the program.Alternatively, the Commissioner ofInsurance could create a new programthat would provide for the voluntarycollection of premiums from healthcare providers to fund a reserve foremployee wages for business interruptionresulting from a disaster.■ Medical Liability. The cost of malpracticeinsurance is a major factor inthe financial viability of a physician’spractice, thereby significantly affectingretention efforts. While recent tortreform efforts should be continued,the governor and legislature shouldmonitor malpractice premiums trendsand insurance options to ensure theavailability of affordable insurance forhealth care providers.The Economic Environmentfor Health CareThe impact of Hurricane Katrina haspresented new and significant challengesto all health care providers, particu-larly those which serve as the safety-netfor the indigent and uninsured. Ensur-ing health care coverage for patientsmost negatively affected by HurricaneKatrina will assist in protecting the economicviability of all health care pro-viders.The Commission supports federallegislation that would provide health-care coverage for displaced individualsand those who have lost incomes as aresult of this disaster. The Commissionalso supports federal legislation that assistshealth and human services provid-ers in obtaining funds to compensatepartially for the devastating impact ofHurricane Katrina on their operations.A logical way to compensate some pro-viders for increased costs and reducedrevenues would be to establish a “floor”for the wage index for providers in theaffected areas equal to 1.0. This wouldresult in a modest increase for most pro-viders, thereby assisting in the retentionand recruitment of nurses, technicians,and other health care workers.MedicaidThe Section 1115 and Section 1135waivers approved by the Departmentof Health and Human Services (HHS),waiving certain statutory Medicaid requirements,have been beneficial in ex-panding access to healthcare services tomany individuals affected by the storm. 4There are a number of issues that canonly be addressed by federal legislation,such as:■ Increasing the federal government’sshare of reimbursement available forMedicaid costs associated with servinghurricane victims. This wouldlikely include waiving/amendingprovisions of federal Medicaid law relatedto the federal medical assistancepercentage (FMAP) and other federalMedicaid reimbursement rates.■ Passing legislation that holds all statesharmless for any scheduled reductionin a state’s FMAP for fiscal years2006-2007.■ Passing legislation that holds all providersharmless for any changes toprograms such as Upper PaymentLimit, Disproportionate Share, andwage index for fiscal years 2006-2007.■ Ensuring that disaster relief funds areavailable for mental health servicesfor residents and first responders.■ Ensuring that legislation recognizesthat the impact of the disasteron healthcare providers will last formany months and should provide forcoverage for affected individuals for aperiod of at least 24 months.The viability and strength of Mississippi’sMedicaid program is vitally im-portant to all healthcare providers. Theprogram has struggled with budgetaryissues in recent years, and the burdenof increased enrollment that will resultfrom Hurricane Katrina will only addstress to the program. In the long-term,the significant number of “baby boom-ers” needing long-term care couldoverwhelm the Medicaid program ifmodifications are not made to existingeligibility rules and to provide al-ternatives for financing care. The WhiteHouse Conference on Aging recently