MISSISSIPPI
The major long-term care activity in Mississippi in 2002 was legislative action regarding reimbursement rates for nursing homes and the development of a single point of entry system for Department of Mental Health services. Work also continued in 2002 to meet the goals of the Mississippi Access to Care plan to expand home and community-based services for people with disabilities.
2002 Legislation
The Legislature authorized a joint study committee in 2002 to consider setting uniform reimbursement rates for nursing facilities. The new law permits the state to establish a Medicare Upper Payments Limits Program for nursing facilities. The state would be allowed to assess each nursing facility to finance the program.
The legislation also specifies that a scheduled 5 percent reduction in reimbursement rates for Medicaid providers will not apply to services in nursing facilities or intermediate care facilities. The reductions also will not apply to case management services and home-delivered meal services provided under the home and community-based service program for the elderly and disabled.
Lawmakers also authorized the Department of Mental Health to develop a single point of intake and referral system within its service areas for individuals with mental illness, mental retardation, developmental disabilities, or alcohol or substance abuse.
Planning and Reports
The Mississippi Access to Care (MAC) plan, developed by several human services state agencies and released in 2001, got a further boost for its recommendations from the Governor's Healthcare Commission, which was established in May 2002. One of the commission's recommendations calls for work to continue " ... toward the goals set forth in the Mississippi Access to Care plan and ... the implementation of these goals at the earliest possible time."
The state's Division of Medicaid is the lead agency for overseeing implementation of the plan's recommendations, which have five- to 10-year timelines for attainment. For example, the plan calls for increasing the number of individuals receiving services under the Elderly/Disabled Medicaid home and community-based waiver program by 750 individuals each year over five years (FY 2003 - FY 2007). That program currently is approved to serve up to 10,000 people; if the goal is reached, the total would be 13,750. For the Mental Retardation/Developmentally Disabled waiver program, the goal is to add 1,600 people by FY 2011 to the current caseload of l,700.
On May 17, 2002, the Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities filed a class action complaint on behalf of five nursing facility residents, alleging that the state's policies result in the unnecessary segregation of people with disabilities in nursing homes instead of making home and community-based services available to them.
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