Mississippi Pediatric Access To Critical Health Care Protection Act; enact., the official text

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2026 Regular Session

To: Medicaid

By: Senator(s) Blackwell

Senate Bill 2567

(As Sent to Governor)

AN ACT TO ENACT THE MISSISSIPPI PEDIATRIC ACCESS TO CRITICAL
HEALTH CARE PROTECTION ACT; TO REQUIRE THE DIVISION OF MEDICAID TO MAKE
PAYMENTS TO A BORDER CITY UNIVERSITY-AFFILIATED PEDIATRIC TEACHING HOSPITAL IF
THE CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES (CMS) APPROVE AN INCREASE IN THE
ANNUAL REQUEST FOR THE PROVIDER PAYMENT INITIATIVE AUTHORIZED UNDER 42 CFR §
438.6(C) OR ANOTHER MEDICAID STATUTE OR REGULATION IN AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO OR
GREATER THAN THE ESTIMATED ANNUAL PAYMENT TO BE MADE TO THE BORDER CITY
UNIVERSITY-AFFILIATED PEDIATRIC TEACHING HOSPITAL; TO PROVIDE THAT NO PAYMENTS
SHALL BE MADE UNDER THIS ACT UNTIL AFTER THE DIVISION OF MEDICAID HAS RECEIVED
THE AMOUNT OF THE NON-FEDERAL SHARE OF SUCH PAYMENTS FROM A PUBLIC ENTITY
CAPABLE OF FURNISHING AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL TRANSFER; TO PROVIDE THAT THE INTENT
OF THE LEGISLATURE IS THAT THE COST OF PROVIDING SERVICES TO MISSISSIPPI
MEDICAID BENEFICIARIES UNDER THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE YEARS WHO ARE TREATED BY A
BORDER CITY UNIVERSITY-AFFILIATED PEDIATRIC TEACHING HOSPITAL SHALL NOT EXCEED
THE COST OF PROVIDING THE SAME SERVICES TO INDIVIDUALS IN HOSPITALS IN THE
STATE, AND THAT SUCH PAYMENTS SHALL NOT RESULT IN ANY IN-STATE HOSPITAL
RECEIVING PAYMENTS LOWER THAN THEY WOULD OTHERWISE RECEIVE IF NOT FOR THE
PAYMENTS MADE TO ANY BORDER CITY UNIVERSITY-AFFILIATED PEDIATRIC TEACHING
HOSPITAL; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1.
(1)  This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Mississippi
Pediatric Access to Critical Health Care Protection Act."

(2)  The purpose of this
section is to promote quality health care and to ensure Mississippi children
have access to pediatric inpatient hospital care.

(3)  For the purposes of
this section, the term "border city university-affiliated pediatric
teaching hospital" means an out-of-state hospital located within a city
bordering the eastern bank of the Mississippi River and the State of
Mississippi that submits to the division a copy of a current and effective
affiliation agreement with an accredited university and other documentation
establishing that the hospital is university-affiliated, is licensed and
designated as a pediatric hospital or pediatric primary hospital within its
home state, maintains at least five (5) different pediatric specialty training
programs and maintains at least one hundred (100) operated beds dedicated
exclusively for the treatment of patients under the age of twenty-one (21)
years.

(4)  (a)  To align
with other similar payments and address access to care needs, the Division of
Medicaid shall, if the requirements of paragraph (b) of this subsection (4)
have been met, make payments to a border city university-affiliated pediatric
teaching hospital if the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
approve an increase in the annual request for the provider payment initiative
authorized under 42 CFR Section 438.6(c) or another Medicaid statute or
regulation in an amount equal to or greater than the estimated annual payment to
be made to the border city university-affiliated pediatric teaching hospital.
The estimate shall be based on the hospital's prior year Mississippi managed
care utilization.

(b)  No payments shall
be made under paragraph (a) of this subsection (4) until after the Division of
Medicaid has received the amount of the non-federal share of such payments from
a public entity capable of furnishing an intergovernmental transfer, including,
but not limited to, a state institution of higher learning, public community
college, local government, or instrumentality of local government, provided
that any funds received by a public entity from the border city university-affiliated
pediatric teaching hospital must be bona fide donations as provided in 42 CFR
Section 433.54.

(5)  It is the intent
of the Legislature that the cost of providing services to Mississippi Medicaid
beneficiaries under the age of twenty-one (21) years who are treated by a
border city university-affiliated pediatric teaching hospital shall not exceed
the cost of providing the same services to individuals in hospitals in the
state.  Further, it is the intent of the Legislature that payments shall not
result in any in-state

hospital receiving payments lower
than they would otherwise receive if not for the payments made to any border
city university-affiliated pediatric teaching hospital.

(6)  This section shall
stand repealed on July 1, 2027.

SECTION 2.  This act
shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.