Gulfport's Memorial Hospital announced on February 8 it had received accreditation for a new family medicine residency program from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The hospital had worked for years with the Office of Mississippi Physician Workforce to do the background work of starting such a program. We look forward to seeing 10 new residents begin working in the program this summer.

House Bill 1303, a bill which would allow Advanced Practice Registered Nurses to practice independently of physicians after reaching a threshold of 3,600 hours, is still alive in the Senate Public Health Committee. In a committee meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 24, Senator Hob Bryan of Amory, the chair, mentioned HB 1303, but did not bring it up for consideration.

"It is my opinion that the committee simply does not have enough information to deal with something that broad in scope at this time," Sen. Bryan said at Wednesday's committee meeting (43:25 time stamp). "We just haven't had enough time to look at that during this session. It's my intention to consider that over the summer, but not to bring that bill before us at [this] time."

The committee meets again Tuesday, March 2. If the bill is not passed out of the committee that day, it will die. HB 1303 and scope expansion for nurse practitioners may be dead for the current year.

We are thankful to the many doctors and medical students who lobbied their legislators against this bill. Fortunately, we believe legislators will hold hearings this summer on the issue, so that physicians will have the opportunity to present the facts to legislators on the health committees.

MEDICAID TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS BILLS: Each chamber has its own version of this bill. Both House Bill 1008 and Senate Bill 2799 make adjustments to Mississippi's Medicaid program. MAFP has worked with legislators since the fall on this bill, providing input and possible language beneficial to doctors and patients. “I think both versions do a good job of being provider friendly without being too taxpayer unfriendly,” Medicaid Director Drew Snyder told Y'all Politics earlier this month. These bills face a March 2 deadline for committee action, and once both pass, must go to a conference committee so both chambers can hammer out the differences between the two versions.

TELEMEDICINE BILL: Senate Bill 2631, which would revise mandated coverage for telemedicine services, is in the House Insurance Committee, where it faces a March 2 deadline for action. MAFP has presented language for a proposed amendment to the bill that would protect physicians and improve quality of care for patients. MAFP looks forward to working with all parties to ensure it moves forward successfully.

ADVOCACY COMMITTEE: The MAFP Advocacy Committee has continued to meet by phone frequently to consider pressing matters during this legislative session. Many thanks to Advocacy Committee members (listed below) for volunteering hours of their time to monitor legislation that affects members.

Join us this summer for the MAFP Annual Meeting in Sandestin, FL, July 17-21. Hotel rooms and condos are now available. Reserve early to get the type and location you want. Click on the photo for hotel information.

At present, we have 108 members who still need to pay their dues. Here's how to do it: Call 1-800-274-2237 or visit www.aafp.org/quickpay.

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