Summary — HB 465: “Mississippi Tele‑Emergency Services Grant Program; create”
Status: Died in Committee
Introduced: November 19, 2025
Subjects: Appropriations A; Public Health and Human Services
Important note: the documents you provided appear to contain materials for multiple different bills also numbered “HB 465” from other states (Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia, Illinois) and fiscal/committee reports unrelated to a Mississippi tele‑emergency grant program. I could not find the text or fiscal detail for a Mississippi HB 465 in the supplied files. The summary below (1) records the available procedural facts you supplied and (2) gives an objective, clearly‑labeled description of what a bill with the given title would typically contain and its likely impacts. If you can provide the actual Mississippi bill text or fiscal note, I will convert this into a precise, document‑based summary.
Purpose / Intent
The bill’s stated purpose (from the title) is to create a “Mississippi Tele‑Emergency Services Grant Program.” Such a program is ordinarily intended to expand access to emergency care by funding telemedicine services that connect patients, first responders, or smaller hospitals/clinics with emergency physicians or specialists remotely.
Typical key provisions (expected, pending confirmation)
Note: these are the common elements found in state-level tele‑emergency grant bills — not verbatim provisions of the unavailable bill text.
- Establishes a new grant program (name: Tele‑Emergency Services Grant Program) within a state agency (commonly the Department of Health or a designated office).
- Specifies eligibility for grants: rural hospitals, critical access hospitals, community health centers, EMS providers, or local health districts lacking on‑site emergency specialists.
- Authorizes grant uses: purchase of tele‑medicine hardware/software, broadband upgrades, integration with EMS, clinician contracting, staff training, and public outreach.
- Funding/appropriations: authorizes either a one‑time appropriation or recurring appropriations; may set maximum grant amounts or matching fund requirements.
- Administration and reporting: tasks the administering agency with application rules, award criteria prioritizing underserved areas, performance metrics, and periodic reporting to the legislature.
- Timeframe and sunset: sets program start date and may include a sunset or review date.
- Privacy/compliance: requires compliance with HIPAA and state health‑information laws.
Who would be affected
- Primary beneficiaries: rural and small hospitals, emergency departments, EMS agencies, and patients in medically underserved or geographically isolated areas.
- Secondary effects: prospective cost savings from avoided transfers/admissions, potential changes to hospital revenue streams, and improvements in emergency care access and outcomes.
Fiscal and operational impacts (likely)
- Short‑term state costs if an appropriation is required (amount unspecified).
- Possible federal match or Medicaid impacts if tele‑emergency services expand billable telemedicine encounters—could affect Medicaid expenditures and provider reimbursements.
- Local governments/hospitals might incur matching obligations or operational costs to sustain services.
Procedural/timeline aspects
- Introduced: November 19, 2025.
- Current status: Died in Committee (no appropriation enacted, program not created).
- Next steps (if reintroduced): would require committee passage, appropriation (if funded), and an implementation phase for grants and rulemaking.
Requested follow‑up
Please provide:
- The actual Mississippi HB 465 bill text (or a bill summary/fiscal note), or
- A bill tracking link or PDF for the Mississippi measure.
With the bill text I will produce a precise, clause‑by‑clause summary, list exact dollar figures, eligibility rules, reporting requirements, and the official fiscal impact.
