CON reform legislation expected to receive Governor’s signature

• Additional action to reform certificate of need laws in Mississippi is expected next session.

While not as strong as when it was introduced, a bill that makes revisions to Mississippi’s certificate of need (CON) laws is on the governor’s desk. 

State Rep. Sam Creekmore (R) said the bill sent to Governor Tate Reeves (R) is a bit weaker than the one he introduced at the start of the 2025 legislative session. His original bill, HB 922, would have removed psychiatric, dialysis and MRI care and procedures from the requirements of CON.

While those provisions were removed from the bill that passed both bodies this session, HB 569 does raise the threshold for a medical facility to seek a CON when purchasing medical equipment. Rep. Creekmore said he worked with State Senator Hob Bryan (D) to craft a bill that would make both sides of the Capitol happy, preventing the need for further work in conference. 

“That was our objective from the very beginning, was to get a bill that we could concur on and that’s what we did,” Creekmore said.

HB 569 increases the caps on three categories: major medical equipment, clinical health services, and non-clinical health services. Major medical equipment’s cap will now increase from $1.5 million to $3 million, clinical health services will go from $5 million to $10 million, and non-clinical health services, which includes facilities, will increase from $10 million to $20 million. 

“The (changes to) capital expenditures is a big deal because it could really help the rural hospitals,” Creekmore said. 

These changes will allow hospitals to make improvements much faster while saving money, he added.

Under CON regulations, a fee is required when making an application.

“You got to spend $5,000 to $25,000 dollars to apply for CON to spend $10 million,” Creekmore elaborated. “Let’s just make it a little more efficient and a little easier.”

The bill also tasks the Mississippi Department of Health with conducting a study to see what other changes may need to be made to CON laws. Rep. Creekmore expects to be able to use the results from that study, which are due December 1 of this year, to form new CON legislation heading into the 2026 legislative session. 

Included in the areas to be studied are CON impacts on small hospital’s dialysis units, geriatric psychiatric units, and acute adult psychiatric units.

“I don’t have a goal of completely removing CON from all healthcare unless it makes sense to us, but I think there’s certain things like we’ve done that need to come out,” Creekmore described.

The legislation also addresses the current CON exemptions at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). Currently, UMMC is exempted from CON so long as any improvement to facilities or equipment is for educational purposes. The language in the bill would restrict that exemption to within the boundaries of UMMC’s campus.

Governor Reeves has said he would like to see substantial changes to Mississippi’s CON laws. This gives Creekmore confidence that the bill will receive the Governor’s signature. 

There is also the possibility that additional legislation concerning CON regulations could be added to a special session call by the Governor when lawmakers return to finalize the state’s budget before July 1.