Section 41-99-1 - DefinitionsFor purposes of this chapter:
(a) "Mississippi qualified health center" means a public or nonprofit entity that provides comprehensive primary care services that:(i) Has a community board of directors, the majority of whom are users of such centers;(ii) Accepts all patients that present themselves despite their ability to pay and uses a sliding-fee-schedule for payments; and(iii) Serves a designated medically underserved area or population, as provided in Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act.(b) "Uninsured or medically indigent patient" means a patient receiving services from a Mississippi qualified health center who is not eligible for Medicaid, Medicare or any other type of governmental reimbursement for health care costs or receiving third-party payments via an employer.(c) "Department" means the State Department of Health.(d) "Primary care" means the basic entry level of health care provided by health care practitioners or nonphysician health care practitioners, which is generally provided in an outpatient setting.(e) "Medically underserved area or population" means an area designated by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services as an area with a shortage of professionals, health services or a population group designated by the secretary as having a shortage of those services.(f) "Service grant" means either a care grant or a physician grant, or both, by the department to a Mississippi qualified health center in accordance with this chapter.(g) "Program" means the Mississippi Qualified Health Center Grant Program established in this chapter.(h) "Primary care physician" means a doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy who:(i) Is a resident of Mississippi;(ii) Is licensed to practice medicine under Section 73-25-1 et seq.; and(iii) Practices in Family Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Internal Medical-Pediatrics or General Internal Medicine.(i) "Care grant" means a service grant awarded under the program in Section 41-99-5(2) to a Mississippi qualified health center for its use in providing care to uninsured or medically indigent patients in Mississippi.(j) "Physician grant" means a service grant awarded under the program in Section 41-99-5(3) to a Mississippi qualified health center for its use in providing salary supplements to recruit and retain primary care physicians in areas where there is the most need, as determined by the advisory council, in order to increase health care access to patients in Mississippi. Laws, 1999, ch. 477, § 3; Laws, 2004, ch. 415, § 1, eff. 7/1/2004.Amended by Laws, 2020, ch. 416, SB 2626,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2020.