Mississippi Enacts Permanent Access to Telehealth for Residents

By Consumers for Quality Care, on May 25, 2022

Senate Bill 2738, which permanently allows Mississippi residents to utilize telehealth to connect with their doctors, has been signed into law, according to Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

The new law will help bring essential medicine to the most underserved communities in the state. “It’s certainly convenient for the consumer,” said Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney. “It provided access through rural areas in the State of Mississippi, especially along the Mississippi River from Natchez all the way up to Tunica. We have a dire need of doctors in a lot of the counties that border the Mississippi River, so this was another way to deliver medicine to these particular people living in rural areas.”

State Epidemiologist Dr. Paul Byers says telehealth can bridge the health gap in rural areas. “I think it’s a big win for the state,” said Dr. Byers. “Particularly for Mississippi, when we look at where providers are, and health disparities, and even disparities of where there may be a county where the nearest provider is 50 miles away. And that by itself creates a barrier for that person to access routine care. I think that’s a huge win.”

CQC applauds the efforts of Mississippi lawmakers to embrace the advantages of telehealth and urges Congress and other states to also pass policies that preserve access to telehealth services for millions of Americans.