Dive Brief:
- Two bills are moving forward in Mississippi in response to the financial scandal at the Singing River Health System, which quietly stopped contributing to its publicly-owned pension plan in 2009 and then voted last year to terminate the plan.
- The "Pension Notification Act," which has passed the House and now moves to the Senate, would require some public systems to inform participants of their financial status and plan changes, and to allow public access to their records. According to state Rep. Hank Zuber (R-Ocean Springs), there are currently no state or federal laws that require public pension plans to provide this information, as there are for private plans.
- Another bill, by state Sen. Brice Wiggins (R-Pascagoula), would hold publicly-owned community hospitals in Mississippi accountable to public meetings and records disclosure laws.
Dive Insight:
It took a major financial failure to bring attention to the shortcomings of Mississippi's current accountability requirements for publicly-funded hospitals and pension plans. Other states, and perhaps the federal government, should consider reviewing whether similar issues could occur elsewhere and take steps to prevent history from repeating itself. Mississippi's actions could set a precedent.
"We've seen the need for transparency at public hospitals with recent events on the Gulf Coast," Reeves was quoted by The Clarion-Ledger this week. "These taxpayer-supported entities should operate in the open so patients, staff and the public know the proper fiscal management practices are in place."