Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Medical Licensure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Medical licensing board cites rapid telemedicine growth, asks for $345,000 in added spending authority
Summary
The Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure told a Senate appropriations subcommittee that license counts rose from roughly 9,000 to more than 15,000 in seven years amid telemedicine and the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and requested $345,000 in additional FY26 spending authority.
The Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure told a Senate appropriations subcommittee on Feb. 12 that it has seen a surge in licensees tied to telemedicine and the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and asked for $345,000 in additional spending authority for fiscal 2026.
At a committee meeting, Executive Director Dr. Cleveland said the board had about 9,000 licensees when he took the job and is "over 15,000 licensees now," a near doubling he said was driven by technology and the Compact. He described legal and enforcement complications when licensees practice across many states and said the board needs more capacity to respond.
"That means they lawyer up, and they lawyer up big time," Dr. Cleveland said, describing cases where multiple out-of-state attorneys filed motions and slowed enforcement. To address the workload, the board asked the subcommittee for an extra $345,000 beyond the Budget Office recommendation. The requested increase breaks down into roughly $229,000 for salaries (including two new positions), $55,400 for 2% progression, and $60,000 for capital outlay.
The two requested staff positions are an attorney II to bolster legal capacity and a communications/public relations specialist to replace contracted communications services. Dr. Cleveland said investigators currently draft summonses and affidavits; those drafts require substantial attorney revision because investigators are not lawyers. He also said the board contracts communications work under the no-bid $50,000 threshold and struggles to reliably reach licensees when regulations change.
On capital needs the board asked to restore funding to replace two vehicles that were previously approved but delayed because of manufacturing/delivery issues; board investigators currently share vehicles. Committee members asked whether the communications role duplicates existing contract costs; subcommittee members indicated they would look for offsets in the contracts line item.
Committee members pressed the board on how to address out-of-state telemedicine providers. Dr. Cleveland explained that Mississippi treats the practice of medicine as occurring where the patient is located, which means out-of-state, unlicensed clinicians can practice here via telemedicine and the board's remedies are limited to cease-and-desist letters and referral to other states when appropriate. He described proposed changes to the Medical Practice Act to strengthen the board's authority over out-of-state and unlicensed practitioners and said the Compact and corporate structures make enforcement more resource-intensive.
The board did not request an upper ask beyond the LBO recommendation for other items, but sought the $345,000 increase described above. Dr. Cleveland closed by offering to meet with committee members for more detailed discussion.
Ending: Committee members thanked the board for the briefing and said they would follow up on staffing and contract-offset questions as they process FY26 special fund budgets.
