A small win for freedom in Mississippi! Governor Tate Reeves recently signed HB3, a law that reforms the state’s Certificate of Need (CON) rules.
CON is basically a government approval process healthcare providers (like hospitals) must go through before they can add certain services, build new facilities, buy expensive equipment, or make big expansions.
HB3 makes some modest changes, allowing more flexibility for some specific providers. It also raises the dollar threshold for capital spending requiring approval.
Perhaps the most significant part of the bill is that it mandates the Mississippi Department of Health to do a study over the course of this year into the feasibility of letting smaller hospitals skip CON when providing kidney dialysis treatment and adult psychiatric services.
While HB3 does not give us the reforms Mississippi needs, it is a step in the right direction. In a legislative session that has seen most significant reforms killed in the Senate, this is one rare example of a free market reform in the 2026 session.