Video: New State Laws Go into Effect July 1st

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JACKSON, Miss. (WCBI)- Auto inspection stickers are a thing of the past after Tuesday, and a caregiver’s act goes into effect Wednesday. They are among the new laws that go into effect July 1. Here’s some other laws that are now in place.

Stickers gone:

After years of debate and failed efforts, lawmakers eliminated the state’s vehicle inspection program, and the $5 stickers.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, who listed eliminating the stickers as a top priority this year, said the program “was an inefficient way to collect what was essentially a $5 tax.”

Texting ban:

House Bill 389 banning texting and posting to social media. The bill allows a civil fine of $25 per violation. It increases to $100 per violation in 2016.

“It will save lives,” said House Transportation Chairman Robert Johnson III, D-Natchez.

Opponents say the law will be difficult to enforce.

Caregiver Act:

Thousands of Mississippians are caring for an older parent or loved one, helping them to live independently in their own homes. The new law, the Caregiver Act, is a commonsense solution to support family caregivers when their loved ones go into the hospital and as they transition home.

The law requires hospitals to:

•Provide patients the opportunity to designate a family caregiver

• Notify the family caregiver when their loved one is to be discharged or transferred

• Discuss the patient’s discharge plan with the family caregiver

• Provide an opportunity for the family caregiver and patient to ask questions about aftercare medical and nursing tasks

There are more than 800,000 caregivers in the state, according to AARP of Mississippi spokeswoman Ronda Gooden.

Right to Try Act:

Authored by state Sen. Josh Harkins, R-Flowood, Senate Bill 2485 allows physicians to prescribe experimental drugs, products and devices to terminally ill patients who have exhausted all other legal treatment options.

Although not yet approved by the FDA, these experimental treatments must have passed clinical trials. The measure also shields physicians from disciplinary action as a result of prescribing such treatments, except in the case of gross negligence or willful misconduct.

Military tuition breaks:

The law will waive out-of-state tuition fees for military veterans, active-duty and reserve forces and eligible dependents.

The waiver in SB 2127, authored by Sen. Perry Lee, R-Mendenhall, will apply at all Mississippi public universities and community colleges and takes effect immediately.

Autocycles exempted from:

The law exempts autocycles from the state’s helmet requirements and allowing people to drive them without a motorcycle endorsement on their licenses.

The law describes an autocycle as a motorcycle with three wheels enclosed with a roll cage or rollbar and equipped with automotive controls and seat belts.

Special-needs bill:

The Equal Opportunities for Students with Special Needs Act will provide up to $6,500 “educational savings accounts” for parents of special-needs children who want to pull them out of public schools to seek educational services elsewhere.

Cancer drug parity:

House Bill 952 requires health insurance plans to provide equal coverage of oral and intravenous anti-cancer treatments, thus preventing them from charging higher co-pays or deductibles for pills. Doctors are increasingly prescribing oral anti-cancer drugs. But many health insurance plans treat self-administered and physician-administered drugs differently, creating a financial disparity.

Hospital transparency:

The bill would open most meetings of public hospital boards to the public. The bill, authored by Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, was a response to the Singing River Health Systems pension scandal in Jackson County. Singing River, without informing employees, stopped paying into the publicly owned hospital’s pension plan in 2009, and its board last year voted to terminate the plan because of a nearly $90 million budget shortfall.