CON; provide for exception to home health agency moratorium for certain hospice licensees.

HB 449 amends Mississippi law to create an exception to the moratorium on new home health agencies, allowing the State Department of Health to issue up to five special permits (certificates of need) for hospice providers who received new licenses under Section 41-85-7(3). This directly affects five specific hospice organizations that obtained new licenses but would otherwise be blocked from operating home health services due to the moratorium. The bill modifies the certificate of need requirements to permit these five permits exclusively for the newly licensed hospice providers. This is a procedural change targeting hospice licensees, not a broader policy shift.