SF 2251 – Child Care Assistance Program Eligibility
SF 2320 – Medicaid Consumer Directed Care Provider Eligibility
HF 2417 – Mental Health & Disability Services Redesign Clean Up
FLOOR ACTION:
SF 2251 revises the 28-hour-per-week employment requirement to allow participation at a satisfactory level in an approved training or education program for 28 hours per week in aggregate. The bill also directs the Department of Human Services (DHS) to review eligibility of program participants no more frequently than every 12 months (eligibility is currently reviewed every six months), and requires DHS to review the application process to eliminate unneeded or redundant information and make other improvements. A report concerning the results of this review is due to the Governor and Legislature by December 1, 2014. The bill also directs DHS to update the application process to be compatible with tablets and smartphones and to adopt rules for the eligibility changes. The House proposed an amendment that would only allow the 28 hours in aggregate in four enumerated counties. [Vote to concur with House Amendment 5080 4/1: no, voice vote (Houser, Petersen excused)]
SF 2320, as amended on the floor, ensures greater accessibility of home-based Medicaid services that are less costly than facility services and eliminate a hardship on families as a result of rules the Department of Human Services (DHS) promulgated during the 2013 interim. The bill allows individuals who serve as a Medicaid member’s legal representative and provide services under a consumer directed attendant care (CDAC) agreement or consumer choices option (CCO) employment agreement on or after December 31, 2013, to continue providing Medicaid services via CDAC or CCO. The bill specifies that a provider who is also the legal representative of the Medicaid member must be paid no more than the statewide median rate for services without approval by the Department and can submit claims for no more than 40 hours per week. In addition, a contingency plan must be created to ensure services are provided when the provider is unavailable due to illness or an unexpected event. This provision overrides DHS rules established in the 2013 interim. Beginning July 1, 2016, DHS may end the individual CDAC program and require new self-directed services to be provided through a CDAC agency or CCO. However, providers with existing CDAC agreements in effect as of June 30, 2016, may continue to provide services under the contract (they would be “grandfathered in”). Additionally, the bill transitions agency-provided CDAC services to “personal care services,” allowing additional services to be provided for those discharged from an inpatient healthcare facility. The bill is effective upon enactment and retroactive to December 31, 2013. [3/27: 46-0 (Bertrand, Boettger, Ernst, Houser excused)]
HF 2417, as amended on the floor, makes references to the newly redesigned regional Mental Health & Disability Services (MHDS) consistent throughout the Code. Most of the changes concern replacing references to county central points of contact with MHDS regions and clarifies new payment structures between various governmental entities. Senate File 2330 was also added because it was inadvertently killed in the House when it was referred to the House Human Resources Committee rather than Appropriations Committee. This additional language allows community mental health centers (CMHCs) to choose between two reimbursement methodologies: cost reporting, which is currently used; or negotiating rates with Magellan, the state’s mental health services managed care contractor, with approval of DHS. Cost reporting allows CMHCs to receive reimbursement for the full cost of providing services, but the cost reporting process can take up to two years to complete. [4/2: 48-0 (Houser, Sinclair excused)]