Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 1862 amends provisions of the Health and Safety Code and the Human Resources Code relating to health and human services. The bill imposes a quality assurance fee on each intermediate care facility owned by the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. It changes the method for determining the number of patient days for an intermediate care facility by eliminating the number of beds on hold for hospitalized patients from the daily total, and it extends the deadline for filing a monthly report on patient days with the Health and Human Services Commission or the Texas Department of Human Services from the 10th to the 20th day after the end of the month covered by the report. Senate Bill 1862 authorizes the use of money in the quality assurance fund to increase the reimbursement rate for waiver programs for persons with mental retardation or for any other health and human services purpose approved by the governor and the Legislative Budget Board. The bill repeals a provision requiring the commission or the department to adopt the formula by which amounts received from the quality assurance fund increase the reimbursement rates paid to intermediate care facilities and waiver programs under the Medicaid program. It changes the method for determining whether an applicant is eligible for financial assistance and services to families with dependent children by reducing the amount of financial resources for the applicant's household that must be excluded from the applicant's available resources; the reduced exclusion applies uniformly regardless of whether the household includes a disabled or aged member.

            Senate Bill 1862 makes the department's establishment of a program that serves pregnant women, children, and caretakers who have high medical expenses subject to the appropriation of state funds. The provision of foot health care services and the services provided by a licensed psychologist or a licensed marriage and family therapist are also made subject to the appropriation of state funds. Senate Bill 1862 requires the department to consider a nationally recognized, unbiased pricing standard for prescription drugs in determining reimbursement amounts under the vendor drug program. Senate Bill 1862 changes the earliest effective date allowed for rules adopted by the Health and Human Services Commission or the appropriate state agency providing for a 12-month period of continuous eligibility for children under 19 years of age; as amended, the rules must take effect not earlier than September 1, 2005, instead of not earlier than September 1, 2002, or later than June 1, 2003. The bill also authorizes each health and human services agency to reduce expenditures by taking certain efficiency measures.