By Raymond, Maxey                                      H.B. No. 597
       74R2445 CBH-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the maximization of federal funding for certain child
    1-3  welfare programs.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Article 4413(503), Revised Statutes, is amended
    1-6  by adding Section 12A to read as follows:
    1-7        Sec. 12A.  FEDERAL FUNDING FOR CERTAIN CHILDREN.  (a)  For
    1-8  purposes of Medicaid eligibility only, the department shall
    1-9  classify as a "child in foster care" each child who is in the
   1-10  conservatorship of the state and placed in the home of a relative.
   1-11  A child classified as a "child in foster care" under this
   1-12  subsection is not automatically eligible to receive foster care
   1-13  payments because of that classification.
   1-14        (b)  The department shall ensure that each time study used to
   1-15  allocate costs identifies all costs incurred on behalf of a child
   1-16  if the child's case plan clearly indicates that foster care is the
   1-17  planned arrangement for that child.
   1-18        (c)  The department shall claim federal financial
   1-19  participation under Title IV-E, federal Social Security Act (42
   1-20  U.S.C.  Section 670 et seq.), for all nonrecurring adoption
   1-21  expenses at the highest rate authorized by federal law.  The
   1-22  department shall include all charges from state attorneys and state
   1-23  courts and any applicable overhead.  The department may claim the
   1-24  expenses as either administrative or training expenses, depending
    2-1  on which classification results in a higher federal match.
    2-2        SECTION 2.  (a)  The Department of Protective and Regulatory
    2-3  Services shall file an adjustment to its previous quarterly claims
    2-4  under Title IV-E, federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section
    2-5  670 et seq.), to claim retroactive federal financial participation
    2-6  for the incremental difference for each quarter in which
    2-7  nonrecurring adoption expenses have been identified as a legitimate
    2-8  expense.
    2-9        (b)  The department shall request a waiver from the federal
   2-10  two-year limitation on the period in which the state can file
   2-11  certain claims in accordance with Section 1320b-2(b), federal
   2-12  Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1320b-2(b)).  If the waiver
   2-13  is denied, the department shall exhaust all administrative remedies
   2-14  and, if necessary, seek judicial review to obtain a court order
   2-15  reducing the claim to judgment and mandating retroactive payment.
   2-16        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-17  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-18  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-19  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-20  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   2-21  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   2-22  passage, and it is so enacted.