By Hilderbran                                         H.B. No. 2644
       74R7694 DLF-F
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to certification requirements for institutions that
    1-3  participate as nursing facilities in the state Medicaid program.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 32.021, Human Resources Code, is amended
    1-6  by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (h), (i), and (j)
    1-7  to read as follows:
    1-8        (d)  The department may include in its contracts for the
    1-9  delivery of medical assistance by nursing facilities provisions for
   1-10  monetary penalties to be assessed for contract violations as
   1-11  required by 42 U.S.C. Section 1396r, including without limitation
   1-12  the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA), P.L. 100-203, Nursing
   1-13  Home Reform Amendments of 1987, provided that the department:
   1-14              (1)  establish a penalties and sanctions advisory
   1-15  committee of consumer advocates and long-term care providers to
   1-16  help develop and monitor an appropriate system for assessing
   1-17  penalties; and
   1-18              (2)  develop rules in accordance with Subsection (i)<,
   1-19  including an administrative appeals process> to adjudicate claims
   1-20  in contested cases<, in accordance with the Administrative
   1-21  Procedure and Texas Register Act (Article 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas
   1-22  Civil Statutes)>.
   1-23        (h)  The rules adopted by the department for certification of
   1-24  facilities as being in compliance with the requirements for
    2-1  participation in the state Medicaid program may not be different
    2-2  from the standards imposed by federal law.  This subsection does
    2-3  not prevent the department from using any civil, administrative, or
    2-4  criminal remedy authorized by state or federal law with respect to
    2-5  a facility that is in violation of a certification or licensing
    2-6  requirement.
    2-7        (i)  The rules adopted under Subsection (d)(2) must provide
    2-8  for:
    2-9              (1)  an informal dispute resolution process that
   2-10  provides for adjudication by an appropriate disinterested person in
   2-11  the department's central office; and
   2-12              (2)  an administrative appeals process under Chapter
   2-13  2001, Government Code.
   2-14        (j)  A finding by the department that an institution has
   2-15  violated a standard for participation in the state Medicaid
   2-16  program, or the assessment or payment of a monetary penalty under
   2-17  this section, is not admissible as evidence in a civil action to
   2-18  prove that the institution has committed a violation.  This
   2-19  subsection does not apply in an enforcement action or related
   2-20  proceeding in which the state or an agency or political subdivision
   2-21  of the state is a party.
   2-22        SECTION 2.  Subchapter C, Chapter 242, Health and Safety
   2-23  Code, is amended by adding Section 242.070 to read as follows:
   2-24        Sec. 242.070.  APPLICATION OF OTHER LAW.  The department may
   2-25  not assess a penalty under both this subchapter and Section 32.021,
   2-26  Human Resources Code, for a violation arising out of the same act
   2-27  or failure to act.
    3-1        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
    3-2  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    3-3  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    3-4  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    3-5  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
    3-6  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
    3-7  passage, and it is so enacted.