SRC-CDH S.B. 514 75(R) BILL ANALYSIS Senate Research CenterS.B. 514 By: Moncrief Health & Human Services 2-13-97 As Filed DIGEST Currently, the Health and Human Services Commission is statutorily responsible for administering the state's Medicaid program, but a number of state agencies are involved in program implementation. The state is required to maintain a fair hearings system for Medicaid beneficiaries whose claims for services have been denied, reduced, terminated, or not acted upon with reasonable promptness; however, each agency has its own hearings process and due to significant differences among these processes, procedures and outcomes are inconsistent. This legislation grants the commissioner of health and human services the authority to promulgate hearing rules for all Medicaid funded services in order to improve the consistency and dependability of the hearings process. PURPOSE As proposed, S.B. 514 requires the Health and Human Services Commission to promulgate uniform fair hearing rules for all Medicaid funded services. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY Rulemaking authority is granted to the commissioner of health and human services in SECTION 1 (Section 531.024, Government Code) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 531.024, Government Code, to require the commissioner of health and human services to promulgate uniform fair hearing rules for all Medicaid funded services. Makes conforming changes. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1997. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.