By Ellis S.B. No. 1725
76R6326 CLG-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the establishment of a neonatal and prenatal care
1-3 outreach services pilot project for Medicaid recipients.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. In this Act:
1-6 (1) "Department" means the Texas Department of Health.
1-7 (2) "Project" means the pilot project established
1-8 under this Act.
1-9 SECTION 2. NEONATAL AND PRENATAL CARE OUTREACH SERVICES
1-10 PILOT PROJECT. (a) The Texas Department of Health by rule shall
1-11 establish a pilot project to provide outreach services to Medicaid
1-12 recipients to expand the use of neonatal and prenatal care services
1-13 by those recipients. The project shall be administered by one or
1-14 more grant recipients selected under Section 3 of this Act.
1-15 (b) The project must begin operation not later than January
1-16 1, 2000, and must operate in six counties selected by the
1-17 department, three of which must be urban counties and three of
1-18 which must be rural counties. In selecting the counties in which
1-19 to establish the project, the department shall give priority to
1-20 those counties that have been identified by the Texas Board of
1-21 Health as having the highest incidences of low birth weights and
1-22 infant mortality rates in the state.
1-23 SECTION 3. ADMINISTRATION OF PILOT PROJECT; REQUEST FOR
1-24 PROPOSALS. (a) The department shall adopt rules governing the
2-1 awarding of a grant to one or more public or private entities or
2-2 organizations, including managed care organizations, for the
2-3 development and implementation of the project. The rules must
2-4 include criteria for the awarding of a grant and procedures for the
2-5 use of a grant.
2-6 (b) The department shall develop a request for proposals in
2-7 connection with awarding a grant and shall make the request for
2-8 proposals available to any entity or organization requesting it
2-9 before September 1, 1999. Proposals must be received by the
2-10 department not later than November 1, 1999.
2-11 SECTION 4. DUTIES OF GRANT RECIPIENT. The recipient of a
2-12 grant under Section 3 of this Act shall:
2-13 (1) implement the project as required by this Act; and
2-14 (2) identify and address, through a strategic plan,
2-15 barriers encountered by Medicaid recipients in accessing neonatal
2-16 and prenatal health care services, including:
2-17 (A) cultural and language differences between
2-18 health care providers and their patients;
2-19 (B) limited accessibility of health care
2-20 facilities because of days and hours of operation;
2-21 (C) lack of transportation to and from health
2-22 care facilities;
2-23 (D) inconvenient locations of health care
2-24 facilities;
2-25 (E) unfamiliarity of recipients with enrollment
2-26 processes and health care benefits; and
2-27 (F) unfamiliarity of health care providers with
3-1 community needs or cultural and health benefits.
3-2 SECTION 5. CONFIDENTIALITY. (a) Subject to the
3-3 requirements of federal law, the department by rule may authorize a
3-4 grant recipient under the project to obtain from the department or
3-5 a contractor implementing a part of the Medicaid program in this
3-6 state the name, address, and telephone number of a Medicaid
3-7 recipient and the recipient's Medicaid managed care plan and
3-8 primary care provider for use in conducting the project.
3-9 (b) Confidential information obtained by a grant recipient
3-10 under this section may be used by the grant recipient only for the
3-11 purposes for which it was obtained and may not be released to any
3-12 person other than the department or a contractor described by
3-13 Subsection (a) of this section.
3-14 (c) The department may adopt rules that impose additional
3-15 restrictions on the use of confidential information obtained by a
3-16 grant recipient under this section.
3-17 SECTION 6. EVALUATION AND REPORT. Not later than January 1,
3-18 2001, the department shall submit a report to the governor,
3-19 lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives
3-20 that evaluates the effectiveness of the project. The report must
3-21 include:
3-22 (1) an evaluation of the effects of the project on the
3-23 reduction of barriers to health care accessibility encountered by
3-24 project participants; and
3-25 (2) recommendations for changes in or expansion of the
3-26 project.
3-27 SECTION 7. TERMINATION OF PILOT PROJECT. The project ends
4-1 and this Act expires September 1, 2001.
4-2 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
4-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-7 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-8 passage, and it is so enacted.