SRC-CTC S.B. 831 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Senate Research CenterS.B. 831 By: Moncrief Health & Human Services 5/30/2001 Enrolled DIGEST AND PURPOSE Currently, federal funds are newly available for states to create a Ticket to Work Buy-In Program that allows disabled individuals to work, but not lose their Medicaid benefits. S.B. 831 creates three pilot programs, one rural, one urban, and one in the Texas-Mexico border region, to take advantage of these funds. The Department of Human Services is directed to report the effectiveness of the pilot programs and make recommendations about statewide expansion. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 32B, Human Resources Code, by adding Section 32.053, as follows: Sec. 32.053. MEDICAL ASSISTANCE BUY-IN PILOT PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN RECIPIENTS WITH DISABILITIES. (a) Requires the Health and Human Services Commission or an agency operating part of the medical assistance program (department) to develop and implement a medical assistance buy-in pilot program (program) in accordance with the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (Pub. L. No. 106170) to provide medical assistance to certain persons. (b) Requires the department to operate the program in three specific geographic areas of the state, each of which is located in a local workforce development area for which the local development board has received a federal work incentive grant under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. Section 2801 et seq.), as amended, to provide employment services and supports to persons with disabilities. Requires the department to determine the pilot sites, with one site in an urban area, one site in a rural area, and one site in the Texas-Mexico border region. (c) Authorizes the department, in establishing the program, to set certain guidelines or conditions. (d) Requires the department, in establishing the program, to require a person who participates in the program to pay premiums to the extent required by 42 U.S.C. Section 1396o(g)(2). (e) Requires the department, not later than December 1, 2002, to evaluate the effectiveness of the demonstration project in providing health care services to employed persons with disabilities. Requires the department, if the results of the evaluation indicate that the project is effective. to incorporate a request for funding for the continuation or expansion of the program in the department's budget request for the next state fiscal biennium. (f) Provides that this section expires September 1, 2003. SECTION 2. Requires the department to request and actively pursue the award of a federal grant authorized by the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, as amended, to support the design, establishment, and operation of infrastructures in this state that provide support services for employed persons with disabilities. Requires the department to comply with any prerequisite imposed under the federal law to receiving the grant. SECTION 3. Requires the state agency responsible for implementing the demonstration project required by Section 32.053, Human Resources Code, as added by this Act, to request and actively pursue any necessary waivers or authorizations from the Health Care Financing Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services or other appropriate entities to enable the agency to implement the demonstration project not later than January 1, 2002. Authorizes the agency to delay implementing the demonstration project until the necessary waivers or authorizations are granted. SECTION 4. Effective date: September 1, 2001.