1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the establishment of a medical assistance buy-in pilot
1-3 program for certain persons with disabilities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 32, Human Resources Code,
1-6 is amended by adding Section 32.053 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 32.053. MEDICAL ASSISTANCE BUY-IN PILOT PROGRAM FOR
1-8 CERTAIN RECIPIENTS WITH DISABILITIES. (a) The department shall
1-9 develop and implement a medical assistance buy-in pilot program in
1-10 accordance with the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement
1-11 Act of 1999 (Pub. L. No. 106-170) to provide medical assistance to:
1-12 (1) a person who:
1-13 (A) is at least 16 years of age, but is not more
1-14 than 64 years of age;
1-15 (B) but for earnings that exceed the limit
1-16 established by federal law for Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
1-17 (42 U.S.C. Section 1381 et seq.), would be considered to be
1-18 receiving Supplemental Security Income; and
1-19 (C) has income, assets, and resources that do
1-20 not exceed the limits established by the department under
1-21 Subsection (c), if any; and
1-22 (2) an employed individual with a medically improved
1-23 disability, as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 1396d(v)(1) whose
1-24 income, assets, and resources do not exceed the limits established
1-25 by the department under Subsection (c), if any.
2-1 (b) The department shall operate the pilot program in three
2-2 specific geographic areas of the state, each of which is located in
2-3 a local workforce development area for which the local workforce
2-4 development board has received a federal work incentive grant under
2-5 the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. Section 2801 et
2-6 seq.), as amended, to provide employment services and supports to
2-7 persons with disabilities. The department shall determine the
2-8 pilot sites, with one site in an urban area, one site in a rural
2-9 area, and one site in the Texas-Mexico border region.
2-10 (c) In establishing the pilot program, the department may:
2-11 (1) establish income, assets, and resource limitations
2-12 for eligibility for the medical assistance buy-in pilot program;
2-13 and
2-14 (2) require a person who participates in the medical
2-15 assistance buy-in pilot program to pay premiums and other
2-16 cost-sharing charges in accordance with 42 U.S.C. Section
2-17 1396o(g)(1).
2-18 (d) In establishing the program, the department shall
2-19 require a person who participates in the medical assistance buy-in
2-20 pilot program to pay premiums to the extent required by 42 U.S.C.
2-21 Section 1396o(g)(2).
2-22 (e) Not later than December 1, 2002, the department shall
2-23 evaluate the effectiveness of the demonstration project in
2-24 providing health care services to employed persons with
2-25 disabilities. If the results of the evaluation indicate that the
2-26 project is effective, the department shall incorporate a request
3-1 for funding for the continuation or expansion of the program in the
3-2 department's budget request for the next state fiscal biennium.
3-3 (f) This section expires September 1, 2003.
3-4 SECTION 2. (a) The Health and Human Services Commission
3-5 shall request and actively pursue the award of a federal grant
3-6 authorized by the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement
3-7 Act of 1999 (Pub. L. No. 106-170), as amended, to support the
3-8 design, establishment, and operation of infrastructures in this
3-9 state that provide support services for employed persons with
3-10 disabilities.
3-11 (b) The Health and Human Services Commission shall comply
3-12 with any prerequisite imposed under the federal law to receiving
3-13 the grant.
3-14 SECTION 3. The state agency responsible for implementing the
3-15 demonstration project required by Section 32.053, Human Resources
3-16 Code, as added by this Act, shall request and actively pursue any
3-17 necessary waivers or authorizations from the Health Care Financing
3-18 Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human
3-19 Services or other appropriate entities to enable the agency to
3-20 implement the demonstration project not later than January 1, 2002.
3-21 The agency may delay implementing the demonstration project until
3-22 the necessary waivers or authorizations are granted.
3-23 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 831 passed the Senate on
March 22, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0, one
present, not voting; and that the Senate concurred in House
amendment on April 23, 2001, by a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 831 passed the House, with
amendment, on April 19, 2001, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor