By Moncrief                                            S.B. No. 831
         77R2897 KLA-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 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, is
 1-6     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; and
1-15                       (B)  has earned income that exceeds the limit
1-16     established by federal law for eligibility for Supplemental
1-17     Security Income (SSI) (42 U.S.C. Section 1381 et seq.), but is
1-18     otherwise eligible for those benefits; and
1-19                 (2)  an employed individual with a medically improved
1-20     disability, as defined by 42 U.S.C. Section 1396d(v)(1).
1-21           (b)  The department shall operate the pilot program in two
1-22     specific geographic areas of the state.  The department shall
1-23     determine the pilot sites, with one site in an urban area and the
1-24     other site in a rural area.
 2-1           (c)  In establishing the pilot program, the department may:
 2-2                 (1)  establish income, assets, and resource limitations
 2-3     for eligibility for the medical assistance buy-in pilot program;
 2-4     and
 2-5                 (2)  require a person who participates in the medical
 2-6     assistance buy-in pilot program to pay premiums and other
 2-7     cost-sharing charges in accordance with 42 U.S.C. Section
 2-8     1396o(g)(1).
 2-9           (d)  In establishing the program, the department shall
2-10     require a person who participates in the medical assistance buy-in
2-11     pilot program to pay premiums to the extent required by 42 U.S.C.
2-12     Section 1396o(g)(2).
2-13           (e)  Not later than December 1, 2002, the department shall
2-14     submit to the presiding officer of each house of the legislature a
2-15     report concerning the effectiveness of the pilot program.  The
2-16     report must include a recommendation regarding the feasibility of
2-17     expanding the pilot program statewide.
2-18           (f)  This section expires September 1, 2003.
2-19           SECTION 2. Not later than January 1, 2002, the Texas
2-20     Department of Human Services shall develop and implement the
2-21     medical assistance buy-in pilot program under Section 32.053, Human
2-22     Resources Code, as added by this Act.
2-23           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.