S.B. No. 1862
AN ACT
relating to health and human services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. (a) Subsection (a), Section 252.202, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A quality assurance fee is imposed on each facility for
which a license fee must be paid under Section 252.034, [and] on
each facility owned by a community mental health and mental
retardation center, as described by Subchapter A, Chapter 534, and
on each facility owned by the Texas Department of Mental Health and
Mental Retardation. The fee:
(1) is an amount established under Subsection (b)
multiplied by the number of patient days as determined in
accordance with Section 252.203;
(2) is payable monthly; and
(3) is in addition to other fees imposed under this
chapter.
(b) Not later than August 31, 2003, the Texas Department of
Mental Health and Mental Retardation shall pay for each facility
owned by the department the quality assurance fee imposed by
Section 252.202, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this
section, for patient days occurring between September 1, 2002, and
July 31, 2003. However, the department is not required to pay that
quality assurance fee as provided by this subsection if this
section does not take effect before September 1, 2003, and, in that
event, any appropriation made to the department for that purpose
may not be made available to the department for that purpose.
SECTION 2. Section 252.203, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 252.203. PATIENT DAYS. For each calendar day, a
facility shall determine the number of patient days by adding the
following:
(1) the number of patients occupying a facility bed
immediately before midnight of that day; and
(2) [the number of beds that are on hold on that day
and that have been placed on hold for a period not to exceed three
consecutive calendar days during which a patient is in a hospital;
and
[(3)] the number of beds that are on hold on that day
and that have been placed on hold for a period not to exceed three
consecutive calendar days during which a patient is on therapeutic
[home] leave.
SECTION 3. Subsection (b), Section 252.204, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) Each facility shall:
(1) not later than the 20th [10th] day after the last
day of a month file a report with the Health and Human Services
Commission or the department, as appropriate, stating the total
patient days for the month; and
(2) not later than the 30th day after the last day of
the month pay the quality assurance fee.
SECTION 4. (a) Subsections (a) and (c), Section 252.207,
Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Subject to legislative appropriation and state and
federal law, the [The] Health and Human Services Commission may
[shall] use money in the quality assurance fund, together with any
federal money available to match that money[, to]:
(1) to offset [allowable] expenses incurred to
administer the quality assurance fee under this chapter [under the
Medicaid program]; [or]
(2) to increase reimbursement rates paid under the
Medicaid program to facilities or waiver programs for persons with
mental retardation operated in accordance with 42 U.S.C. Section
1396n(c) and its subsequent amendments; or
(3) for any other health and human services purpose
approved by the governor and Legislative Budget Board[, subject to
Section 252.206(d)].
(c) If money in the quality assurance fund is used to
increase a reimbursement rate in the Medicaid program, the [The]
Health and Human Services Commission shall ensure that the
reimbursement methodology used to set that rate [formula devised
under Subsection (b)] provides incentives to increase direct care
staffing and direct care wages and benefits.
(b) Subsection (b), Section 252.207, Health and Safety
Code, is repealed.
SECTION 5. (a) Subsection (d), Section 31.032, Human
Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
(d) In determining whether an applicant is eligible for
assistance, the department shall exclude from the applicant's
available resources:
(1) $1,000 [$2,000] for the applicant's household,
including a household in which there is [or $3,000 if there is] a
person with a disability or a person who is at least 60 years of age
[in the applicant's household]; and
(2) the fair market value of the applicant's ownership
interest in a motor vehicle, but not more than the amount determined
according to the following schedule:
(A) $4,550 on or after September 1, 1995, but
before October 1, 1995;
(B) $4,600 on or after October 1, 1995, but
before October 1, 1996;
(C) $5,000 on or after October 1, 1996, but
before October 1, 1997; and
(D) $5,000 plus or minus an amount to be
determined annually beginning on October 1, 1997, to reflect
changes in the new car component of the Consumer Price Index for All
Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(b) Subsection (d), Section 31.032, Human Resources Code,
as amended by this section, applies to a person receiving financial
assistance on or after the effective date of the Act, regardless of
the date on which eligibility for financial assistance was
determined.
SECTION 6. Subsection (i), Section 32.024, Human Resources
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(i) Subject to appropriated state funds, the [The]
department in its adoption of rules shall establish a medically
needy program that serves pregnant women, children, and caretakers
who have high medical expenses.
SECTION 7. Subsection (e), Section 32.025, Human Resources
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(e) The department shall permit an application requesting
medical assistance for a child under 19 years of age to be conducted
by mail instead of through a personal appearance at a department
office, unless the department determines that the information
needed to verify eligibility cannot be obtained in that manner. The
department by rule may develop procedures requiring an application
for a child described by this subsection to be conducted through a
personal interview with a department representative only if the
department determines that information needed to verify
eligibility cannot be obtained in any other manner.
SECTION 8. Section 32.026, Human Resources Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (g) to read as
follows:
(e) The department shall permit a recertification review of
the eligibility and need for medical assistance of a child under 19
years of age to be conducted by telephone or mail instead of through
a personal appearance at a department office, unless the department
determines that the information needed to verify eligibility cannot
be obtained in that manner. The department by rule may develop
procedures to determine whether there is a need for a
recertification review of a child described by this subsection to
be conducted through a personal interview with a department
representative. Procedures developed under this subsection shall
be based on objective, risk-based factors and conditions and shall
focus on a targeted group of recertification reviews for which
there is a high probability that eligibility will not be
recertified.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, the
department may use information obtained from a third party to
verify the assets and resources of a person for purposes of
determining the person's eligibility and need for medical
assistance. Third-party information includes information obtained
from:
(1) a consumer reporting agency, as defined by Section
20.01, Business & Commerce Code;
(2) an appraisal district; or
(3) the Texas Department of Transportation's vehicle
registration record database.
SECTION 9. Subsections (b) and (e), Section 32.027, Human
Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) Subject to appropriated state funds, the [The]
department shall assure that a recipient of medical assistance
under this chapter may select a licensed podiatrist to perform any
foot health care service or procedure covered under the medical
assistance program if the podiatrist is authorized by law to
perform the service or procedure. This subsection shall be
liberally construed.
(e) Subject to appropriated state funds, the [The]
department shall assure that a recipient of medical assistance
under this chapter may select a licensed psychologist or a licensed
marriage and family therapist, as defined by Section 502.002,
Occupations Code, to perform any health care service or procedure
covered under the medical assistance program if the selected
psychologist or marriage and family therapist is authorized by law
to perform the service or procedure. This subsection shall be
liberally construed.
SECTION 10. Subchapter B, Chapter 32, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 32.0462 to read as follows:
Sec. 32.0462. VENDOR DRUG PROGRAM; PRICING STANDARD.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of state law, the
department shall:
(1) consider a nationally recognized, unbiased
pricing standard for prescription drugs in determining
reimbursement amounts under the vendor drug program; and
(2) update reimbursement amounts under the vendor drug
program at least weekly.
(b) The commissioner shall adopt rules implementing this
section. In adopting rules, the commissioner shall ensure that
implementation of this section does not adversely affect the amount
of federal funds available to the state for providing benefits
under the vendor drug program.
SECTION 11. Subsection (c), Section 10, Chapter 584, Acts
of the 77th Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, is amended to read
as follows:
(c) The Health and Human Services Commission or the
appropriate state agency operating part of the medical assistance
program under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code, shall adopt rules
required by Section 32.0261, Human Resources Code, as added by this
Act, so that the rules take effect in accordance with that section
not earlier than September 1, 2005 [2002, or later than June 1,
2003]. The rules must provide for a 12-month period of continuous
eligibility in accordance with that section for a child whose
initial or continued eligibility is determined on or after the
effective date of the rules.
SECTION 12. In the event of a conflict between a provision
of this Act and another Act passed by the 78th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2003, that becomes law, this Act prevails and controls
regardless of the relative dates of enactment.
SECTION 13. Notwithstanding any other statute of this
state, each health and human services agency, as defined by Section
531.001, Government Code, is authorized to reduce expenditures by:
(1) consolidating any reports or publications the
agency is required to make and filing or delivering any of those
reports or publications exclusively by electronic means;
(2) extending the effective period of any license,
permit, or registration the agency grants or administers;
(3) providing that any communication between the
agency and another person and any document required to be delivered
to or by the agency, including any application, notice, billing
statement, receipt, or certificate, may be made or delivered by
electronic mail or through the Internet; and
(4) adopting and collecting fees or charges to cover
any costs the agency incurs in performing its lawful functions.
SECTION 14. If before implementing any provision of this
Act a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
waiver or authorization is granted.
SECTION 15. This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1862 passed the Senate on
May 20, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the
Senate concurred in House amendments on June 1, 2003, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1862 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 28, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 137,
Nays 0, two present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor