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79R7301 KLA-D
By: Naishtat H.B. No. 2447
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a pilot program for the implementation of the
redesigned health and human services program eligibility and
benefits determination system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 531, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter M to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER M. PILOT PROGRAM FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF REDESIGNED
INTEGRATED ELIGIBILITY AND BENEFITS DETERMINATION SYSTEM
Sec. 531.451. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The
commission shall develop and operate a pilot program to evaluate
each feature of the redesigned integrated eligibility and benefits
determination system for health and human services programs,
including any supporting technology, to ensure that the redesigned
system is fully tested and capable of supporting eligibility and
benefits determination caseloads statewide.
(b) The commission shall implement each feature of or
technology related to the redesigned system in each pilot program
site in a manner that provides a realistic test of the capability of
the feature or technology to operate statewide. The commission
shall ensure that the pilot program is designed to evaluate the
following features of and technology related to the redesigned
system:
(1) call centers established under Section 531.063,
Government Code, as added by Chapter 198, Acts of the 78th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2003;
(2) the 211 network;
(3) related Internet applications;
(4) partnerships with community-based organizations
that would, on statewide implementation of the redesigned system,
replace local offices at which benefits eligibility determinations
for applicants for health and human services programs are made; and
(5) each other feature or component of the redesigned
system developed by the commission or persons or entities with
which the commission contracts.
(c) The commission shall operate the pilot program for an
initial period of one year.
Sec. 531.452. PILOT PROGRAM SITES. The commission shall
implement the pilot program under this subchapter in at least one
urban county or metropolitan service area, at least one rural
county, and at least one county that borders the United Mexican
States.
Sec. 531.453. PILOT PROGRAM TEST CASELOADS. The pilot
program under this subchapter must test the performance of the
redesigned integrated eligibility and benefits determination
system with respect to:
(1) all eligibility and benefits determinations that
occur in the pilot program sites that are located in the rural
county and the county that borders the United Mexican States; and
(2) at least one-half of the eligibility and benefits
determinations that occur in the pilot program sites that are
located in the urban county or metropolitan service area.
Sec. 531.454. PILOT PROGRAM PLAN OF OPERATION. (a) The
commission shall develop a detailed plan of operation for the pilot
program that:
(1) describes how the system will:
(A) comply with federal performance standards
related to benefits determination accuracy, application
processing, outreach efforts, provision of information, and an
applicant's right to apply for programs without delay;
(B) serve persons with limited English
proficiency and persons with disabilities, including mobility,
hearing, vision, and cognitive impairments;
(C) screen applicants for incidence of domestic
violence; and
(D) deliver expedited food stamp benefits;
(2) specifies performance measures for a call center
that are provided by rules of the executive commissioner or the
contract for the establishment of a call center;
(3) includes provisions for conducting outreach and
providing information to health and human services program clients
located in the pilot program sites regarding the options available
to them under the redesigned integrated eligibility and benefits
determination system; and
(4) describes the role of community-based
organizations in the redesigned system and the standards by which
the pilot program will evaluate those organizations.
(b) The commission shall make the plan of operation
available to the public and shall accept public comments on the plan
for at least a 30-day period before implementing the pilot program
in a pilot program site.
Sec. 531.455. ASSESSMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM RESULTS. The
success of the pilot program will be determined by the ability of
the redesigned integrated eligibility and benefits determination
system to meet the performance standards and perform the functions
described by Section 531.454. To determine the effectiveness of
each component of the redesigned system in meeting these standards
and performing these functions, the commission shall select as a
basis for comparison areas of the state that are not pilot program
sites, but that have geographic and demographic characteristics
that are similar to the characteristics of the pilot program sites.
Sec. 531.456. PERIODIC REPORTS REQUIRED. (a) The
executive commissioner shall report at least quarterly on the
operation of the pilot program. A report must include:
(1) information on:
(A) the number of calls received and applications
processed, including applications in expedited cases;
(B) the disposition of cases, including the
number of applications denied, the number of applications approved,
and the number of cases in which services were terminated,
sanctions were imposed, or benefits were changed; and
(C) the extent to which the federal and other
performance standards described by Section 531.454 were met; and
(2) a description of any challenges or problems
detected in the pilot program sites with assisting clients with
limited English proficiency or clients with disabilities,
including mobility, hearing, vision, and cognitive impairments,
screening for incidence of domestic violence, or delivering
expedited food stamp benefits.
(b) Each report made under this section must be available to
the public.
Sec. 531.457. FINAL REPORT ON PILOT PROGRAM RESULTS;
RECOMMENDATIONS. (a) At the end of the initial one-year operation
of the pilot program under this subchapter, the executive
commissioner shall provide a full report to the Health and Human
Services Council, the governor, the lieutenant governor, the
speaker of the house of representatives, the Legislative Budget
Board, and the standing committees of the senate and house of
representatives that have primary jurisdiction over health and
human services, state appropriations, or state purchasing. The
report must:
(1) document the performance of the redesigned
integrated eligibility and benefits determination system in the
pilot program sites; and
(2) using historic and contemporary performance
measures applicable to non-pilot program sites, compare the
performance of the redesigned system to the performance of the
eligibility and benefits determination system used in non-pilot
program sites.
(b) Based on the performance of the pilot program, the
executive commissioner of the commission shall recommend:
(1) statewide implementation of and conversion to the
redesigned system; or
(2) modifications to the redesigned system and testing
of those modifications through a continuation of the pilot program
for an additional six months.
(c) If the executive commissioner recommends an extension
of the pilot program under Subsection (b)(2), the executive
commissioner shall submit another report at the end of the
six-month extension period that contains the information required
in the report under Subsection (a) and includes a recommendation
for a statewide implementation of the redesigned system or another
six-month extension for the purposes described by Subsection (b).
Sec. 531.458. STATEWIDE IMPLEMENTATION. (a) If the
executive commissioner recommends statewide implementation of the
redesigned integrated eligibility and benefits determination
system under Section 531.457, the executive commissioner shall
develop an implementation schedule according to which the
redesigned system will be phased in across this state by region or
by function. If the redesigned system is phased in by function, the
system must be initially implemented only with respect to renewal
applications, and subsequently implemented with respect to new
applications.
(b) The commission may not implement any component of the
redesigned system statewide except as provided by this subchapter.
Sec. 531.459. IMPACT ON LOCAL ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION
OFFICE EMPLOYEES. (a) During the operation of the pilot program
and to the extent possible, the commission and the health and human
services agencies shall offer to each commission or health and
human services agency employee whose primary duties were to perform
health and human services program eligibility determinations at a
local eligibility determination office located in a pilot program
site a temporary position, with no reduction in salary or benefits,
in:
(1) the nearest local office that continues to conduct
those determinations; or
(2) another commission or health and human services
agency office.
(b) The commission or a health and human services agency, as
applicable, may not reduce the staff of or close any local office
that performs health and human services programs eligibility
determinations and that is located in a non-pilot program area
until the executive commissioner recommends statewide
implementation of the redesigned integrated eligibility and
benefits determination system as provided by this subchapter. If
the executive commissioner recommends statewide implementation,
the commission and health and human services agencies, as
applicable, may reduce the number of full-time equivalent positions
and local offices related to eligibility determinations only in a
manner that comports with the implementation schedule for the
redesigned system.
Sec. 531.460. EXPIRATION. This subchapter expires
September 1, 2008.
SECTION 2. 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 3. 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, 2005.