86R22353 KFF-D
 
  By: González of El Paso, Frank, Klick, H.B. No. 1585
      Swanson
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1585:
 
  By:  Hinojosa C.S.H.B. No. 1585
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
 
  relating to a study on interest or other waiting lists maintained
  for certain Medicaid programs providing services to persons with an
  intellectual or developmental disability.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  (a)  The Health and Human Services Commission,
  in consultation and collaboration with the Intellectual and
  Developmental Disability System Redesign Advisory Committee
  established under Section 534.053, Government Code, shall conduct a
  study examining the interest or other waiting lists maintained for
  the following Medicaid programs authorized under Section 1115 or
  1915(c) of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1315
  or 1396n(c)) that provide services to persons with an intellectual
  or developmental disability:
               (1)  the community living assistance and support
  services (CLASS) waiver program;
               (2)  the home and community-based services (HCS) waiver
  program;
               (3)  the deaf-blind with multiple disabilities (DBMD)
  waiver program;
               (4)  the Texas home living (TxHmL) waiver program;
               (5)  the medically dependent children (MDCP) waiver
  program; and
               (6)  the STAR+PLUS home and community-based services
  (HCBS) program.
         (b)  In conducting the study under this section, the Health
  and Human Services Commission shall, for each Medicaid program
  described by Subsection (a) of this section:
               (1)  consider and analyze:
                     (A)  the experiences of other states in reducing
  or eliminating interest or other waiting lists, including through
  the range of services available to persons with an intellectual or
  developmental disability in each state;
                     (B)  factors affecting the historical experience
  of each Medicaid program and the program's interest or waiting list
  during the five most recent state fiscal biennia, including:
                           (i)  the amount of appropriated money
  allocated to each program during each state fiscal year; and
                           (ii)  significant policy changes impacting
  each program and the program's interest or other waiting list;
                     (C)  existing data relating to persons on an
  interest or other waiting list, including demographic data and data
  relating to each person's living arrangement, service preferences,
  length of time on the list, and unmet support needs; and
                     (D)  the urgency of the need for services of
  persons on an interest or other waiting list at any given time,
  including the extent to which the list is comprised of persons who:
                           (i)  join the list before becoming eligible
  for services under the associated Medicaid program; or
                           (ii)  were eligible for services under the
  associated Medicaid program at the time of joining the list but who
  are no longer eligible for services under the program; and
               (2)  identify:
                     (A)  additional strategies that the commission
  could employ to eliminate the interest or other waiting lists in a
  manner that results in the provision of person-centered services in
  the most integrated setting, including strategies employed by other
  states and strategies through which this state could receive
  additional federal funding, and the estimated costs of implementing
  those strategies; and
                     (B)  a date by which the commission believes it
  could eliminate the interest or other waiting lists if the
  identified strategies were implemented.
         (c)  Not later than September 1, 2020, the Health and Human
  Services Commission shall submit to the legislature a written
  report containing the findings of the study conducted under this
  Act and the commission's recommendations for:
               (1)  improving service delivery and reducing interest
  and other waiting lists for Medicaid programs described under
  Subsection (a) of this section, including recommendations for
  potential legislation; and
               (2)  a methodology the commission should implement that
  would prioritize persons on a list who have more urgent needs for
  program services.
         (d)  Based on the Health and Human Services Commission's
  findings of the study conducted under this Act, the commission
  shall update its statewide strategic plan on the intellectual and
  developmental disabilities system in this state that was developed
  in relation to the statewide behavioral health strategic plan
  required under Section 10.04 of the Article IX health-related
  provisions, Chapter 1281 (H.B. 1), Acts of the 84th Legislature,
  Regular Session, 2015 (the General Appropriations Act), including
  updating related short- and long-term goals, objectives, and
  strategies to address identified gaps in services for persons with
  an intellectual or developmental disability, timelines for
  implementation of the plan, and mechanisms for tracking plan
  outcomes.
         SECTION 2.  This Act expires September 1, 2023.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.