| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
| |
|
|
relating to the eligibility for and access to certain Medicaid |
|
|
waiver programs, including the medically dependent children (MDCP) |
|
|
and the Texas home living (TxHmL) waiver programs. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Sections 531.06012 and 531.06041 and amending |
|
|
Section 531.0604 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 531.06012. MEDICALLY DEPENDENT CHILDREN (MDCP) WAIVER |
|
|
PROGRAM: ALLOCATION OF DIVERSION SLOTS. To the extent possible, |
|
|
the commission shall allocate a portion of medically dependent |
|
|
children (MDCP) waiver program slots as diversion slots for |
|
|
children who: |
|
|
(1) meet the program's level of care criteria for |
|
|
medical necessity for nursing facility care; and |
|
|
(2) are at high risk of being placed in an |
|
|
institutional setting. |
|
|
Sec. 531.0604. MEDICALLY DEPENDENT CHILDREN PROGRAM |
|
|
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS; NURSING FACILITY LEVEL OF CARE. To the |
|
|
extent allowed by federal law, the commission may not require that a |
|
|
child reside in a nursing facility for: |
|
|
(1) an extended period of time to meet the nursing |
|
|
facility level of care required for the child to be determined |
|
|
eligible for the medically dependent children (MDCP) waiver |
|
|
program; or |
|
|
(2) any period of time to meet the nursing facility |
|
|
level of care required for the child to be determined eligible for |
|
|
the medically dependent children (MDCP) waiver program if the child |
|
|
is: |
|
|
(A) medically fragile; and |
|
|
(B) accessing the program through a "Money |
|
|
Follows the Person" demonstration project. |
|
|
Sec. 531.06041. ASSESSMENT OF CERTAIN CHILDREN FOR |
|
|
MEDICALLY DEPENDENT CHILDREN (MDCP) WAIVER PROGRAM. To the extent |
|
|
possible, the commission shall enroll a child in the medically |
|
|
dependent children (MDCP) waiver program if the child: |
|
|
(1) is on the interest list for the program; |
|
|
(2) receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (42 |
|
|
U.S.C. Section 1381 et seq.); and |
|
|
(3) meets the program's level of care criteria for |
|
|
medical necessity for nursing facility care. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 32, Human Resources Code, |
|
|
is amended by adding Section 32.0521 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 32.0521. ELIGIBILITY FOR TEXAS HOME LIVING (TxHmL) |
|
|
WAIVER PROGRAM. (a) In this section, "Section 1915(c) waiver |
|
|
program" has the meaning assigned by Section 531.001, Government |
|
|
Code. |
|
|
(b) To the extent permitted by federal law, an individual is |
|
|
financially eligible to participate in the Texas home living |
|
|
(TxHmL) waiver program if the individual's income is not more than |
|
|
the special income limit established by the commission for other |
|
|
Section 1915(c) waiver programs, including the home and |
|
|
community-based services (HCS) waiver program. |
|
|
(c) The commission may not require that an individual who |
|
|
has an approved primary diagnosis of a related condition meet |
|
|
intelligence quotient criteria to be eligible for the Texas home |
|
|
living (TxHmL) waiver program. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any other section of this Act, |
|
|
in a state fiscal year, the Health and Human Services Commission is |
|
|
not required to implement a provision in another section of this Act |
|
|
imposing a duty on the commission to take an action, including a |
|
|
provision that the commission determines would require adding |
|
|
additional slots under the medically dependent children (MDCP) |
|
|
waiver program or the Texas home living (TxHmL) waiver program, |
|
|
unless money is specifically appropriated to the commission for |
|
|
that fiscal year to carry out that duty. The commission may |
|
|
implement the provision in that fiscal year to the extent other |
|
|
funding is available to the commission for the implementation. |
|
|
SECTION 4. 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 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * |