Substitute House Bill No. 5398
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE TRANSFER OF HOSPITAL PATIENTS WHO RECEIVE MEDICAID BENEFITS TO NURSING HOMES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a task force to study the period of time Medicaid recipients remain in acute care hospitals before transfer to a long-term care facility. Such study shall include, but not be limited to, an examination of: (1) The reasons a Medicaid recipient may remain in an acute care hospital for an extended period of time; (2) the barriers preventing transfer of some Medicaid recipients to long-term care facilities; (3) the federal agency approvals and policy and procedure changes required to facilitate the transfer of Medicaid recipients from acute care hospitals to long-term care facilities in a timely manner; and (4) clinical standards and state licensure requirements that may prevent or facilitate such transfer of Medicaid recipients.
(b) The task force shall consist of the following members:
(1) The Commissioner of Social Services, or the commissioner's designee;
(2) The Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner's designee;
(3) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary's designee;
(4) Three representatives of acute care hospitals, one each from the Hospital of Saint Raphael, the Eastern Connecticut Health Network and Danbury Hospital who shall be appointed by the Governor;
(5) One representative of the Connecticut Hospital Association who shall be appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives;
(6) One representative of the Connecticut Association of Not-for-Profit Providers for the Aging and one representative of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities who shall be appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate;
(7) One representative of a nursing facility licensed as a chronic disease hospital pursuant to section 19a-491 of the general statutes who shall be appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives;
(8) One representative of a nursing facility specializing in patients with complex medical conditions who shall be appointed by the majority leader of the Senate;
(9) One representative of a legal advocacy organization that represents the interests of elderly persons who shall be appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives; and
(10) One representative of an organization that advocates on behalf of adults with psychiatric disabilities who shall be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate.
(c) All appointments to the task force shall be made not later than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority.
(d) The speaker of the House of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the Senate shall select the chairpersons of the task force from among the members of the task force. Such chairpersons shall schedule the first meeting of the task force, which shall be held not later than sixty days after the effective date of this section.
(e) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human services shall serve as administrative staff of the task force.
(f) Not later than October 1, 2010, the task force shall submit (1) a report on its findings, and (2) recommendations to decrease the time period that Medicaid recipients remain in an acute care hospital before transfer to a long-term care facility to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human services, public health and appropriations, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. The task force shall terminate on the date that it submits such report or October 1, 2010, whichever is later.
Approved June 7, 2010