Arizona 2022 2022 Regular Session

Arizona Senate Bill SB1730 Comm Sub / Analysis

Filed 06/20/2022

                    Assigned to APPROP 	FOR COMMITTEE 
 
 
 
 
ARIZONA STATE SENATE 
Fifty-Fifth Legislature, First Regular Session 
 
 
FACT SHEET FOR S.B. 1730 
 
health care; 2022-2023. 
Purpose 
 Makes statutory and session law changes relating to health care necessary to implement the 
FY 2023 state budget. 
Background 
 The Arizona Constitution prohibits substantive law from being included in the general 
appropriations, capital outlay appropriations and supplemental appropriations bills. However, it is 
often necessary to make statutory and session law changes to effectuate the budget. Thus, separate 
bills called budget reconciliation bills (BRBs) are introduced to enact these provisions. Because 
BRBs contain substantive law changes, the Arizona Constitution provides that they become 
effective on the general effective date, unless an emergency clause is enacted. 
 S.B. 1730 contains the budget reconciliation provisions for changes relating to health care. 
Provisions 
Behavioral Health Care Provider Loan Repayment Program (Program) 
1. Establishes the Program within the Department of Health Services (DHS) to pay off portions 
of educational loans taken out by behavioral health care providers who serve in behavioral 
health facilities, the Arizona State Hospital (ASH), behavioral health residential facilities or 
secure behavioral health residential facilities, including: 
a) behavioral health technicians; 
b) behavioral health nurse practitioners; 
c) psychiatric nurse practitioners; 
d) practical nurses; 
e) physicians; 
f) psychiatrists; and 
g) psychologists. 
2. Requires DHS to prescribe Program application and eligibility requirements. 
3. Requires an applicant to meet at least the following requirements to be eligible for participation 
in the Program: 
a) have completed the final year of an accredited course of study or program in a health 
profession or have an active health profession license; 
b) demonstrate current employment providing direct patient care with a public or nonprofit 
entity located and providing services in a behavioral health hospital, behavioral health 
residential facility or secure residential behavioral health residential facility;  FACT SHEET 
S.B. 1730 
Page 2 
 
 
c) demonstrate that the current employer is contracted with the Arizona Health Care Cost 
Containment System (AHCCCS) to provide services; and 
d) not be participating in any other established loan repayment program. 
4. Requires physician applicants to have completed a professional residency or certification 
program in behavioral health care. 
5. Requires a behavioral health care provider who participates in the Program to initially contract 
with DHS to provide behavioral health services for at least two years. 
6. Directs DHS, in making recommendations for the Program, to give priority to applicants who 
intend to practice in ASH, a behavioral health residential facility or a secure behavioral health 
residential facility in Arizona. 
7. Specifies that all repayment contract obligations are subject to the availability of monies and 
legislative appropriation. 
8. Allows DHS to cancel or suspend a loan repayment contract based on unavailability of monies 
for the Program. 
9. Holds DHS harmless from liability for any claims, actual damage or consequential damages 
arising out of the cancellation or suspension of a contract. 
10. Specifies that DHS is not prevented from encumbering an amount that is sufficient to ensure 
payment of each behavioral care provider loan for services rendered during a contract period. 
11. Requires DHS to issue Program monies to pay behavioral health care provider loans, according 
to the following schedule: 
a) up to $50,000 for the first two years of service; and 
b) up to $25,000 for subsequent years. 
12. Limits Program payments to the principal, interest and related expenses of educational loans, 
not exceeding a provider's total student loan indebtedness. 
13. Specifies that a Program participant who breaches the loan repayment contract is liable for 
liquidated damages in an amount equal to the amount that would be owed for default, as 
determined and authorized by DHS. 
14. Allows DHS to: 
a) waive the liquidated damages if it is determined that death or permanent physical disability 
of a participant accounted for the failure to fulfill the contract; and 
b) prescribe additional conditions for loan repayment contract default, cancellation, waiver or 
suspension. 
15. Permits DHS to retain legal counsel and commence actions necessary to collect loan payments 
and charges if there is a default or breach of a contract. 
16. Allows DHS to use monies to develop programs, such as resident-to-service loan repayment 
and employer recruitment assistance, to increase participation in the Program and to use private 
donations, grants and federal monies to implement, support, promote or maintain the Program.  FACT SHEET 
S.B. 1730 
Page 3 
 
 
Arizona Long-Term Care System (ALTCS) 
17. Outlines the following FY 2023 county contributions for ALTCS: 
County Contribution Amount 
Apache 	$860,500 
Cochise 	$6,320,300 
Coconino 	$2,583,200 
Gila 	$2,855,600 
Graham 	$1,258,800 
La Paz 	$653,700 
Maricopa 	$229,265,800 
Mohave 	$10,473,800 
Navajo 	$3,561,400 
Pima 	$54,350,500 
Pinal 	$17,427,100 
Santa Cruz 	$2,775,000 
Yavapai 	$9,429,000 
Yuma 	$10,883,000 
18. Directs the State Treasurer to collect from the counties the difference between the total 
contribution and the counties' share of the state's actual contribution, if the overall cost for 
ALTCS exceeds the amount specified in the General Appropriations Act for FY 2023.  
19. Specifies that the counties' share of the state's contribution must comply with any federal 
maintenance effort requirements.  
20. Requires the AHCCCS Director to notify the State Treasurer of the counties' share of the state's 
contribution and report the amount to the Director of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee 
(JLBC). 
21. Directs the State Treasurer to:  
a) withhold from any other monies payable to a county from any available state funding 
source, excluding the Arizona Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF), an amount necessary 
to fulfill that county's contribution requirement; and  
b) deposit the withheld amounts and amounts paid by counties into the ALTCS Fund. 
County Acute Care 
22. Outlines the following FY 2023 county acute care contributions:  
County Contribution Amount 
Apache 	$268,800 
Cochise 	$2,214,800 
Coconino 	$742,900 
Gila 	$1,413,200  FACT SHEET 
S.B. 1730 
Page 4 
 
 
Graham 	$536,200 
Greenlee 	$190,700 
La Paz 	$212,100 
Maricopa 	$16,887,200 
Mohave 	$1,237,700 
Navajo 	$310,800 
Pima 	$14,951,800 
Pinal 	$2,715,600 
Santa Cruz 	$482,800 
Yavapai 	$1,427,800 
Yuma 	$1,325,100 
23. Requires the State Treasurer, if a county does not provide funding as specified, to: 
a) subtract the amount owed by the county from any payments required to be made by the 
State Treasurer to the county plus interest on that amount, retroactive to the first day the 
funding was due; and  
b) if the amount withheld is insufficient to meet that county’s funding requirement, withhold 
from any other monies payable to that county from any available state funding source, 
excluding HURF, an amount necessary to fulfill that county’s requirement. 
24. Requires payments equal to 1/12th of the total amount for county acute care contributions to 
be made to the State Treasurer by the fifth day of each month and requires the State Treasurer, 
on request from the Director of AHCCCS, to require that up to three months' payment be made 
in advance, if necessary. 
25. Requires the State Treasurer to deposit the amounts paid and withheld into the AHCCCS Fund 
and the ALTCS Fund. 
26. Allows the Director of AHCCCS, if payments made exceed the amount required to meet the 
costs incurred by AHCCCS for the hospitalization and medical care of eligible persons, to 
instruct the State Treasurer to: 
a) reduce the remaining payments to be paid by a specified amount; or  
b) provide to the counties specified amounts from the AHCCCS Fund and the ALTCS Fund. 
27. Declares the Legislature's intent that it is the intent of the Legislature that the Maricopa County 
acute care contribution be reduced in each subsequent year according to the changes in the 
Gross Domestic Product price deflator. 
Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) Payments 
28. Establishes the FY 2023 DSH payments as follows:  
a) $113,818,500 for a qualifying nonstate-operated public hospital, of which $4,202,300 is 
distributed to the Maricopa County Special Health Care District (District) and the 
remaining federal portion is deposited in the state General Fund (state GF); 
b) $28,474,900 for ASH, of which the federal portion is deposited in the state GF; and  FACT SHEET 
S.B. 1730 
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c) $884,800 for private qualifying DSHs, which are hospitals that meet the mandatory 
definition of qualifying DSHs as defined by the Social Security Act or DSHs that are 
located in Yuma County and contain at least 300 beds. 
29. Outlines the following requirements once AHCCCS files a claim with the federal government 
and receives federal financial participation based on the amount certified by the District: 
a) if the certification is equal to or less than $113,818,500 and AHCCCS determines that the 
revised amount is correct, AHCCCS must notify the Governor, the President of the Senate 
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and distribute $4,202,300 to the District 
and deposit the balance of the federal financial participation in the state GF;  
b) if the certification is for an amount less than $113,818,500 and AHCCCS determines that 
the revised amount is incorrect, AHCCCS must notify the Governor, the President of the 
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and must deposit the total amount 
of the federal financial participation in the state GF; or 
c) if the certification is for an amount greater than $113,818,500, AHCCCS must distribute 
$4,202,300 to the District and deposit $74,696,800 of the federal financial participation in 
the state GF. 
30. Allows AHCCCS to make additional DSH payments to the District. 
31. Outlines the following requirements once AHCCCS files a claim with the federal government 
and receives federal financial participation based on the amount certified by ASH:  
a) if the certification is for an amount less than $28,474,900, AHCCCS must notify the 
Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and 
must deposit the entire amount of federal financial participation in the state GF; and 
b) requires the certified public expense (CPE) form to contain both the total amount of 
qualifying DSH expenditures and the amount limited by the Social Security Act. 
32. Stipulates that, after DSH payment distributions are made, the allocation of DSH payments 
designated to political subdivisions, tribal governments and universities must be provided in 
the following order of priority, for FY 2021, FY 2022 and FY 2023, to qualifying private 
hospitals located: 
a) in a county with a population of fewer than 400,000 persons; 
b) in a county with a population of at least 400,000 but fewer than 900,000 persons; and 
c) in a county with a population of at least 900,000 persons. 
33. Requires the District, by May 1, 2023, and ASH, by March 31, 2023, to each provide a CPE 
form for qualifying DSH expenditures to AHCCCS. 
34. Continues to require AHCCCS to assist the District and ASH in determining the amount of 
qualifying DSH expenditures and maintains reporting requirements and distribution 
procedures of received federal matching funds in FY 2023. 
AHCCCS 
35. Requires AHCCCS to provide medically necessary chiropractic services performed by a 
licensed chiropractor and ordered by a primary care physician or practitioner, subject to 
approval by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and rules adopted by 
AHCCCS.   FACT SHEET 
S.B. 1730 
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36. Allows a primary care physician or practitioner to:  
a) order up to 20 medically necessary chiropractic visits annually; and  
b) authorize additional chiropractic services in that same year if medically necessary.  
37. Requires AHCCCS to:  
a) prescribe provider qualifications for chiropractic services;  
b) report on chiropractic service utilization and any identified cost savings;  
c) submit the report, by January 21, 2027, on its findings to the Governor, President of the 
Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives; and  
d) provide a copy of the report to the Secretary of State (SOS).  
38. Repeals AHCCCS chiropractic reporting requirements on June 30, 2027.  
39. Prohibits monies from the Hospital Assessment Fund from being used to provide chiropractic 
services.  
40. Continues to require AHCCCS to transfer to the counties any excess monies necessary to 
comply with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, regarding the counties' 
proportional share of the state's contribution. 
41. Declares the Legislature's intent that it is the intent of the Legislature for FY 2023 that 
AHCCCS implement a Medicaid program within the available appropriation. 
42. Continues to allow AHCCCS to extend risk contingency rate settings for all managed care 
organizations (MCOs) and funding for all MCO administrative funding levels imposed for the 
contract year beginning October 1, 2010, and ending September 30, 2011. 
43. Exempts AHCCCS from statutory rulemaking requirements for one year for purposes of 
implementing the Health Care Investment Fund assessment. 
44. Requires AHCCCS to provide notice and an opportunity for public comment at least 30 days 
prior to establishing or implementing the administration of the hospital assessment. 
45. Expands AHCCCS eligibility to include women who are less than one year postpartum with a 
family income that does not exceed 150 percent of the federal poverty level. 
46. Expands the definition of an AHCCCS-contracted primary care practitioner to include 
certified nurse midwives. 
47. Conditions enactment of the AHCCCS expansion to include women who are less than one year 
postpartum on AHCCCS receiving authorization, by July 1, 2023, from CMS to either 
redetermine the eligibility of members who are less than one year postpartum and are under 
133 percent of the federal poverty level or use another methodology that enables AHCCCS to 
provide coverage within the existing appropriation. 
48. Requires the Director of AHCCCS, by July 1, 2023, to notify the Director of Legislative 
Council in writing whether the condition was met and on which date it was met.  FACT SHEET 
S.B. 1730 
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Arizona Health Innovation Trust Fund (Fund) 
49. Establishes the Fund, administered by the State Treasurer as a trustee, as a permanent 
endowment fund consisting of:  
a) legislative appropriations; 
b) earnings from the Fund; and  
c) gifts or grants donated to the Fund.  
50. Specifies that Fund monies are continuously appropriated and exempt from lapsing.  
51. Requires the State Treasurer to accept, separately account for and hold in trust any Fund monies 
deposited in the State Treasury.  
52. Prohibits Fund monies from being commingled with any other monies in the State Treasury 
for non-investment purposes.  
53. Requires the State Treasurer to invest and divest any Fund monies deposited into the State 
Treasury and requires monies earned from interest and investment income to be credited to the 
Fund.  
54. Requires the State Treasurer to annually allocate four percent of the monies in the Fund to an 
entity that: 
a) is a qualified 501(c)(3) charitable organization; 
b) provides entrepreneurial education, mentoring and support to persons in the health 
innovation and health care delivery sectors in Arizona;  
c) provides workforce development programs designed to support the talent requirements of 
employers in health innovation and health care delivery in Arizona;  
d) provides programs that support development and commercialization of health innovation 
by businesses that are based in Arizona and employ fewer than 100 employees; and 
e) has entered into an endowment agreement with the State Treasurer that meets prescribed 
requirements.  
55. Requires an endowment agreement to include: 
a) investment procedures and maturity timelines; 
b) entity reporting requirements, including use of Fund distributions; and 
c) other requirements established by the State Treasurer. 
56. Requires the selected entity, by December 31 of each year, to submit an annual report as 
prescribed by the State Treasurer, to the: 
a) Governor;  
b) President of the Senate;  
c) Speaker of the House of Representatives;  
d) State Treasurer; and  
e) SOS.  
Health Care Interoperability Grant Program (Program) 
57. Requires the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA) to administer the Program, 
which provides an interoperability software technology solution to support rural hospitals, 
health care providers and urban trauma centers for the purpose of reducing public and private 
health care costs and unnecessary transportation costs.  FACT SHEET 
S.B. 1730 
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58. Requires ADOA to award the first grant by December 31, 2022.  
59. Requires AHCCCS to work with ADOA to supplement the grant monies by identifying and 
applying to receive federal matching monies. 
60. Requires the Program to enable the implementation of an interoperability software technology 
solution that is shared by hospitals and health care providers to benefit patients before and after 
a patient is discharged from the provider's care.  
61. Requires the software to be made available to rural hospitals, health care providers and urban 
trauma centers that want to participate by: 
a) enabling a hospital's electronic medical records system to interface with other electronic 
medical records systems;  
b) promoting connectivity between hospital systems; and 
c) facilitating increased communication between hospital staff and providers that use different 
or distinctive online platforms and information systems when treating patients. 
62. Requires ADOA to award grants for an interoperability software technology solution that, at a 
minimum: 
a) complies with the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act;  
b) captures and forwards clinical data that includes laboratory results and images and provides 
synchronous patient clinical data to health care providers regardless of location; 
c) provides a synchronous data exchange that is not batched or delayed at the point the clinical 
data is captured and available in the hospital's electronic record system; 
d) is capable of providing proactive alerts to health care providers;  
e) allows both synchronous and asynchronous communication;  
f) has a patient-centric communication and is tracked with a date and time stamp;  
g) is connected to the appropriate physician resources; and  
h) provides data to update cost reports to enhance emergency triage and to treat and transport 
patients. 
63. Requires each grant recipient to demonstrate proof of veteran employment.  
64. Requires each grant recipient, for each year of the Program, to provide a report to ADOA that 
provides metrics and quantifies cost and time savings for using an interoperable software 
solution in health care. 
65. Requires ADOA, in coordination with AHCCCS, to provide a report on the allocation of grant 
funding and a compiled analysis of the reports provided by grant recipients, by July 1 of each 
fiscal year, to the: 
a) President of the Senate; 
b) Speaker of the House of Representatives; 
c) Chairpersons of the Legislative Health and Human Services Standing Committees; 
d) Director of the JLBC; and 
e) Director of the Governor's Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting (OSPB). 
66. Defines rural as a county with a population of fewer than 900,000 persons.  FACT SHEET 
S.B. 1730 
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67. Defines veteran employment as a business organization that employs an individual or has a 
company officer who served and was honorably discharged or released from service in the 
armed forces.  
68. Repeals the Program on July 1, 2026. 
Accelerated Nursing Program Grants 
69. Requires DHS, of the monies appropriated in FY 2023 for accelerated nursing programs, to 
distribute: 
a) $6,000,000 to a private university with a health sciences campus in Phoenix that offers a 
12-month accelerated nursing program, with monies to be used for capital costs associated 
with adding a new cohort of accelerated nursing students; and 
b) $44,000,000 to public and private universities and community colleges that offer 
accelerated nursing programs for the purpose of expanding program capacity, with priority 
given to institutions that offer 12-month accelerated nursing programs, though 18-month 
programs are still eligible. 
70. Requires each university that receives grant monies to demonstrate that each of the following 
occurs: 
a) at least 80 percent of the monies received are used for the costs of providing scholarships, 
with no more than 20 percent of monies used for administrative expenses; 
b) no grant monies are used for capital expansion costs; 
c) students receiving scholarships are enrolled in an accelerated nursing program that takes 
no more than 18-months to complete; 
d) students receiving scholarships are required to enter into a four-year nursing contract in 
this state after completing an accelerated degree; 
e) each contract with a student-nurse stipulates that, if a student does not successfully 
complete the accelerated program in good academic standing or does not fulfill the service 
requirement, the student must reimburse the university for all scholarship costs; 
f) any scholarship reimbursements received by the university will be used to provide 
scholarship awards to accelerated nursing students enrolled in newly accelerated nursing 
program seats; 
g) scholarships awarded to accelerated nursing students are provided after all other financial 
gifts, aid or grants and do not exceed the actual cost of tuition and fees; and 
h) monies received to provide scholarships do not supplant other institutional financial aid 
sources. 
71. Requires, by September 1 of each year, each university that receives accelerated nursing 
program grant monies to report to DHS: 
a) the number of students who have received a scholarship; 
b) the number of nurses who are currently completing the four-year service commitment; and 
c) the number of students who have reimbursed the university.  
72. Requires DHS, by October 1 of each year, to compile information received from each 
university and transmit a report to the JLBC and OSPB that includes the total finding 
distributions by each university. 
73. Repeals accelerated nursing program grants on January 1, 2031.  FACT SHEET 
S.B. 1730 
Page 10 
 
 
Miscellaneous 
74. Accelerates, from July 1, 2023, to January 1, 2023, the transfer of the Psychiatric Security 
Review Board from DHS to the Superior Court. 
75. Continues to exclude county contributions for Proposition 204 administrative costs from 
county expenditure limitations. 
76. Continues to exclude county contributions related to the costs of inpatient, in-custody 
competency restoration treatment from county expenditure limitations. 
77. Continues to allow monies in the Health Services Lottery Monies Fund to be used for purposes 
specified in the FY 2023 General Appropriations Act. 
78. Makes technical and conforming changes. 
79. Becomes effective on the general effective date. 
Prepared by Senate Research 
June 20, 2022 
MM/sr