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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 7338
January Session, 2019
AN ACT INCREASING FUNDING FOR ELDERLY NU TRITION,
ENSURING EQUITABLE R ATES FOR PROVIDERS OF MEALS O N
WHEELS AND COLLECTIN G DATA ON MALNUTRITION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 17b-343 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 2
The Commissioner of Social Services shall establish annually the 3
maximum allowable rate to be paid by agencies for homemaker 4
services, chore person services, companion services, respite care, meals 5
on wheels, adult day care services, case management and assessment 6
services, transportation, mental health counseling and elderly foster 7
care. [, except that the maximum allowable rates in effect July 1, 1990, 8
shall remain in effect during the fiscal years ending June 30, 1992, and 9
June 30, 1993.] The Commissioner of Social Services shall prescribe 10
uniform forms on which agencies providing such services shall report 11
their costs for such services. Such rates shall be determined on the 12
basis of a reasonable payment for necessary services rendered. The 13
maximum allowable rates established by the Commissioner of Social 14
Services for the Connecticut home-care program for the elderly 15
established under section 17b-342 shall constitute the rates required 16
under this section until revised in accordance with this section. The 17
Commissioner of Social Services shall establish a fee schedule, to be 18
effective on and after July 1, 1994, for homemaker services, chore 19
person services, companion services, respite care, meals on wheels, 20 Substitute Bill No. 7338
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adult day care services, case management and assessment services, 21
transportation, mental health counseling and elderly foster care. The 22
commissioner may annually increase [any fee in] the fee schedule 23
based on an increase in the cost of services. The commissioner shall 24
increase the fee schedule effective July 1, 2000, by not less than five per 25
cent, for adult day care services. The commissioner shall increase the 26
fee schedule effective July 1, 2011, by four dollars per person, per day 27
for adult day care services. Effective July 1, 2019, and annually 28
thereafter, the commissioner shall increase the fee schedule for meals 29
on wheels providers serving participants in the Connecticut home-care 30
program for the elderly by, at minimum, the cost-of-living adjustment 31
as measured by the consumer price index. The commissioner may 32
increase any fee payable to a meals on wheels provider upon the 33
application of such provider evidencing extraordinary costs related to 34
delivery of meals on wheels in sparsely populated rural regions of the 35
state. Nothing contained in this section shall authorize a payment by 36
the state to any agency for such services in excess of the amount 37
charged by such agency for such services to the general public. 38
Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 17a-305 of the general statutes is 39
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 40
1, 2019): 41
(c) The Department of Rehabilitation Services, in consultation with 42
the five area agencies on aging [,] and elderly nutrition providers, shall 43
review the method of allocation set forth in [subsection (a) of this 44
section and shall report any findings or recommendations to the joint 45
standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of 46
matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies 47
and human services] subsections (a) and (b) of this section and 48
evaluate the formula used to allocate funding for elderly nutrition 49
programs based on factors including, but not limited to: (1) Elderly 50
population data from the 2020 census and the American Community 51
Survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau for the five 52
elderly planning and service areas as described in section 17a-304, and 53 Substitute Bill No. 7338
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(2) any increased costs for providers that deliver meals on wheels in 54
sparsely populated rural regions. Not later than July 1, 2021, the 55
department shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 56
11-4a, to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having 57
cognizance of matters relating to aging, appropriations and the 58
budgets of state agencies and human services on (A) the rates of 59
reimbursement for each meals on wheels provider in the state 60
compared to the costs to provide meals on wheels for each such 61
provider, (B) the administrative expenses of each such meals on wheels 62
provider, (C) the number of meals on wheels providers that have 63
reduced or eliminated deliveries based on inadequate state 64
reimbursement, and (D) any recommended changes in the method of 65
allocation or funding formula. 66
Sec. 3. Subsection (b) of section 19a-127l of the general statutes is 67
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 68
1, 2019): 69
(b) In carrying out its responsibilities under subsection (a) of this 70
section, the department shall develop the following for the quality of 71
care program: 72
(1) Comparable performance measures to be reported; 73
(2) Selection of patient satisfaction survey measures and 74
instruments; 75
(3) Methods and format of standardized data collection; 76
(4) Format for a public quality performance measurement report; 77
(5) Human resources and quality measurements; 78
(6) Medical error reduction methods; 79
(7) Systems for sharing and implementing universally accepted best 80
practices; 81 Substitute Bill No. 7338
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(8) Systems for reporting outcome data; 82
(9) Systems for continuum of care; 83
(10) Recommendations concerning the use of an ISO 9000 quality 84
auditing program; 85
(11) Recommendations concerning the types of statutory protection 86
needed prior to collecting any data or information under this section 87
and sections 19a-127m and 19a-127n; [and] 88
(12) Recommendations concerning the collection and analysis of 89
data on patient malnutrition for the purposes of improving quality of 90
care; and 91
[(12)] (13) Any other issues that the department deems appropriate. 92
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 17b-343
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 17a-305(c)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2019 19a-127l(b)
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
Section 3 was redrafted for consistency with drafting conventions.
HS Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO