District Of Columbia 2023-2024 Regular Session

District Of Columbia Council Bill B25-0668 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	January 10, 2024
2	2	The Honorable Phil Mendelson
3	3	Chairman
4	4	Council of the District of Columbia
5	5	John A. Wilson Building
6	6	1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 504
7	7	Washington, D.C. 20004
8	8	Dear Chairman Mendelson:
9	9	Enclosed for consideration and enactment by the Council of the District of Columbia is the “DC
10	10	Health Care Alliance Enrollment Rulemaking Approval Emergency Act of 2024,” along with an
11	11	accompanying emergency declaration resolution.
12	12	This legislation will approve proposed final rules of the Department of Health Care Finance to
13	13	implement a 12-month certification period for the DC Health Care Alliance (“Alliance”)
14	14	program and require renewals to occur every 12 months. This change will remove barriers to
15	15	Alliance beneficiaries in maintaining health care coverage and create greater parity with
16	16	Medicaid eligibility requirements and processes.
17	17	If you have any questions regarding the proposed legislation, please contact Chief of Staff,
18	18	DHCF, Melanie Williamson, at (202) 478-5809 or melanie.williamson@dc.gov.
19	19	I urge the Council to take prompt and favorable action on the legislation.
20	20	Sincerely,
21	21	Muriel Bowser 1
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37	37	2£~
38	38	at the request of the Mayor
39	39	A BILL
40	40	IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
41	41	17 To approve, on an emergency basis, rules governing the Health Care Safety Net
42	42	18 Administration to provide for implementation of statutory changes that extend the
43	43	19 certification period for Alliance program eligibility.
44	44	20
45	45	21 BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,
46	46	22 That this act may be cited
47	47	as the "DC Health Care Alliance Enrollment Rulemaking
48	48	23 Approval Emergency Act of 2024".
49	49	24 Sec. 2. Pursuant
50	50	to section 7a of the Health Care Privatization Amendment Act of
51	51	25 2001, effective March 30, 2004 (D.C. Law 15-109; D. C. Official Code§ 7-1406), the
52	52	26 Council approves the proposed final rules
53	53	of the Department of Health Care Finance that
54	54	27 were transmitted to the Council by the Mayor on [INSERT DATE] to amend Chapter
55	55	33
56	56	28 (Health Care Safety Net Administration) of Subtitle B (Public Health and Medicine) of
57	57	29 Title 22 (Health) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations, regarding the Health
58	58	30 Care Safety Net Administration. A notice
59	59	of proposed rulemaking was published in the
60	60	31 District of Columbia Register on March 3, 2023, at 70 DCR 002725.
61	61	32 Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement.
62	62	1 2
63	63	The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement of the Chief Financial Officer as 33
64	64	the fiscal impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures 34
65	65	Act of 1975, approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-35
66	66	301.47a). 36
67	67	Sec. 4. Effective date. 37
68	68	This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto 38
69	69	by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), and shall remain in effect for 39
70	70	no longer than 90 days, as provided for emergency acts of the Council of the District of 40
71	71	Columbia in section 412(a) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved 41
72	72	December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 788; D.C. Official Code § 1-204.12(a)). 42
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75	75	DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CARE FINANCE
76	76
77	77	NOTICE OF FINAL RULEMAKING
78	78	[as submitted to the Council of the District of Columbia for its approval pursuant to section 7a
79	79	of the Health Care Privatization Amendment Act of 2001 (D.C. Official Code § 7-1406)]
80	80
81	81	The Director of the Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF), pursuant to the authority set forth
82	82	in section 7a of the Health Care Privatization Amendment Act of 2001 (“Health Care Privatization
83	83	Amendment Act”), effective July 12, 2001 (D.C. Law 14-18; D.C. Official Code § 7-1405(a)), and
84	84	section 6(6) of the Department of Health Care Finance Establishment Act of 2007, effective
85	85	February 27, 2008 (D.C. Law 17-109; D.C. Official Code § 7-771.05(6)), hereby gives notice of
86	86	the adoption of amendments to Chapter 33 (Health Care Safety Net Administration) of Subtitle B
87	87	(Public Health and Medicine) of Title 22 (Health) of the District of Columbia Municipal
88	88	Regulations (DCMR).
89	89
90	90	Pursuant to sections 3 and 7 of the Health Care Privatization Amendment Act (D.C. Official Code
91	91	§§ 7-1401 and 7-1405), DHCF finances and monitors the health care and medical services that are
92	92	provided to District residents enrolled in the District of Columbia Health Care Alliance program
93	93	(Alliance program) through contracts with providers. The Alliance program provides
94	94	comprehensive health care and medical services to District residents ages twenty-one (21) years
95	95	and over, who have incomes at or below two hundred and ten percent (210%) of the federal poverty
96	96	level and are not otherwise eligible for or enrolled in Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance
97	97	Program (CHIP), or federally-funded Medicaid benefits.
98	98
99	99	The District recently updated its rules governing Alliance program eligibility to create parity with
100	100	Medicaid eligibility requirements and processes to the greatest extent possible. One of the major
101	101	changes included the removal of the interview requirement during applications and renewals.
102	102	However, the current rules governing the Alliance program retained the requirement for
103	103	beneficiaries to renew their eligibility every six (6) months; whereas, Medicaid rules require
104	104	beneficiaries to renew eligibility every twelve (12) months. Consistent with recent legislative
105	105	requirements under the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Support Act of 2022, effective September 21,
106	106	2022 (D.C. Law 24-167; D.C. Official Code § 7-1407), DHCF is extending the Alliance
107	107	certification period to further align with Medicaid standards and require renewals to occur every
108	108	twelve (12) months beginning on October 1, 2022. These changes will remove barriers for Alliance
109	109	beneficiaries in maintaining health care coverage and create greater parity with Medicaid
110	110	eligibility requirements and processes. DHCF estimates that proposed changes in this rule will
111	111	result in an increase of five million, five hundred eighty-one thousand, eight hundred and eighty-
112	112	six dollars ($5,581,886) in total local expenditures in Fiscal Year 2023.
113	113
114	114	A notice of proposed rulemaking was published in the District of Columbia Register on March 3,
115	115	2023, at 70 DCR 002725. No comments were received, and no changes have been made to the text
116	116	of the rule as proposed.
117	117
118	118	The proposed final rules were submitted to the Council of the District of Columbia, pursuant to
119	119	section 7a of the Health Care Privatization Amendment Act, effective July 12, 2001 (D.C. Law
120	120	2
121	121
122	122	14-18; D.C. Official Code § 7-1406). The Council approved the rules through D.C. Act [INSERT
123	123	NUMBER], which became effective on [INSERT DATE].
124	124
125	125	The Director of DHCF took final action to adopt this rulemaking on [INSERT DATE], and the
126	126	rules shall become effective upon publication of this notice in the District of Columbia Register.
127	127
128	128	Chapter 33, HEALTH CARE SAFETY NET ADMINISTRATION, of Subtitle B, PUBLIC
129	129	HEALTH AND MEDICINE, of Title 22, HEALTH, of the DCMR is amended as follows:
130	130
131	131	Section 3301 APPLICATION, REDETERMINATION, AND RENEWAL, is amended as
132	132	follows:
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134	134	Subsection 3301.13 is amended to read as follows:
135	135
136	136	3301.13 Beginning on October 1, 2022, each Alliance program beneficiary shall renew
137	137	eligibility every twelve (12) months by submitting a renewal form to the
138	138	Department of Health Care Finance either in person, by mail, by other commonly
139	139	available electronic means, including by fax or online via web-based portal, or by
140	140	completing the renewal telephonically.
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