HLS 12RS-4074 ORIGINAL
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Regular Session, 2012
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 138
BY REPRESENTATIVE HARRISON
HEALTH/DHH: Directs the Dept. of Health and Hospitals to require accreditation of home-
and community-based service providers
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON1
To authorize and direct the Department of Health and Hospitals to require that providers of2
home-and community-based services obtain accreditation by a nationally recognized3
accrediting agency approved by the department beginning January 1, 2013, and to4
submit a plan to implement the directive provided in this Resolution to the legislative5
committees on health and welfare on or before December 1, 2012.6
WHEREAS, the Department of Health and Hospitals, referred to hereafter as7
"department", has begun the process of implementing the provisions of Act No. 839 of the8
2008 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana; and9
WHEREAS, the department estimates that the consolidated licensing procedure10
prescribed by Act No. 839 will still leave Louisiana with over nine hundred licensed11
providers of home-and community-based services; and12
WHEREAS, despite the fact that the legislature has worked closely with the13
department to implement cost containment measures over the past seven years, the budget14
for home-and community-based services for elderly and disabled adults continues to rise,15
with expenditures expected to reach an all-time high of three hundred twenty-one million16
dollars in the current fiscal year; and17
WHEREAS, despite reductions in reimbursement rates and caps on the maximum18
hours of care that home-and community-based service recipients can receive, costs continue19
to rise as a result of increased utilization; and20 HLS 12RS-4074 ORIGINAL
HCR NO. 138
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WHEREAS, there is significant evidence that such increased utilization is due1
primarily to service recipient recruitment by the excessive number of licensed providers; and2
WHEREAS, the department has insufficient staff to license and monitor nine3
hundred providers of home-and community-based services; and4
WHEREAS, other states facing similar challenges have mandated that home-and5
community-based service providers obtain accreditation from nationally recognized6
accrediting agencies, as selected by the respective states, as a means of improving quality7
of care, enhancing program integrity, and stabilizing costs; and8
WHEREAS, Act No. 299 of the 2011 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana9
required that the department develop a plan to implement mandatory accreditation for10
providers of home-and community-based services and submit that plan to the House11
Committee on Health and Welfare and the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare; and12
WHEREAS, the report submitted by the department in response to Act No. 299 did13
not require accreditation of home-and community-based service providers.14
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby15
authorize and direct the Department of Health and Hospitals to require that providers of16
home-and community-based services obtain accreditation by a nationally recognized17
accrediting agency approved by the department beginning January 1, 2013.18
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department shall submit a plan to implement19
the directive provided in this Resolution to the House Committee on Health and Welfare and20
the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare on or before December 1, 2012.21
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the22
secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals.23
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
Harrison HCR No. 138
Directs the Dept. of Health and Hospitals to require accreditation of home- and
community-based service providers.