Louisiana 2016 2016 Regular Session

Louisiana House Bill HB922 Comm Sub / Analysis

                    RÉSUMÉ DIGEST
ACT 675 (HB 922) 2016 Regular Session	Hensgens
Existing law establishes fees to be imposed on certain healthcare service providers.  Prior law
set the maximum fee for nursing facilities at $10.00 per occupied bed per day.
New law changes the maximum fee amount to the percentage of net patient service revenues
permitted by federal regulations as determined by the Dept. of Health and Hospitals (DHH)
on a per occupied bed per day basis.
Prior law prohibited DHH from imposing any new fee or increasing any fee on any nursing
home without prior approval of the specific fee amount by record vote of a majority of the
elected members of each house of the legislature while in session. 
New law repeals prior law.
Existing law establishes the La. Medical Assistance Trust Fund as a special fund in the state
treasury.  Prior law provided that the fund comprises monies generated by the fees on certain
providers of healthcare services enumerated in existing law and required a separate account
within the fund for each provider group.
New law extends the application of existing law to all fees on healthcare providers
authorized by law and requires the state treasurer to establish a separate account within the 
fund for each provider group.
Prior law required the monies in the fund to be allocated, with accompanying federal
matching money, to each of the healthcare provider groups in proportion to the amount of
fees collected in each account, based upon fees established by DHH pursuant to prior law. 
New law requires the legislature to allocate monies in the fund from the separate accounts
only if the appropriation is eligible for federal financial participation under the Medicaid
program.  New law further requires DHH to expend monies deposited into each account only
for the reimbursement of services to the provider group that paid the fee into the account in
any fiscal year and provides that any expenditure from the separate accounts for a purpose
other than medical assistance payments for the providers paying the fee shall be void. 
Existing law prohibits the use of the monies in the fund to displace, replace, or supplant
appropriations from the state general fund for the Medicaid program below the amount of
state general fund appropriations to DHH for the 2012-2013 Fiscal Year.
Prior law required the state treasurer to report the status of the fund and its accounts at least
quarterly to the secretary of DHH and the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget
(JLCB).
New law requires the state treasurer to report the status and utilization of the fund and the
separate accounts quarterly to the secretary of the DHH and the JLCB.  New law further
requires DHH to report on the expenditure of funds out of each separate account in the fund
quarterly to the JLCB.
Effective August 1, 2016.
(Amends R.S. 46:2623 and 2625(A)(1)(intro. para.) and (a); Repeals R.S. 46:2625(B))