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2020 Regular Session
SENATE BILL NO. 132
BY SENATOR HENRY
CONTRACTS. Provides for reporting to and approval of all state contracts valued at
twenty-five million dollars or more annually by the Joint Legislative Committee on the
Budget. (7/1/20)
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 39:198(I)(2), (6), (8)(b) and (c), and (9) and to enact R.S.
3 39:1624(C), relative to the approval of contracts; to provide for transfer of fiscal
4 intermediary contract award approval from the House and Senate committees on
5 health and welfare to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget; to provide for
6 the approval of any contract with a value greater than or equal to twenty-five million
7 dollars annually by the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget; to provide for the
8 reporting to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget by state agencies prior
9 to the issuance of any request for proposals that could result in expenditures of
10 twenty-five million dollars or more annually; to provide for an effective date; and to
11 provide for related matters.
12 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
13 Section 1. R.S. 39:198(I)(2), (6), (8)(b) and (c), and (9) are hereby amended and
14 reenacted and R.S. 39:1624(C) is hereby enacted to read as follows:
15 §198. Types of contracts permitted
16 * * *
17 I. Contracts for fiscal intermediary services in processing claims of health
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1 care providers. State agencies may enter into contracts for fiscal intermediary
2 services in processing claims of health care providers. The term of such a contract
3 shall be one hundred twenty months. In the event special circumstances, as provided
4 in Paragraph (9) of this Subsection, necessitate, additional one-year extensions of the
5 contract may be granted. The award process and final contract shall include the
6 following:
7 * * *
8 (2) Justification for the contract shall be submitted to the state central
9 purchasing agency and shall be submitted to the House and Senate committees on
10 health and welfare Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget at least forty-five
11 days prior to the issuance of a solicitation for proposals. Within thirty days of receipt
12 of the justification by the House and Senate committees on health and welfare, either
13 Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, the committee may convene a meeting
14 separately or jointly for the purpose of conducting conduct a public hearing on the
15 justification which was submitted. Such justification shall include identification and
16 consideration of all factors, including costs, relevant to the solicitation for proposals
17 and the final contract.
18 * * *
19 (6) No award of the contract shall be made until the House and Senate
20 committees on health and welfare, meeting jointly or a joint subcommittee thereof
21 Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget has conducted a public hearing
22 concerning such award.
23 * * *
24 (8) No option to renew such contract shall be exercised by the state until the
25 following criteria have been satisfied:
26 * * *
27 (b) The Louisiana Department of Health submits to the House and Senate
28 committees on health and welfare Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget a
29 notice of intention by the Louisiana Department of Health to exercise the option to
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1 renew such contract and a copy of any public testimony which was taken at the
2 public hearing held by the Louisiana Department of Health. The House and Senate
3 committees on health and welfare, meeting separately or jointly, Joint Legislative
4 Committee on the Budget may hold a public hearing concerning such renewal
5 within thirty days following the receipt of a notice of intention by the Louisiana
6 Department of Health to exercise the option to renew such contract.
7 (c) The House and Senate committees on health and welfare, meeting
8 separately or jointly, have Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget has
9 conducted a public hearing concerning such renewal or thirty days have elapsed from
10 the date the Louisiana Department of Health submitted a notice of intention to renew
11 such contract to the House and Senate committees on health and welfare and neither
12 Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget and the committee has not posted a
13 public notice of meeting concerning the renewal of such contract.
14 (9) In the event the Louisiana Department of Health or the United States
15 Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
16 Services proposes substantial changes in the operations of the Medicaid program that
17 would materially impact the services performed by the fiscal intermediary, the
18 Louisiana Department of Health may, subject to the approval of the House and
19 Senate committees on health and welfare Joint Legislative Committee on the
20 Budget, approve additional extensions of the contract until such time as it is
21 practical to prepare a solicitation for proposals describing the revised services that
22 would be performed by the fiscal intermediary. During the time frame covered by
23 any extension beyond the original one-hundred-twenty-month period, the fiscal
24 intermediary may be required to perform additional functions to assist in preparing
25 the Louisiana Department of Health in the transition to the new program. Such
26 functions shall include existing fiscal intermediary services as well as efforts to
27 control fraud and abuse, program reports, beneficiary enrollment and program
28 information services, encounter data, and annual managed care negotiation data.
29 * * *
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1 §1624. Approval of contract; penalties
2 * * *
3 C. Prior to the state chief procurement officer or an assistant approving
4 any contract with a value greater than or equal to twenty-five million dollars
5 annually, the state chief procurement officer or an assistant shall verify that the
6 following has occurred:
7 (1) The state agency entering into the contract with a value greater than
8 or equal to twenty-five million dollars annually has received the approval of the
9 Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget to enter into the contract.
10 (2) If the request for proposal process was used in the procurement
11 process for a contract with a value greater than or equal to twenty-five million
12 dollars annually, the state agency using the request for proposal process notified
13 the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget of the potential cost of such
14 contract prior to the issuance of the request for proposals, provided that such
15 cost was reasonably anticipated at the time of issuance.
16 Section 2. This Act shall become effective upon July 1, 2020. If vetoed by the
17 governor and subsequently approved by the legislature, this Act shall become effective on
18 July 1, 2020.
The original instrument was prepared by Martha Hess. The following digest,
which does not constitute a part of the legislative instrument, was prepared
by LG Sullivan.
DIGEST
SB 132 Reengrossed 2020 Regular Session Henry
Present law provides for the conditions that shall be satisfied prior to the state procurement
officer or an assistant approving professional, personal, consulting, or social services
contracts:
(1)All provisions of R.S. 39:1623 have been complied with.
(2)The using agency has statutory authority to enter into the proposed contract.
(3)The contract will not establish an employer/employee relationship between the state
or the using agency and any prospective contractor.
(4)No current state employee will engage in the performance of the proposed contract
except as provided for in R.S. 39:1626.
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(5)No using agency has previously performed or contracted for the performance of tasks
which would be substantially duplicated under the proposed contract without
appropriate written justification.
(6)There has been appropriated or otherwise lawfully made available and ready for
expenditure sufficient monies for payment of the services called for in the contract,
at least for the applicable fiscal year.
(7)The contracting using agency has specified the purpose, duration, specific goals and
objectives, measures of performance, and a plan for monitoring the services to be
provided under the contract.
(8)The using agency has a written plan for the monitoring of the contract and such
monitoring plan has been submitted in accordance with rules and regulations adopted
by the office of state procurement.
(9)The provisions of R.S. 12:25(E) have been complied with, if the contract is with a
business corporation, the provisions of R.S. 12:205(E) have been complied with, if
the contract is with a nonprofit corporation, or the provisions of R.S. 12:304(A)(11)
have been complied with, if the contract is with a foreign corporation.
(10)The prospective contractor is current in the filing of all applicable tax returns and
reports, and in payment of all taxes, interest, penalties, and fees owed to the state and
collected by the Department of Revenue in accordance with R.S. 47:1678.
Proposed law retains present law and provides that, prior to the state chief procurement
officer or an assistant approving any contract with a value greater than or equal to $25
million annually, the state chief procurement officer or an assistant shall verify that the
following has occurred:
(1)The state agency entering into contract with a value greater than or equal to $25
million annually has received the approval of the Joint Legislative Committee on the
Budget (JLCB) to enter into the contract.
(2)If the request for proposal process was utilized in the procurement process for a
contract with a value greater than or equal to $25 million dollars annually, the state
agency notified the JLCB of the potential cost of such contract prior to the issuance
of the request for proposals, provided that such cost was reasonably anticipated at the
time of issuance.
Present law allows state agencies to enter into contracts for fiscal intermediary services in
processing claims of health care providers. Requires the award process and the final contract
to meet certain criteria, including approval by the House and Senate committees on health
and welfare.
Proposed law retains present law and moves the approval authority from the House and
Senate committees on health and welfare to JLCB.
Effective July 1, 2020.
(Amends R.S. 39:198(I)(2), (6), (8)(b) and (c), and (9); adds R.S. 39:1624(C))
Summary of Amendments Adopted by Senate
Senate Floor Amendments to engrossed bill
1. Move approval of fiscal intermediary services contract awards from the
House and Senate committees on health and welfare to JLCB.
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.