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131st MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2023
Legislative Document No. 587S.P. 255 In Senate, February 14, 2023
Resolve, to Automatically Increase a Residential Care or Nursing
Facility Resident's Personal Needs Allowance Under the MaineCare
Program When the Consumer Price Index Increases
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator BRAKEY of Androscoggin.
Cosponsored by Senator TIPPING of Penobscot and
Senator: MOORE of Washington. Page 1 - 131LR2024(01)1
2 That, by July 1, 2024, the Department of Health
3 and Human Services shall amend its rules in Chapter 101: MaineCare Benefits Manual,
4 Chapter III, Section 67, Principles of Reimbursement for Nursing Facilities, and Chapter
5 III, Section 97, Private Non-Medical Institution Services, to apply an annual cost-of-living
6 increase to the personal needs allowance for persons residing in nursing facilities and
7 residential care facilities under the rules for the MaineCare program. The increase in the
8 cost of living must be measured by the percentage increase, if any, as of August of the
9 previous year over the level as of August of the year preceding that year in the Consumer
10 Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, CPI-W, for the Northeast
11 Region, or its successor index, as published by the United States Department of Labor,
12 Bureau of Labor Statistics or its successor agency, with the amount of the personal needs
13 allowance rounded to the nearest multiple of 5ยข.
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15 This resolve requires the Department of Health and Human Services, by July 1, 2024,
16 to amend its MaineCare rules to apply an annual cost-of-living increase to the personal
17 needs allowance for MaineCare members residing in nursing facilities and residential care
18 facilities. The cost-of-living increase applies the metrics used by the Consumer Price Index
19 for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, CPI-W, for the Northeast Region.
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