82R7069 ALB-D
By: Guillen, Naishtat, Raymond H.B. No. 329
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 329:
By: Gonzalez C.S.H.B. No. 329
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a pilot project to establish a comprehensive access
point for long-term services and supports provided to older persons
and persons with physical disabilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 531.0525 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.0525. PILOT PROJECT TO ESTABLISH COMPREHENSIVE
ACCESS POINT FOR LONG-TERM SERVICES AND SUPPORTS. (a) In this
section:
(1) "Aging and disability resource center" means a
center established under the Aging and Disability Resource Center
initiative funded in part by the federal Administration on Aging
and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
(2) "Colocated long-term services and supports staff
members" means:
(A) long-term services and supports staff
members who are located in the same physical office; or
(B) long-term services and supports staff
members who are not located in the same physical office but who work
collaboratively through the use of the telephone or other
technologies.
(3) "Department of Aging and Disability Services staff
members" includes community services staff members of the
Department of Aging and Disability Services.
(4) "Long-term services and supports" means long-term
assistance or care provided to older persons and persons with
physical disabilities through the Medicaid program or other
programs. The term includes assistance or care provided through
the following programs:
(A) the primary home care program;
(B) the community attendant services program;
(C) the community-based alternatives program;
(D) the day activity and health services program;
(E) the promoting independence program;
(F) a program funded through the Older Americans
Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. Section 3001 et seq.);
(G) a community care program funded through Title
XX of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 301 et
seq.);
(H) the in-home and family support program; and
(I) a nursing facility program.
(5) "Long-term services and supports staff" means:
(A) one or more of the commission's Medicaid
eligibility determination staff members;
(B) one or more Department of Aging and
Disability Services staff members; and
(C) one or more area agency on aging staff
members.
(6) "Pilot project site" means a location in an area
served by the pilot project established under this section where
colocated long-term services and supports staff members work
collaboratively to provide information and tentatively assess
functional and financial eligibility to initiate long-term
services and supports.
(7) "Tentative assessment of functional and financial
eligibility" means an expedited preliminary screening of an
applicant to determine Medicaid eligibility with the goal of
initiating services within seven business days. The tentative
assessment does not guarantee state payment for services.
(b) Subject to availability of funds appropriated by the
legislature for this purpose, the commission shall develop and
implement a pilot project to establish a comprehensive access point
system for long-term services and supports in which colocated
long-term services and supports staff members work in collaboration
to provide all necessary services in connection with long-term
services and supports from the intake process to the start of
service delivery. The pilot project must require that, at a
minimum, the staff members work collaboratively to:
(1) inform and educate older persons, persons with
physical disabilities, and their family members and other
caregivers about long-term services and supports for which they may
qualify;
(2) screen older persons and persons with physical
disabilities requesting long-term services and supports;
(3) provide a tentative assessment of functional and
financial eligibility for older persons and persons with physical
disabilities requesting long-term services and supports for which
there are no interest lists; and
(4) make final determinations of eligibility for
long-term services and supports.
(c) In developing and implementing the pilot project, the
commission shall ensure that:
(1) the pilot project site has colocated long-term
services and supports staff members who are located in the same
physical office;
(2) the pilot project site serves as a comprehensive
access point for older persons and persons with physical
disabilities to obtain information about long-term services and
supports for which they may qualify and access long-term services
and supports in the site's service area;
(3) the pilot project site is designed and operated in
accordance with best practices adopted by the executive
commissioner after the commission reviews best practices for
similar initiatives in other states and professional policy-based
research describing best practices for successful initiatives;
(4) the colocated long-term services and supports
staff members supporting the pilot project site include:
(A) one full-time commission staff member who
determines eligibility for the Medicaid program and who:
(i) has full access to the Texas Integrated
Eligibility Redesign System (TIERS);
(ii) has previously made Medicaid long-term
care eligibility determinations; and
(iii) is dedicated primarily to making
eligibility determinations for incoming clients at the site;
(B) sufficient Department of Aging and
Disability Services staff members to carry out the tentative
functional and financial eligibility and screening functions at the
site;
(C) sufficient area agency on aging staff members
to:
(i) assist with the performance of
screening functions and service coordination for services funded
under the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. Section 3001 et
seq.), such as meals programs; and
(ii) identify other locally funded and
supported services that will enable older persons and persons with
physical disabilities to continue to reside in the community to the
extent reasonable; and
(D) any available staff members from local
service agencies; and
(5) the colocated long-term services and supports
staff members of the pilot project site:
(A) process intakes for long-term services and
supports in person or by telephone or through the Internet;
(B) use a standardized screening tool to
tentatively assess both functional and financial eligibility with
the goal of initiating services within seven business days;
(C) closely coordinate with local hospital
discharge planners and staff members of extended rehabilitation
units of local hospitals and nursing homes; and
(D) inform persons about community-based
services available in the area served by the pilot project.
(d) The pilot project must be implemented in a single county
or a multicounty area, as determined by the commission. The pilot
project site must be located within an aging and disability
resource center service area. If the commission finds that there is
no aging and disability resource center that is willing or able to
accommodate a pilot project site on the date the pilot project is to
be implemented, the pilot project site may be located at another
appropriate location.
(e) Not later than January 31, 2013, the commission shall
submit a report concerning the pilot project to the presiding
officers of the standing committees of the senate and house of
representatives having primary jurisdiction over health and human
services. The report must:
(1) contain an evaluation of the operation of the
pilot project;
(2) contain an evaluation of the pilot project's
benefits for persons who received services;
(3) contain a calculation of the costs and cost
savings that can be attributed to implementation of the pilot
project;
(4) include a recommendation regarding adopting
improved policies and procedures concerning long-term services and
supports with statewide applicability, as determined from
information obtained in operating the pilot project;
(5) include a recommendation regarding the
feasibility of expanding the pilot project to other areas of this
state or statewide; and
(6) contain the perspectives of service providers
participating in the pilot project.
(f) This section expires September 1, 2015.
SECTION 2. Not later than December 31, 2011, the Health and
Human Services Commission shall ensure that the pilot project site
is in operation under the pilot project required by Section
531.0525, Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. If before implementing any provision of this Act
a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
waiver or authorization is granted.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.