83R10617 EES-D
By: Rodriguez S.B. No. 1816
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the expansion of eligibility for medical assistance to
certain persons under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act and funding of that expansion.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 32, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 32.02472 to read as follows:
Sec. 32.02472. EXPANDED ELIGIBILITY FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE
UNDER PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT. (a)
Notwithstanding any other law, the department shall provide medical
assistance to all persons who apply for that assistance and for whom
federal matching funds are available under the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. No. 111-148) as amended by the
Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Pub. L. No.
111-152) to provide that assistance.
(b) The state's share of the cost of the medical assistance
provided under Subsection (a) to residents of the eight counties in
this state with the largest populations as compared to other
counties shall be paid by:
(1) funds received by the state through
intergovernmental transfers from each hospital district that
includes all or any part of any of those counties; or
(2) funds collected from the payment of a quality
assurance fee by each hospital required to obtain a license under
Chapter 241, Health and Safety Code, that is located in any of those
counties.
(c) The department shall determine whether to use the
funding mechanism specified by Subsection (b)(1) or (b)(2). If the
mechanism specified by Subsection (b)(2) is selected, the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall
adopt rules regarding the imposition, administration, and
collection of the quality assurance fee. The rules must ensure that
the state does not collect net revenue from the fee in excess of the
amount of the state's share of the cost of providing medical
assistance in the counties described in Subsection (b).
(d) The state shall pay for the state's share of the cost of
the medical assistance provided under Subsection (a) to persons who
are residents of counties not described in Subsection (b).
(e) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year,
the department, in conjunction with the Legislative Budget Board,
shall report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker
of the house of representatives, and the standing committees of the
senate and the house of representatives having primary jurisdiction
over the medical assistance program on any savings to the state that
result from the expansion of eligibility for medical assistance
under Subsection (a).
(f) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt rules regarding the provision of
and payment for medical assistance as required by this section.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an initial determination or recertification of eligibility of a
person for medical assistance under Chapter 32, Human Resources
Code, made on or after January 1, 2014, regardless of the date the
person applied for that assistance.
SECTION 3. As soon as possible after the effective date of
this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall take all necessary actions to expand
eligibility for medical assistance under Chapter 32, Human
Resources Code, in accordance with Section 32.02472, Human
Resources Code, as added by this Act, including notifying
appropriate federal agencies of that expanded eligibility. If
before implementing any provision of this Act a state agency
determines that any other 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, 2013.