84R11758 EES-D
By: Blanco H.B. No. 4000
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the expansion of eligibility for Medicaid by counties
under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle I, Title 4, Government Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 540 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 540. FEDERAL WAIVER TO EXPAND MEDICAID BY COUNTIES
Sec. 540.001. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "Medicaid"
means the medical assistance program established under Title XIX,
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1396 et seq.).
Sec. 540.002. FEDERAL AUTHORIZATION FOR MEDICAID EXPANSION
BY COUNTIES. (a) The executive commissioner shall seek a waiver
under Section 1115 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section
1315) to the state Medicaid plan to expand the categories of persons
eligible for Medicaid benefits by allowing a county to provide or
coordinate the provision of Medicaid benefits to any resident of
the county:
(1) who is not otherwise eligible to receive Medicaid
benefits under the program established under Chapter 32, Human
Resources Code, and operated by the state, including through a
waiver, other than one granted under this section, to the program;
(2) who applies to receive Medicaid benefits; and
(3) 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 Medicaid benefits.
(b) The terms of a waiver under this section must:
(1) specify the requirements for a county to provide
or coordinate the provision of Medicaid benefits to persons
described by Subsection (a);
(2) specify the role of the commission in facilitating
the provision of those Medicaid benefits; and
(3) require that the state's share of the cost of
Medicaid benefits that are provided, or the provision of which is
coordinated, by a county and any administrative costs relating to
the provision of those benefits be paid by local funds received by
the state from the county through intergovernmental transfers.
(c) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules necessary
to implement this section, including rules that:
(1) establish requirements for any delivery system
implemented and operated by a county for the provision of Medicaid
benefits;
(2) establish qualifications for a person to be
considered a resident of a county for purposes of receiving
Medicaid benefits through the county;
(3) prescribe changes to the commission's eligibility
determination process for Medicaid benefits to accommodate the
expanded categories of persons eligible to receive Medicaid
benefits through a county; and
(4) establish procedures for the commission to receive
local funds from a county through intergovernmental transfers for
payment of the state's share of the cost of Medicaid benefits that
are provided, or the provision of which is coordinated, by the
county and any administrative costs relating to the provision of
those benefits.
SECTION 2. (a) The Health and Human Services Commission
shall actively develop a proposal for the waiver or other
authorization from the appropriate federal agency as required by
Chapter 540, Government Code, as added by this Act.
(b) As soon as possible after the effective date of this
Act, the Health and Human Services Commission shall request and
actively pursue approval from the appropriate federal agency of the
waiver or other authorization developed under Chapter 540,
Government Code, as added by this Act.
(c) If the waiver or other authorization developed under
Chapter 540, Government Code, as added by this Act, is granted by
the appropriate federal agency, as soon as possible after the date
the waiver or other authorization is granted, the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall
adopt the rules required by Section 540.002(c), Government Code, as
added by this Act.
SECTION 3. 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, 2015.