By: González of El Paso, et al. H.B. No. 25
(Senate Sponsor - Zaffirini, Miles)
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 16, 2019;
April 17, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on Health &
Human Services; May 9, 2019, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0;
May 9, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 25 By: Miles
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a pilot program for providing services to certain women
and children under the Medicaid medical transportation program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 531.024141 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.024141. PILOT PROGRAM FOR PROVIDING MEDICAL
TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM SERVICES TO PREGNANT WOMEN AND NEW MOTHERS.
(a) In this section:
(1) "Demand response transportation services" means
medical transportation program services that are provided by
dispatching a transportation service provider's vehicle in
response to a request from a client or by a shared one-way trip.
(2) "Managed transportation organization" has the
meaning assigned by Section 533.00257.
(3) "Medicaid managed care organization" means a
managed care organization as defined by Section 533.001 that
contracts with the commission under Chapter 533 to provide health
care services to Medicaid recipients.
(4) "Medical transportation program" has the meaning
assigned by Section 531.02414.
(b) The commission, in collaboration with the Maternal
Mortality and Morbidity Task Force established under Chapter 34,
Health and Safety Code, shall develop and, not later than September
1, 2020, implement a pilot program in at least one health care
service region, as defined by Section 533.001, that allows for a
managed transportation organization that participates in the pilot
program to arrange for and provide medical transportation program
services to:
(1) a woman who is enrolled in the STAR Medicaid
managed care program during the woman's pregnancy and after she
delivers; and
(2) the child of a woman described by Subdivision (1)
who accompanies the woman.
(c) A managed transportation organization that participates
in the pilot program shall:
(1) arrange for and provide the medical transportation
program services described by Subsection (b) in a manner that does
not result in additional costs to Medicaid or the commission;
(2) arrange for and provide demand response
transportation services, including, to the extent allowed by law,
through a transportation network company as defined by Section
2402.001, Occupations Code, to a woman described by Subsection (b)
if:
(A) the request for transportation services is
made during a period of time determined by commission rules before
the woman requires transportation in order to receive a covered
health care service; or
(B) the woman receiving medical transportation
program services needs to travel directly to and from a location to
receive a covered health care service and cannot be a participant in
a shared trip; and
(3) ensure that the managed transportation
organization and the managed care organization through which a
woman described by Subsection (b) receives health care services
effectively share information and coordinate services for the
woman.
(d) In developing the pilot program, the commission shall
ensure that a managed transportation organization participating in
the pilot program provides medical transportation services in a
safe and efficient manner.
(e) Not later than December 1, 2020, the commission shall
report to the legislature on the implementation of the pilot
program.
(f) The commission shall evaluate the results of the pilot
program and determine whether the program:
(1) is cost-effective;
(2) improves the efficiency and quality of services
provided under the medical transportation program; and
(3) is effective in:
(A) increasing access to prenatal and postpartum
health care services;
(B) reducing pregnancy-related complications;
and
(C) decreasing the rate of missed appointments
for covered health care services by women enrolled in the STAR
Medicaid managed care program.
(g) Not later than December 1, 2022, the commission shall
submit a report to the legislature on the results of the pilot
program. The commission shall include in the report a
recommendation regarding whether the pilot program should
continue, be expanded, or terminate.
(h) The executive commissioner:
(1) shall adopt rules specifying the number of days or
hours before transportation services are needed that a request for
the services must be made for purposes of Subsection (c)(2)(A); and
(2) may adopt other rules to implement this section.
(i) This section expires September 1, 2023.
SECTION 2. 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 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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