86R349 KFF-D
By: Davis of Harris H.B. No. 767
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the evaluation of and reporting on certain Medicaid
waiver projects.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 531.021111 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.021111. SECTION 1115 WAIVER PROJECTS: FINAL
EVALUATION REPORTS; REPORT TO LEGISLATURE. (a) In this section:
(1) "Section 1115 waiver program" means a federally
funded program of the state under Medicaid that is authorized under
Section 1115 of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section
1315).
(2) "Waiver project" means any experimental, pilot, or
demonstration project implemented by an entity other than a state
agency and funded, wholly or partly, using federal money received
under a Section 1115 waiver program.
(b) The commission shall require each entity that receives
funding to implement a waiver project in this state to, not later
than the 30th day after the date the period authorized for the
project terminates and regardless of whether the project is
continuing for another period, submit a final evaluation report to
the commission. A final evaluation report must:
(1) be based on:
(A) quantitative research methods involving the
empirical investigation of the impact of key programmatic features
of the waiver project; or
(B) if quantitative designs are technically
infeasible or not well suited to the change sought by the waiver
project, an alternative design approved by the commission;
(2) minimize the burden on recipients and project
recipient privacy while ensuring the impact of the waiver project
is measured;
(3) discuss the hypothesis being tested by the waiver
project;
(4) discuss the data used to conduct the evaluation,
including monitoring and reporting conducted during the waiver
project and the methods used for collecting the data;
(5) include a description of how the effects of the
waiver project are isolated from other factors that may contribute
to the change sought; and
(6) include any other information the commission
determines appropriate.
(c) The commission shall, as soon as practicable, but not
later than the 30th day after the date the commission receives a
final evaluation report under this section:
(1) submit a copy of the report along with the
commission's recommendations regarding the continuation of the
waiver project to the standing committees of the senate and house of
representatives with jurisdiction over Medicaid; and
(2) make a copy of the report available to the public
on the commission's Internet website.
(d) The commission's recommendations under Subsection
(c)(1) must:
(1) include a statement regarding whether the waiver
project should be modified in any manner, made permanent,
eliminated, or extended to allow more time for review; and
(2) provide justification for the recommendations,
including a detailed cost-benefit analysis of the waiver project.
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.