87R5657 MCF-F
By: Landgraf H.B. No. 1134
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the home-delivered meal program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 12.042, Agriculture Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (m) to read as follows:
(m) Notwithstanding Subsections (c) and (d) or any other
provision of this chapter, the department shall allow a
governmental agency, nonprofit private organization, or for-profit
private organization to apply to the department for a grant under
this section if the agency or organization contracts with an area
agency on aging to deliver meals.
SECTION 2. Subtitle C, Title 2, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 65 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 65. HOME-DELIVERED MEAL PROGRAM
Sec. 65.0001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Area agency on aging" means:
(A) an area agency on aging designated under 42
U.S.C. Section 3025(a)(2)(A); or
(B) a state agency performing the functions of an
area agency on aging under 42 U.S.C. Section 3025(b)(5).
(2) "Client" means an individual who is elderly or has
a disability and who receives a meal under the program.
(3) "Program" means the home-delivered meal program
under this chapter.
(4) "Provider" means a meal provider who contracts
with the commission or an area agency on aging to provide and
deliver home-delivered meals under the program.
Sec. 65.0002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter does not apply
to home-delivered meals provided through the Medicaid managed care
program under Chapter 533, Government Code.
Sec. 65.0003. PROGRAM MODERNIZATION. (a) The commission
shall maintain and revise as necessary operating guidelines for a
home-delivered meal program to effectively and efficiently provide
meal deliveries to individuals who are elderly or have a
disability.
(b) The commission may contract with a meal provider to
provide home-delivered meals under the program.
(c) In awarding a contract to a provider, the commission or
area agency on aging shall:
(1) prioritize providers who:
(A) conduct a face-to-face client visit;
(B) deliver hot meals for the program; and
(C) comply with reporting requirements for the
nutrition services incentive program established under 42 U.S.C.
Section 3030a;
(2) give extra consideration to providers capable of
delivering meals to clients in both rural and urban areas;
(3) give extra consideration to providers with the
capacity to deliver meals to eligible individuals who are currently
on an interest or other waiting list for services under the program;
(4) consider the individual dietary needs of clients
through condition-specific menus; and
(5) negotiate enhanced meal rates to ensure program
efficacy.
Sec. 65.0004. MEAL REQUIREMENTS. A provider may use
frozen, chilled, or shelf-stable meals if:
(1) the provider and the client are capable of
providing sanitary and safe conditions for storage, thawing, and
preparation of the meal; and
(2) the client, or another available person for the
client, is capable of safely handling the meal.
Sec. 65.0005. PACKAGING REQUIREMENTS. (a) A provider
shall use supplies and meal transport carriers that allow hot,
frozen, chilled, and shelf-stable meals to be packaged and stored
separately.
(b) For hot, frozen, chilled, or shelf-stable meals that are
easily damaged, a provider must use an enclosed meal transport
carrier and trays or other containers necessary to protect the
meals from contamination, crushing, or spillage during transport.
(c) A provider shall equip a meal transport carrier with
insulation or supplemental hot or cold sources as necessary to
maintain safe temperatures for meals during transport.
(d) A provider shall use meal packaging that:
(1) is sealed to prevent moisture loss or spillage;
(2) allows preservation of the meal at a safe
temperature during transport;
(3) includes compartments for separating food items to
increase visual appeal and minimize spillage; and
(4) allows easy access by clients.
(e) A provider shall maintain the food temperature of meals
prepared and packaged for delivery in accordance with commission
rules and area agency on aging requirements for home-delivered
meals.
Sec. 65.0006. DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS. (a) A provider shall
deliver meals:
(1) at a commercially reasonable time; and
(2) on a date on which the provider and client mutually
agree.
(b) A provider in accordance with the commission or area
agency on aging contract shall provide and deliver meals to each
client daily, weekly, or every other week, dependent on the
acceptable shelf life of the meal. The provider shall document
whether each meal is delivered or undelivered. A client's
statement that the client failed to receive a meal delivery
constitutes documentation that the meal was not delivered.
(c) If a client is not present to accept delivery of a meal,
a provider may leave the meal only if the provider ensures the meal
is maintained at a safe temperature.
(d) For each undelivered meal, a provider shall document the
meal as undelivered and the reason the provider was unable to
deliver the meal. A provider shall maintain documentation of
undelivered meals in accordance with the contract.
(e) If a provider violates this section, the commission or
area agency on aging may consider the provider in breach of the
contract.
Sec. 65.0007. CASE MANAGER NOTIFICATION. A provider who
has not had contact with the client or the client's responsible
party within the time agreed by contract shall notify in writing the
client's case manager, if applicable, of the provider's concerns
regarding the lack of contact.
SECTION 3. (a) In this section:
(1) "Area agency on aging," "client," and "program"
have the meanings assigned by Section 65.0001, Health and Safety
Code, as added by this Act.
(2) "Commission" means the Health and Human Services
Commission.
(b) The commission shall conduct a study examining the
interest or other waiting lists of individuals seeking
home-delivered meals maintained by the commission and each area
agency on aging in the program.
(c) In conducting the study under this section, the
commission shall identify additional strategies the commission
could employ to provide home-delivered meal services to additional
clients and eliminate the interest or other waiting lists,
including strategies employed by other states and strategies
through which the program could receive additional funding.
(d) Not later than December 1, 2022, the commission shall
submit to the legislature a written report containing the findings
of the study conducted under this section and the commission's
legislative recommendations.
SECTION 4. The executive commissioner of the Health and
Human Services Commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement
Chapter 65, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, and
modernize the home-delivered meal program under that chapter.
SECTION 5. 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, 2021.