Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2143 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

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1	1	By: Parker S.B. No. 2143
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2023; March 21, 2023, read
3	3	first time and referred to Committee on Health & Human Services;
4	4	May 19, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
5	5	Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 19, 2023,
6	6	sent to printer.)
7	7	Click here to see the committee vote
8	8	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2143 By: Perry
9	9
10	10
11	11	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
12	12	AN ACT
13	13	relating to the eligibility for and access to certain Medicaid
14	14	waiver programs, including the medically dependent children (MDCP)
15	15	and the Texas home living (TxHmL) waiver programs.
16	16	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
17	17	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
18	18	amended by adding Sections 531.06012 and 531.06041 and amending
19	19	Section 531.0604 to read as follows:
20	20	Sec. 531.06012. MEDICALLY DEPENDENT CHILDREN (MDCP) WAIVER
21	21	PROGRAM: ALLOCATION OF DIVERSION SLOTS. To the extent possible,
22	22	the commission shall allocate a portion of medically dependent
23	23	children (MDCP) waiver program slots as diversion slots for
24	24	children who:
25	25	(1) meet the program's level of care criteria for
26	26	medical necessity for nursing facility care; and
27	27	(2) are at high risk of being placed in an
28	28	institutional setting.
29	29	Sec. 531.0604. MEDICALLY DEPENDENT CHILDREN PROGRAM
30	30	ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS; NURSING FACILITY LEVEL OF CARE. To the
31	31	extent allowed by federal law, the commission may not require that a
32	32	child reside in a nursing facility for:
33	33	(1) an extended period of time to meet the nursing
34	34	facility level of care required for the child to be determined
35	35	eligible for the medically dependent children (MDCP) waiver
36	36	program; or
37	37	(2) any period of time to meet the nursing facility
38	38	level of care required for the child to be determined eligible for
39	39	the medically dependent children (MDCP) waiver program if the child
40	40	is:
41	41	(A) medically fragile; and
42	42	(B) accessing the program through a "Money
43	43	Follows the Person" demonstration project.
44	44	Sec. 531.06041. ASSESSMENT OF CERTAIN CHILDREN FOR
45	45	MEDICALLY DEPENDENT CHILDREN (MDCP) WAIVER PROGRAM. To the extent
46	46	possible, the commission shall enroll a child in the medically
47	47	dependent children (MDCP) waiver program if the child:
48	48	(1) is on the interest list for the program;
49	49	(2) receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (42
50	50	U.S.C. Section 1381 et seq.); and
51	51	(3) meets the program's level of care criteria for
52	52	medical necessity for nursing facility care.
53	53	SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 32, Human Resources Code,
54	54	is amended by adding Section 32.0521 to read as follows:
55	55	Sec. 32.0521. ELIGIBILITY FOR TEXAS HOME LIVING (TxHmL)
56	56	WAIVER PROGRAM. (a) In this section, "Section 1915(c) waiver
57	57	program" has the meaning assigned by Section 531.001, Government
58	58	Code.
59	59	(b) To the extent permitted by federal law, an individual is
60	60	financially eligible to participate in the Texas home living
61	61	(TxHmL) waiver program if the individual's income is not more than
62	62	the special income limit established by the commission for other
63	63	Section 1915(c) waiver programs, including the home and
64	64	community-based services (HCS) waiver program.
65	65	(c) The commission may not require that an individual who
66	66	has an approved primary diagnosis of a related condition meet
67	67	intelligence quotient criteria to be eligible for the Texas home
68	68	living (TxHmL) waiver program.
69	69	SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any other section of this Act,
70	70	in a state fiscal year, the Health and Human Services Commission is
71	71	not required to implement a provision in another section of this Act
72	72	imposing a duty on the commission to take an action, including a
73	73	provision that the commission determines would require adding
74	74	additional slots under the medically dependent children (MDCP)
75	75	waiver program or the Texas home living (TxHmL) waiver program,
76	76	unless money is specifically appropriated to the commission for
77	77	that fiscal year to carry out that duty. The commission may
78	78	implement the provision in that fiscal year to the extent other
79	79	funding is available to the commission for the implementation.
80	80	SECTION 4. If before implementing any provision of this Act
81	81	a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
82	82	federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
83	83	the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
84	84	authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
85	85	waiver or authorization is granted.
86	86	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
87	87	* * * * *