By: Parker S.B. No. 2143
(In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2023; March 21, 2023, read
first time and referred to Committee on Health & Human Services;
May 19, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 19, 2023,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2143 By: Perry
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility for and access to certain Medicaid
waiver programs, including the medically dependent children (MDCP)
and the Texas home living (TxHmL) waiver programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 531.06012 and 531.06041 and amending
Section 531.0604 to read as follows:
Sec. 531.06012. MEDICALLY DEPENDENT CHILDREN (MDCP) WAIVER
PROGRAM: ALLOCATION OF DIVERSION SLOTS. To the extent possible,
the commission shall allocate a portion of medically dependent
children (MDCP) waiver program slots as diversion slots for
children who:
(1) meet the program's level of care criteria for
medical necessity for nursing facility care; and
(2) are at high risk of being placed in an
institutional setting.
Sec. 531.0604. MEDICALLY DEPENDENT CHILDREN PROGRAM
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS; NURSING FACILITY LEVEL OF CARE. To the
extent allowed by federal law, the commission may not require that a
child reside in a nursing facility for:
(1) an extended period of time to meet the nursing
facility level of care required for the child to be determined
eligible for the medically dependent children (MDCP) waiver
program; or
(2) any period of time to meet the nursing facility
level of care required for the child to be determined eligible for
the medically dependent children (MDCP) waiver program if the child
is:
(A) medically fragile; and
(B) accessing the program through a "Money
Follows the Person" demonstration project.
Sec. 531.06041. ASSESSMENT OF CERTAIN CHILDREN FOR
MEDICALLY DEPENDENT CHILDREN (MDCP) WAIVER PROGRAM. To the extent
possible, the commission shall enroll a child in the medically
dependent children (MDCP) waiver program if the child:
(1) is on the interest list for the program;
(2) receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (42
U.S.C. Section 1381 et seq.); and
(3) meets the program's level of care criteria for
medical necessity for nursing facility care.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 32, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 32.0521 to read as follows:
Sec. 32.0521. ELIGIBILITY FOR TEXAS HOME LIVING (TxHmL)
WAIVER PROGRAM. (a) In this section, "Section 1915(c) waiver
program" has the meaning assigned by Section 531.001, Government
Code.
(b) To the extent permitted by federal law, an individual is
financially eligible to participate in the Texas home living
(TxHmL) waiver program if the individual's income is not more than
the special income limit established by the commission for other
Section 1915(c) waiver programs, including the home and
community-based services (HCS) waiver program.
(c) The commission may not require that an individual who
has an approved primary diagnosis of a related condition meet
intelligence quotient criteria to be eligible for the Texas home
living (TxHmL) waiver program.
SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any other section of this Act,
in a state fiscal year, the Health and Human Services Commission is
not required to implement a provision in another section of this Act
imposing a duty on the commission to take an action, including a
provision that the commission determines would require adding
additional slots under the medically dependent children (MDCP)
waiver program or the Texas home living (TxHmL) waiver program,
unless money is specifically appropriated to the commission for
that fiscal year to carry out that duty. The commission may
implement the provision in that fiscal year to the extent other
funding is available to the commission for the implementation.
SECTION 4. 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 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
* * * * *