THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	912
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  Long-term care facilities in the State face major financial challenges in providing quality health care for Hawaii residents.  These challenges are largely the result of payments for medicaid enrollees that do not cover the actual costs of care.  Long-term care facilities have not received inflationary updates to their reimbursement rates for a number of years due to the economic recession and, as such, have seen the gap between costs and reimbursements widen considerably.  The financial effect is further magnified by the fact that roughly seventy per cent of patients in long-term care facilities are covered by the state medicaid program.

     The purpose of this Act is to assess the need for annual inflationary adjustments to the long-term care reimbursement methodology used to reimburse facilities for medicaid recipients.

     SECTION 2.  The department of human services shall submit to the legislature a report on long-term care facilities every three years.  The initial report shall be submitted no later than June 30, 2018, and subsequent reports shall be submitted every three years thereafter.

     The long-term care facilities report shall illustrate the shortfalls and financial challenges faced by long-term care facilities in the State as well as the impact of increasing the long-term care facility's provider-specific prospective payment rate.  The report shall include annual fiscal year numbers demonstrating the cost to long-term care facilities of care for medicaid enrollees, reimbursement amounts for medicaid enrollees, shortfalls in reimbursement, and any additional costs that would be created by increasing the prospective payment rate for long-term care facilities.

     SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

 

Report Title:

Long-term Care; Prospective Payment Rate

 

Description:

Requires the department of human services to track the annual costs, reimbursements, and shortfalls that long-term care facilities experience due to the current long-term care reimbursement rate, as well as the potential impact of a reimbursement rate increase, and provide a report to the legislature every three years beginning in 2018.  (SD1)

 

 

 

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