Florida Senate - 2011                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS/HB 7109, 2nd Eng.
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 351842                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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                Floor: 1/AD/2R         .            Floor: C            
             05/05/2011 05:15 PM       .      05/06/2011 07:42 PM       
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       Senator Negron moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5  Section 1. Section 393.0661, Florida Statutes, is amended to
    6  read:
    7         393.0661 Home and community-based services delivery system;
    8  comprehensive redesign.—The Legislature finds that the home and
    9  community-based services delivery system for persons with
   10  developmental disabilities and the availability of appropriated
   11  funds are two of the critical elements in making services
   12  available. Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature that
   13  the Agency for Persons with Disabilities shall develop and
   14  implement a comprehensive redesign of the system.
   15         (1) The redesign of the home and community-based services
   16  system shall include, at a minimum, all actions necessary to
   17  achieve an appropriate rate structure, client choice within a
   18  specified service package, appropriate assessment strategies, an
   19  efficient billing process that contains reconciliation and
   20  monitoring components, and a redefined role for support
   21  coordinators that avoids potential conflicts of interest and
   22  ensures that family/client budgets are linked to levels of need.
   23         (a) The agency shall use an assessment instrument that the
   24  agency deems to be reliable and valid, including, but not
   25  limited to, the Department of Children and Family Services’
   26  Individual Cost Guidelines or the agency’s Questionnaire for
   27  Situational Information. The agency may contract with an
   28  external vendor or may use support coordinators to complete
   29  client assessments if it develops sufficient safeguards and
   30  training to ensure ongoing inter-rater reliability.
   31         (b) The agency, with the concurrence of the Agency for
   32  Health Care Administration, may contract for the determination
   33  of medical necessity and establishment of individual budgets.
   34         (2) A provider of services rendered to persons with
   35  developmental disabilities pursuant to a federally approved
   36  waiver shall be reimbursed according to a rate methodology based
   37  upon an analysis of the expenditure history and prospective
   38  costs of providers participating in the waiver program, or under
   39  any other methodology developed by the Agency for Health Care
   40  Administration, in consultation with the Agency for Persons with
   41  Disabilities, and approved by the Federal Government in
   42  accordance with the waiver.
   43         (3) The Agency for Health Care Administration, in
   44  consultation with the agency, shall seek federal approval and
   45  implement a four-tiered waiver system to serve eligible clients
   46  through the developmental disabilities and family and supported
   47  living waivers. For the purpose of this waiver program, eligible
   48  clients shall include individuals with a diagnosis of Down
   49  syndrome or a developmental disability as defined in s. 393.063.
   50  The agency shall assign all clients receiving services through
   51  the developmental disabilities waiver to a tier based on the
   52  Department of Children and Family Services’ Individual Cost
   53  Guidelines, the agency’s Questionnaire for Situational
   54  Information, or another such assessment instrument deemed to be
   55  valid and reliable by the agency; client characteristics,
   56  including, but not limited to, age; and other appropriate
   57  assessment methods.
   58         (a) Tier one is limited to clients who have service needs
   59  that cannot be met in tier two, three, or four for intensive
   60  medical or adaptive needs and that are essential for avoiding
   61  institutionalization, or who possess behavioral problems that
   62  are exceptional in intensity, duration, or frequency and present
   63  a substantial risk of harm to themselves or others. Total annual
   64  expenditures under tier one may not exceed $150,000 per client
   65  each year, provided that expenditures for clients in tier one
   66  with a documented medical necessity requiring intensive
   67  behavioral residential habilitation services, intensive
   68  behavioral residential habilitation services with medical needs,
   69  or special medical home care, as provided in the Developmental
   70  Disabilities Waiver Services Coverage and Limitations Handbook,
   71  are not subject to the $150,000 limit on annual expenditures.
   72         (b) Tier two is limited to clients whose service needs
   73  include a licensed residential facility and who are authorized
   74  to receive a moderate level of support for standard residential
   75  habilitation services or a minimal level of support for behavior
   76  focus residential habilitation services, or clients in supported
   77  living who receive more than 6 hours a day of in-home support
   78  services. Total annual expenditures under tier two may not
   79  exceed $53,625 per client each year.
   80         (c) Tier three includes, but is not limited to, clients
   81  requiring residential placements, clients in independent or
   82  supported living situations, and clients who live in their
   83  family home. Total annual expenditures under tier three may not
   84  exceed $34,125 per client each year.
   85         (d) Tier four includes individuals who were enrolled in the
   86  family and supported living waiver on July 1, 2007, who shall be
   87  assigned to this tier without the assessments required by this
   88  section. Tier four also includes, but is not limited to, clients
   89  in independent or supported living situations and clients who
   90  live in their family home. Total annual expenditures under tier
   91  four may not exceed $14,422 per client each year.
   92         (e) The Agency for Health Care Administration shall also
   93  seek federal approval to provide a consumer-directed option for
   94  persons with developmental disabilities which corresponds to the
   95  funding levels in each of the waiver tiers. The agency shall
   96  implement the four-tiered waiver system beginning with tiers
   97  one, three, and four and followed by tier two. The agency and
   98  the Agency for Health Care Administration may adopt rules
   99  necessary to administer this subsection.
  100         (f) The agency shall seek federal waivers and amend
  101  contracts as necessary to make changes to services defined in
  102  federal waiver programs administered by the agency as follows:
  103         1. Supported living coaching services may not exceed 20
  104  hours per month for persons who also receive in-home support
  105  services.
  106         2. Limited support coordination services is the only type
  107  of support coordination service that may be provided to persons
  108  under the age of 18 who live in the family home.
  109         3. Personal care assistance services are limited to 180
  110  hours per calendar month and may not include rate modifiers.
  111  Additional hours may be authorized for persons who have
  112  intensive physical, medical, or adaptive needs if such hours are
  113  essential for avoiding institutionalization.
  114         4. Residential habilitation services are limited to 8 hours
  115  per day. Additional hours may be authorized for persons who have
  116  intensive medical or adaptive needs and if such hours are
  117  essential for avoiding institutionalization, or for persons who
  118  possess behavioral problems that are exceptional in intensity,
  119  duration, or frequency and present a substantial risk of harming
  120  themselves or others. This restriction shall be in effect until
  121  the four-tiered waiver system is fully implemented.
  122         5. Chore services, nonresidential support services, and
  123  homemaker services are eliminated. The agency shall expand the
  124  definition of in-home support services to allow the service
  125  provider to include activities previously provided in these
  126  eliminated services.
  127         6. Massage therapy, medication review, and psychological
  128  assessment services are eliminated.
  129         7. The agency shall conduct supplemental cost plan reviews
  130  to verify the medical necessity of authorized services for plans
  131  that have increased by more than 8 percent during either of the
  132  2 preceding fiscal years.
  133         8. The agency shall implement a consolidated residential
  134  habilitation rate structure to increase savings to the state
  135  through a more cost-effective payment method and establish
  136  uniform rates for intensive behavioral residential habilitation
  137  services.
  138         9. Pending federal approval, the agency may extend current
  139  support plans for clients receiving services under Medicaid
  140  waivers for 1 year beginning July 1, 2007, or from the date
  141  approved, whichever is later. Clients who have a substantial
  142  change in circumstances which threatens their health and safety
  143  may be reassessed during this year in order to determine the
  144  necessity for a change in their support plan.
  145         10. The agency shall develop a plan to eliminate
  146  redundancies and duplications between in-home support services,
  147  companion services, personal care services, and supported living
  148  coaching by limiting or consolidating such services.
  149         11. The agency shall develop a plan to reduce the intensity
  150  and frequency of supported employment services to clients in
  151  stable employment situations who have a documented history of at
  152  least 3 years’ employment with the same company or in the same
  153  industry.
  154         (4) The geographic differential for Miami-Dade, Broward,
  155  and Palm Beach Counties for residential habilitation services
  156  shall be 7.5 percent.
  157         (5) The geographic differential for Monroe County for
  158  residential habilitation services shall be 20 percent.
  159         (6) Effective January 1, 2010, and except as otherwise
  160  provided in this section, a client served by the home and
  161  community-based services waiver or the family and supported
  162  living waiver funded through the agency shall have his or her
  163  cost plan adjusted to reflect the amount of expenditures for the
  164  previous state fiscal year plus 5 percent if such amount is less
  165  than the client’s existing cost plan. The agency shall use
  166  actual paid claims for services provided during the previous
  167  fiscal year that are submitted by October 31 to calculate the
  168  revised cost plan amount. If the client was not served for the
  169  entire previous state fiscal year or there was any single change
  170  in the cost plan amount of more than 5 percent during the
  171  previous state fiscal year, the agency shall set the cost plan
  172  amount at an estimated annualized expenditure amount plus 5
  173  percent. The agency shall estimate the annualized expenditure
  174  amount by calculating the average of monthly expenditures,
  175  beginning in the fourth month after the client enrolled,
  176  interrupted services are resumed, or the cost plan was changed
  177  by more than 5 percent and ending on August 31, 2009, and
  178  multiplying the average by 12. In order to determine whether a
  179  client was not served for the entire year, the agency shall
  180  include any interruption of a waiver-funded service or services
  181  lasting at least 18 days. If at least 3 months of actual
  182  expenditure data are not available to estimate annualized
  183  expenditures, the agency may not rebase a cost plan pursuant to
  184  this subsection. The agency may not rebase the cost plan of any
  185  client who experiences a significant change in recipient
  186  condition or circumstance which results in a change of more than
  187  5 percent to his or her cost plan between July 1 and the date
  188  that a rebased cost plan would take effect pursuant to this
  189  subsection.
  190         (7) The agency shall collect premiums or cost sharing
  191  pursuant to s. 409.906(13)(d).
  192         (8)(7)Nothing in This section or related in any
  193  administrative rule does not shall be construed to prevent or
  194  limit the Agency for Health Care Administration, in consultation
  195  with the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, from adjusting
  196  fees, reimbursement rates, lengths of stay, number of visits, or
  197  number of services, or from limiting enrollment, or making any
  198  other adjustment necessary to comply with the availability of
  199  moneys and any limitations or directions provided for in the
  200  General Appropriations Act.
  201         (9)(8) The Agency for Persons with Disabilities shall
  202  submit quarterly status reports to the Executive Office of the
  203  Governor, the chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee or
  204  its successor, and the chair of the House Fiscal Council or its
  205  successor regarding the financial status of home and community
  206  based services, including the number of enrolled individuals who
  207  are receiving services through one or more programs; the number
  208  of individuals who have requested services who are not enrolled
  209  but who are receiving services through one or more programs,
  210  with a description indicating the programs from which the
  211  individual is receiving services; the number of individuals who
  212  have refused an offer of services but who choose to remain on
  213  the list of individuals waiting for services; the number of
  214  individuals who have requested services but who are receiving no
  215  services; a frequency distribution indicating the length of time
  216  individuals have been waiting for services; and information
  217  concerning the actual and projected costs compared to the amount
  218  of the appropriation available to the program and any projected
  219  surpluses or deficits. If at any time an analysis by the agency,
  220  in consultation with the Agency for Health Care Administration,
  221  indicates that the cost of services is expected to exceed the
  222  amount appropriated, the agency shall submit a plan in
  223  accordance with subsection (8) (7) to the Executive Office of
  224  the Governor, the chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee
  225  or its successor, and the chair of the House Fiscal Council or
  226  its successor to remain within the amount appropriated. The
  227  agency shall work with the Agency for Health Care Administration
  228  to implement the plan so as to remain within the appropriation.
  229         (10) Implementation of Medicaid waiver programs and
  230  services authorized under this chapter is limited by the funds
  231  appropriated for the individual budgets pursuant to s. 393.0662
  232  and the four-tiered waiver system pursuant to subsection (3).
  233  Contracts with independent support coordinators and service
  234  providers must include provisions requiring compliance with
  235  agency cost containment initiatives. The agency shall implement
  236  monitoring and accounting procedures necessary to track actual
  237  expenditures and project future spending compared to available
  238  appropriations for Medicaid waiver programs. When necessary
  239  based on projected deficits, the agency must establish specific
  240  corrective action plans that incorporate corrective actions of
  241  contracted providers that are sufficient to align program
  242  expenditures with annual appropriations. If deficits continue
  243  during the 2012-2013 fiscal year, the agency in conjunction with
  244  the Agency for Health Care Administration shall develop a plan
  245  to redesign the waiver program and submit the plan to the
  246  President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
  247  Representatives by September 30, 2013. At a minimum, the plan
  248  must include the following elements:
  249         (a) Budget predictability.—Agency budget recommendations
  250  must include specific steps to restrict spending to budgeted
  251  amounts based on alternatives to the iBudget and four-tiered
  252  Medicaid waiver models.
  253         (b) Services.—The agency shall identify core services that
  254  are essential to provide for client health and safety and
  255  recommend elimination of coverage for other services that are
  256  not affordable based on available resources.
  257         (c) Flexibility.—The redesign shall be responsive to
  258  individual needs and to the extent possible encourage client
  259  control over allocated resources for their needs.
  260         (d) Support coordination services.–The plan shall modify
  261  the manner of providing support coordination services to improve
  262  management of service utilization and increase accountability
  263  and responsiveness to agency priorities.
  264         (e) Reporting.—The agency shall provide monthly reports to
  265  the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
  266  Representatives on plan progress and development on July 31,
  267  2013, and August 31, 2013.
  268         (f) Implementation.—The implementation of a redesigned
  269  program is subject to legislative approval and shall occur no
  270  later than July 1, 2014. The Agency for Health Care
  271  Administration shall seek federal waivers as needed to implement
  272  the redesigned plan approved by the Legislature.
  273         Section 2. Subsections (13) through (40) of section
  274  393.063, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (14)
  275  through (41), respectively, and a new subsection (13) is added
  276  to that section to read:
  277         393.063 Definitions.—For the purposes of this chapter, the
  278  term:
  279         (13) “Down syndrome” means a disorder caused by the
  280  presence of an extra chromosome 21.
  281         Section 3. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section
  282  408.040, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as paragraph (d), and
  283  paragraph (b) and present paragraph (d) of that subsection are
  284  amended to read:
  285         408.040 Conditions and monitoring.—
  286         (1)
  287         (b) The agency may consider, in addition to the other
  288  criteria specified in s. 408.035, a statement of intent by the
  289  applicant that a specified percentage of the annual patient days
  290  at the facility will be utilized by patients eligible for care
  291  under Title XIX of the Social Security Act. Any certificate of
  292  need issued to a nursing home in reliance upon an applicant’s
  293  statements that a specified percentage of annual patient days
  294  will be utilized by residents eligible for care under Title XIX
  295  of the Social Security Act must include a statement that such
  296  certification is a condition of issuance of the certificate of
  297  need. The certificate-of-need program shall notify the Medicaid
  298  program office and the Department of Elderly Affairs when it
  299  imposes conditions as authorized in this paragraph in an area in
  300  which a community diversion pilot project is implemented.
  301  Effective July 1, 2012, the agency may not impose sanctions
  302  related to patient day utilization by patients eligible for care
  303  under Title XIX of the Social Security Act for nursing homes.
  304         (d) If a nursing home is located in a county in which a
  305  long-term care community diversion pilot project has been
  306  implemented under s. 430.705 or in a county in which an
  307  integrated, fixed-payment delivery program for Medicaid
  308  recipients who are 60 years of age or older or dually eligible
  309  for Medicare and Medicaid has been implemented under s.
  310  409.912(5), the nursing home may request a reduction in the
  311  percentage of annual patient days used by residents who are
  312  eligible for care under Title XIX of the Social Security Act,
  313  which is a condition of the nursing home’s certificate of need.
  314  The agency shall automatically grant the nursing home’s request
  315  if the reduction is not more than 15 percent of the nursing
  316  home’s annual Medicaid-patient-days condition. A nursing home
  317  may submit only one request every 2 years for an automatic
  318  reduction. A requesting nursing home must notify the agency in
  319  writing at least 60 days in advance of its intent to reduce its
  320  annual Medicaid-patient-days condition by not more than 15
  321  percent. The agency must acknowledge the request in writing and
  322  must change its records to reflect the revised certificate-of
  323  need condition. This paragraph expires June 30, 2011.
  324         Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 408.0435, Florida
  325  Statutes, is amended to read:
  326         408.0435 Moratorium on nursing home certificates of need.—
  327         (1) Notwithstanding the establishment of need as provided
  328  for in this chapter, a certificate of need for additional
  329  community nursing home beds may not be approved by the agency
  330  until Medicaid managed care is implemented statewide pursuant to
  331  ss. 409.961-409.985 or October 1, 2016, whichever is earlier
  332  July 1, 2011.
  333         Section 5. Sections 409.016 through 409.803, Florida
  334  Statutes, are designated as part I of chapter 409, Florida
  335  Statutes, and entitled “SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE.”
  336         Section 6. Sections 409.810 through 409.821, Florida
  337  Statutes, are designated as part II of chapter 409, Florida
  338  Statutes, and entitled “KIDCARE.”
  339         Section 7. Sections 409.901 through 409.9205, Florida
  340  Statutes, are designated as part III of chapter 409, Florida
  341  Statutes, and entitled “MEDICAID.”
  342         Section 8. Section 409.9021, Florida Statutes, is amended
  343  to read:
  344         409.9021 Forfeiture of eligibility agreement.—As a
  345  condition of Medicaid eligibility, subject to federal approval,
  346  a Medicaid applicant shall agree in writing to forfeit all
  347  entitlements to any goods or services provided through the
  348  Medicaid program for the next 10 years if he or she has been
  349  found to have committed Medicaid fraud, through judicial or
  350  administrative determination, two times in a period of 5 years.
  351  This provision applies only to the Medicaid recipient found to
  352  have committed or participated in Medicaid the fraud and does
  353  not apply to any family member of the recipient who was not
  354  involved in the fraud.
  355         Section 9. Subsections (2) and (4) and paragraph (c) of
  356  subsection (5) of section 409.905, Florida Statutes, are
  357  amended, and paragraph (g) is added to subsection (5), to read:
  358         409.905 Mandatory Medicaid services.—The agency may make
  359  payments for the following services, which are required of the
  360  state by Title XIX of the Social Security Act, furnished by
  361  Medicaid providers to recipients who are determined to be
  362  eligible on the dates on which the services were provided. Any
  363  service under this section shall be provided only when medically
  364  necessary and in accordance with state and federal law.
  365  Mandatory services rendered by providers in mobile units to
  366  Medicaid recipients may be restricted by the agency. Nothing in
  367  this section shall be construed to prevent or limit the agency
  368  from adjusting fees, reimbursement rates, lengths of stay,
  369  number of visits, number of services, or any other adjustments
  370  necessary to comply with the availability of moneys and any
  371  limitations or directions provided for in the General
  372  Appropriations Act or chapter 216.
  373         (2) EARLY AND PERIODIC SCREENING, DIAGNOSIS, AND TREATMENT
  374  SERVICES.—The agency shall pay for early and periodic screening
  375  and diagnosis of a recipient under age 21 to ascertain physical
  376  and mental problems and conditions and provide treatment to
  377  correct or ameliorate these problems and conditions. These
  378  services include all services determined by the agency to be
  379  medically necessary for the treatment, correction, or
  380  amelioration of these problems and conditions, including
  381  personal care, private duty nursing, durable medical equipment,
  382  physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy,
  383  respiratory therapy, and immunizations.
  384         (4) HOME HEALTH CARE SERVICES.—The agency shall pay for
  385  nursing and home health aide services, supplies, appliances, and
  386  durable medical equipment, necessary to assist a recipient
  387  living at home. An entity that provides such services must
  388  pursuant to this subsection shall be licensed under part III of
  389  chapter 400. These services, equipment, and supplies, or
  390  reimbursement therefor, may be limited as provided in the
  391  General Appropriations Act and do not include services,
  392  equipment, or supplies provided to a person residing in a
  393  hospital or nursing facility.
  394         (a) In providing home health care services, The agency
  395  shall may require prior authorization of home health services
  396  care based on diagnosis, utilization rates, and or billing
  397  rates. The agency shall require prior authorization for visits
  398  for home health services that are not associated with a skilled
  399  nursing visit when the home health agency billing rates exceed
  400  the state average by 50 percent or more. The home health agency
  401  must submit the recipient’s plan of care and documentation that
  402  supports the recipient’s diagnosis to the agency when requesting
  403  prior authorization.
  404         (b) The agency shall implement a comprehensive utilization
  405  management program that requires prior authorization of all
  406  private duty nursing services, an individualized treatment plan
  407  that includes information about medication and treatment orders,
  408  treatment goals, methods of care to be used, and plans for care
  409  coordination by nurses and other health professionals. The
  410  utilization management program must shall also include a process
  411  for periodically reviewing the ongoing use of private duty
  412  nursing services. The assessment of need shall be based on a
  413  child’s condition;, family support and care supplements;, a
  414  family’s ability to provide care;, and a family’s and child’s
  415  schedule regarding work, school, sleep, and care for other
  416  family dependents; and a determination of the medical necessity
  417  for private duty nursing instead of other more cost-effective
  418  in-home services. When implemented, the private duty nursing
  419  utilization management program shall replace the current
  420  authorization program used by the agency for Health Care
  421  Administration and the Children’s Medical Services program of
  422  the Department of Health. The agency may competitively bid on a
  423  contract to select a qualified organization to provide
  424  utilization management of private duty nursing services. The
  425  agency may is authorized to seek federal waivers to implement
  426  this initiative.
  427         (c) The agency may not pay for home health services unless
  428  the services are medically necessary and:
  429         1. The services are ordered by a physician.
  430         2. The written prescription for the services is signed and
  431  dated by the recipient’s physician before the development of a
  432  plan of care and before any request requiring prior
  433  authorization.
  434         3. The physician ordering the services is not employed,
  435  under contract with, or otherwise affiliated with the home
  436  health agency rendering the services. However, this subparagraph
  437  does not apply to a home health agency affiliated with a
  438  retirement community, of which the parent corporation or a
  439  related legal entity owns a rural health clinic certified under
  440  42 C.F.R. part 491, subpart A, ss. 1-11, a nursing home licensed
  441  under part II of chapter 400, or an apartment or single-family
  442  home for independent living. For purposes of this subparagraph,
  443  the agency may, on a case-by-case basis, provide an exception
  444  for medically fragile children who are younger than 21 years of
  445  age.
  446         4. The physician ordering the services has examined the
  447  recipient within the 30 days preceding the initial request for
  448  the services and biannually thereafter.
  449         5. The written prescription for the services includes the
  450  recipient’s acute or chronic medical condition or diagnosis, the
  451  home health service required, and, for skilled nursing services,
  452  the frequency and duration of the services.
  453         6. The national provider identifier, Medicaid
  454  identification number, or medical practitioner license number of
  455  the physician ordering the services is listed on the written
  456  prescription for the services, the claim for home health
  457  reimbursement, and the prior authorization request.
  458         (5) HOSPITAL INPATIENT SERVICES.—The agency shall pay for
  459  all covered services provided for the medical care and treatment
  460  of a recipient who is admitted as an inpatient by a licensed
  461  physician or dentist to a hospital licensed under part I of
  462  chapter 395. However, the agency shall limit the payment for
  463  inpatient hospital services for a Medicaid recipient 21 years of
  464  age or older to 45 days or the number of days necessary to
  465  comply with the General Appropriations Act.
  466         (c) The agency shall implement a methodology for
  467  establishing base reimbursement rates for each hospital based on
  468  allowable costs, as defined by the agency. Rates shall be
  469  calculated annually and take effect July 1 of each year based on
  470  the most recent complete and accurate cost report submitted by
  471  each hospital. Adjustments may not be made to the rates after
  472  September 30 of the state fiscal year in which the rate takes
  473  effect. Errors in cost reporting or calculation of rates
  474  discovered after September 30 must be reconciled in a subsequent
  475  rate period. The agency may not make any adjustment to a
  476  hospital’s reimbursement rate more than 5 years after a hospital
  477  is notified of an audited rate established by the agency. The
  478  requirement that the agency may not make any adjustment to a
  479  hospital’s reimbursement rate more than 5 years after a hospital
  480  is notified of an audited rate established by the agency is
  481  remedial and shall apply to actions by providers involving
  482  Medicaid claims for hospital services. Hospital rates shall be
  483  subject to such limits or ceilings as may be established in law
  484  or described in the agency’s hospital reimbursement plan.
  485  Specific exemptions to the limits or ceilings may be provided in
  486  the General Appropriations Act. The agency shall adjust a
  487  hospital’s current inpatient per diem rate to reflect the cost
  488  of serving the Medicaid population at that institution if:
  489         1. The hospital experiences an increase in Medicaid
  490  caseload by more than 25 percent in any year, primarily
  491  resulting from the closure of a hospital in the same service
  492  area occurring after July 1, 1995;
  493         2. The hospital’s Medicaid per diem rate is at least 25
  494  percent below the Medicaid per patient cost for that year; or
  495         3. The hospital is located in a county that has six or
  496  fewer general acute care hospitals, began offering obstetrical
  497  services on or after September 1999, and has submitted a request
  498  in writing to the agency for a rate adjustment after July 1,
  499  2000, but before September 30, 2000, in which case such
  500  hospital’s Medicaid inpatient per diem rate shall be adjusted to
  501  cost, effective July 1, 2002.
  502  
  503  By October 1 of each year, the agency must provide estimated
  504  costs for any adjustment in a hospital inpatient per diem rate
  505  to the Executive Office of the Governor, the House of
  506  Representatives General Appropriations Committee, and the Senate
  507  Appropriations Committee. Before the agency implements a change
  508  in a hospital’s inpatient per diem rate pursuant to this
  509  paragraph, the Legislature must have specifically appropriated
  510  sufficient funds in the General Appropriations Act to support
  511  the increase in cost as estimated by the agency.
  512         (g) The agency shall develop a plan to convert inpatient
  513  hospital rates to a prospective payment system that categorizes
  514  each case into diagnosis-related groups (DRG) and assigns a
  515  payment weight based on the average resources used to treat
  516  Medicaid patients in that DRG. To the extent possible, the
  517  agency shall propose an adaptation of an existing prospective
  518  payment system, such as the one used by Medicare, and shall
  519  propose such adjustments as are necessary for the Medicaid
  520  population and to maintain budget neutrality for inpatient
  521  hospital expenditures. The agency shall submit the Medicaid DRG
  522  plan, identifying all steps necessary for the transition and any
  523  costs associated with plan implementation, to the Governor, the
  524  President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
  525  Representatives no later than January 1, 2013.
  526         Section 10. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (13) of
  527  section 409.906, Florida Statutes, to read:
  528         409.906 Optional Medicaid services.—Subject to specific
  529  appropriations, the agency may make payments for services which
  530  are optional to the state under Title XIX of the Social Security
  531  Act and are furnished by Medicaid providers to recipients who
  532  are determined to be eligible on the dates on which the services
  533  were provided. Any optional service that is provided shall be
  534  provided only when medically necessary and in accordance with
  535  state and federal law. Optional services rendered by providers
  536  in mobile units to Medicaid recipients may be restricted or
  537  prohibited by the agency. Nothing in this section shall be
  538  construed to prevent or limit the agency from adjusting fees,
  539  reimbursement rates, lengths of stay, number of visits, or
  540  number of services, or making any other adjustments necessary to
  541  comply with the availability of moneys and any limitations or
  542  directions provided for in the General Appropriations Act or
  543  chapter 216. If necessary to safeguard the state’s systems of
  544  providing services to elderly and disabled persons and subject
  545  to the notice and review provisions of s. 216.177, the Governor
  546  may direct the Agency for Health Care Administration to amend
  547  the Medicaid state plan to delete the optional Medicaid service
  548  known as “Intermediate Care Facilities for the Developmentally
  549  Disabled.” Optional services may include:
  550         (13) HOME AND COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES.—
  551         (d) The agency shall request federal approval to develop a
  552  system to require payment of premiums or other cost sharing by
  553  the parents of a child who is being served by a waiver under
  554  this subsection if the adjusted household income is greater than
  555  100 percent of the federal poverty level. The amount of the
  556  premium or cost sharing shall be calculated using a sliding
  557  scale based on the size of the family, the amount of the
  558  parent’s adjusted gross income, and the federal poverty
  559  guidelines. The premium and cost sharing system developed by the
  560  agency shall not adversely affect federal funding to the state.
  561  After the agency receives federal approval, the Department of
  562  Children and Family Services may collect income information from
  563  parents of children who will be affected by this paragraph. The
  564  agency shall prepare a report to include the estimated
  565  operational cost of implementing the premium and cost sharing
  566  system and the estimated revenues to be collected from parents
  567  of children in the waiver program. The report shall be delivered
  568  to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
  569  Representatives by June 30, 2012.
  570         Section 11. Paragraphs (d) and (e) of subsection (5) of
  571  section 409.907, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  572         409.907 Medicaid provider agreements.—The agency may make
  573  payments for medical assistance and related services rendered to
  574  Medicaid recipients only to an individual or entity who has a
  575  provider agreement in effect with the agency, who is performing
  576  services or supplying goods in accordance with federal, state,
  577  and local law, and who agrees that no person shall, on the
  578  grounds of handicap, race, color, or national origin, or for any
  579  other reason, be subjected to discrimination under any program
  580  or activity for which the provider receives payment from the
  581  agency.
  582         (5) The agency:
  583         (d) May enroll entities as Medicare crossover-only
  584  providers for payment and claims processing purposes only. The
  585  provider agreement shall:
  586         1. Require that the provider be able to demonstrate to the
  587  satisfaction of the agency that the provider is an eligible
  588  Medicare provider and has a current provider agreement in place
  589  with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
  590         2. Require the provider to notify the agency immediately in
  591  writing upon being suspended or disenrolled as a Medicare
  592  provider. If the provider does not provide such notification
  593  within 5 business days after suspension or disenrollment,
  594  sanctions may be imposed pursuant to this chapter and the
  595  provider may be required to return funds paid to the provider
  596  during the period of time that the provider was suspended or
  597  disenrolled as a Medicare provider.
  598         3. Require the applicant to submit an attestation, as
  599  approved by the agency, that the provider meets the requirements
  600  of Florida Medicaid provider enrollment criteria.
  601         4. Require the applicant to submit fingerprints as required
  602  by the agency.
  603         5.3. Require that all records pertaining to health care
  604  services provided to each of the provider’s recipients be kept
  605  for a minimum of 6 years. The agreement shall also require that
  606  records and any information relating to payments claimed by the
  607  provider for services under the agreement be delivered to the
  608  agency or the Office of the Attorney General Medicaid Fraud
  609  Control Unit when requested. If a provider does not provide such
  610  records and information when requested, sanctions may be imposed
  611  pursuant to this chapter.
  612         6.4. Disclose that the agreement is for the purposes of
  613  paying and processing Medicare crossover claims only.
  614  
  615  This paragraph pertains solely to Medicare crossover-only
  616  providers. In order to become a standard Medicaid provider, the
  617  requirements of this section and applicable rules must be met.
  618  This paragraph does not create an entitlement or obligation of
  619  the agency to enroll all Medicare providers that may be
  620  considered a Medicare crossover-only provider in the Medicaid
  621  program.
  622         (e) Providers that are required to post a surety bond as
  623  part of the Medicaid enrollment process are excluded for
  624  enrollment under paragraph (d) and must complete a full Medicaid
  625  application. The agency may establish additional criteria to
  626  promote program integrity.
  627         Section 12. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section
  628  409.908, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  629         409.908 Reimbursement of Medicaid providers.—Subject to
  630  specific appropriations, the agency shall reimburse Medicaid
  631  providers, in accordance with state and federal law, according
  632  to methodologies set forth in the rules of the agency and in
  633  policy manuals and handbooks incorporated by reference therein.
  634  These methodologies may include fee schedules, reimbursement
  635  methods based on cost reporting, negotiated fees, competitive
  636  bidding pursuant to s. 287.057, and other mechanisms the agency
  637  considers efficient and effective for purchasing services or
  638  goods on behalf of recipients. If a provider is reimbursed based
  639  on cost reporting and submits a cost report late and that cost
  640  report would have been used to set a lower reimbursement rate
  641  for a rate semester, then the provider’s rate for that semester
  642  shall be retroactively calculated using the new cost report, and
  643  full payment at the recalculated rate shall be effected
  644  retroactively. Medicare-granted extensions for filing cost
  645  reports, if applicable, shall also apply to Medicaid cost
  646  reports. Payment for Medicaid compensable services made on
  647  behalf of Medicaid eligible persons is subject to the
  648  availability of moneys and any limitations or directions
  649  provided for in the General Appropriations Act or chapter 216.
  650  Further, nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent
  651  or limit the agency from adjusting fees, reimbursement rates,
  652  lengths of stay, number of visits, or number of services, or
  653  making any other adjustments necessary to comply with the
  654  availability of moneys and any limitations or directions
  655  provided for in the General Appropriations Act, provided the
  656  adjustment is consistent with legislative intent.
  657         (2)
  658         (b) Subject to any limitations or directions provided for
  659  in the General Appropriations Act, the agency shall establish
  660  and implement a Florida Title XIX Long-Term Care Reimbursement
  661  Plan (Medicaid) for nursing home care in order to provide care
  662  and services in conformance with the applicable state and
  663  federal laws, rules, regulations, and quality and safety
  664  standards and to ensure that individuals eligible for medical
  665  assistance have reasonable geographic access to such care.
  666         1. The agency shall amend the long-term care reimbursement
  667  plan and cost reporting system to create direct care and
  668  indirect care subcomponents of the patient care component of the
  669  per diem rate. These two subcomponents together shall equal the
  670  patient care component of the per diem rate. Separate cost-based
  671  ceilings shall be calculated for each patient care subcomponent.
  672  The direct care subcomponent of the per diem rate shall be
  673  limited by the cost-based class ceiling, and the indirect care
  674  subcomponent may be limited by the lower of the cost-based class
  675  ceiling, the target rate class ceiling, or the individual
  676  provider target.
  677         2. The direct care subcomponent shall include salaries and
  678  benefits of direct care staff providing nursing services
  679  including registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and
  680  certified nursing assistants who deliver care directly to
  681  residents in the nursing home facility. This excludes nursing
  682  administration, minimum data set, and care plan coordinators,
  683  staff development, and the staffing coordinator. The direct care
  684  subcomponent also includes medically necessary dental care,
  685  vision care, hearing care, and podiatric care.
  686         3. All other patient care costs shall be included in the
  687  indirect care cost subcomponent of the patient care per diem
  688  rate. There shall be no costs directly or indirectly allocated
  689  to the direct care subcomponent from a home office or management
  690  company.
  691         4. On July 1 of each year, the agency shall report to the
  692  Legislature direct and indirect care costs, including average
  693  direct and indirect care costs per resident per facility and
  694  direct care and indirect care salaries and benefits per category
  695  of staff member per facility.
  696         5. In order to offset the cost of general and professional
  697  liability insurance, the agency shall amend the plan to allow
  698  for interim rate adjustments to reflect increases in the cost of
  699  general or professional liability insurance for nursing homes.
  700  This provision shall be implemented to the extent existing
  701  appropriations are available.
  702  
  703  It is the intent of the Legislature that the reimbursement plan
  704  achieve the goal of providing access to health care for nursing
  705  home residents who require large amounts of care while
  706  encouraging diversion services as an alternative to nursing home
  707  care for residents who can be served within the community. The
  708  agency shall base the establishment of any maximum rate of
  709  payment, whether overall or component, on the available moneys
  710  as provided for in the General Appropriations Act. The agency
  711  may base the maximum rate of payment on the results of
  712  scientifically valid analysis and conclusions derived from
  713  objective statistical data pertinent to the particular maximum
  714  rate of payment.
  715         Section 13. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section
  716  409.9081, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  717         409.9081 Copayments.—
  718         (1) The agency shall require, subject to federal
  719  regulations and limitations, each Medicaid recipient to pay at
  720  the time of service a nominal copayment for the following
  721  Medicaid services:
  722         (c) Hospital emergency department visits for nonemergency
  723  care: 5 percent of up to the first $300 of the Medicaid payment
  724  for emergency room services, not to exceed $15. The agency shall
  725  seek federal approval to require Medicaid recipients to pay $100
  726  copayment for nonemergency services and care furnished in a
  727  hospital emergency department. Upon waiver approval, a Medicaid
  728  recipient who requests such services and care must pay a $100
  729  copayment to the hospital for the nonemergency services and care
  730  provided in the hospital emergency department.
  731         Section 14. Subsection (10) of section 409.911, Florida
  732  Statutes, is amended to read:
  733         409.911 Disproportionate share program.—Subject to specific
  734  allocations established within the General Appropriations Act
  735  and any limitations established pursuant to chapter 216, the
  736  agency shall distribute, pursuant to this section, moneys to
  737  hospitals providing a disproportionate share of Medicaid or
  738  charity care services by making quarterly Medicaid payments as
  739  required. Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 409.915, counties
  740  are exempt from contributing toward the cost of this special
  741  reimbursement for hospitals serving a disproportionate share of
  742  low-income patients.
  743         (10) The Agency for Health Care Administration shall create
  744  a Medicaid Low-Income Pool Council by July 1, 2006. The Low
  745  Income Pool Council shall consist of 24 members, including 2
  746  members appointed by the President of the Senate, 2 members
  747  appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 3
  748  representatives of statutory teaching hospitals, 3
  749  representatives of public hospitals, 3 representatives of
  750  nonprofit hospitals, 3 representatives of for-profit hospitals,
  751  2 representatives of rural hospitals, 2 representatives of units
  752  of local government which contribute funding, 1 representative
  753  of family practice teaching hospitals, 1 representative of
  754  federally qualified health centers, 1 representative from the
  755  Department of Health, and 1 nonvoting representative of the
  756  Agency for Health Care Administration who shall serve as chair
  757  of the council. Except for a full-time employee of a public
  758  entity, an individual who qualifies as a lobbyist under s.
  759  11.045 or s. 112.3215 may not serve as a member of the council.
  760  Of the members appointed by the Senate President, only one shall
  761  be a physician. Of the members appointed by the Speaker of the
  762  House of Representatives, only one shall be a physician. The
  763  physician member appointed by the Senate President and the
  764  physician member appointed by the Speaker of the House of
  765  Representatives must be physicians who routinely take calls in a
  766  trauma center, as defined in s. 395.4001, or a hospital
  767  emergency department. The council shall:
  768         (a) Make recommendations on the financing of the low-income
  769  pool and the disproportionate share hospital program and the
  770  distribution of their funds.
  771         (b) Advise the Agency for Health Care Administration on the
  772  development of the low-income pool plan required by the federal
  773  Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services pursuant to the
  774  Medicaid reform waiver.
  775         (c) Advise the Agency for Health Care Administration on the
  776  distribution of hospital funds used to adjust inpatient hospital
  777  rates, rebase rates, or otherwise exempt hospitals from
  778  reimbursement limits as financed by intergovernmental transfers.
  779         (d) Submit its findings and recommendations to the Governor
  780  and the Legislature no later than February 1 of each year.
  781  
  782  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
  783         Section 15. Subsection (4) of section 409.91195, Florida
  784  Statutes, is amended to read:
  785         409.91195 Medicaid Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics
  786  Committee.—There is created a Medicaid Pharmaceutical and
  787  Therapeutics Committee within the agency for the purpose of
  788  developing a Medicaid preferred drug list.
  789         (4) Upon recommendation of the committee, the agency shall
  790  adopt a preferred drug list as described in s. 409.912(37)(39).
  791  To the extent feasible, the committee shall review all drug
  792  classes included on the preferred drug list every 12 months, and
  793  may recommend additions to and deletions from the preferred drug
  794  list, such that the preferred drug list provides for medically
  795  appropriate drug therapies for Medicaid patients which achieve
  796  cost savings contained in the General Appropriations Act.
  797         Section 16. Subsection (1) of section 409.91196, Florida
  798  Statutes, is amended to read:
  799         409.91196 Supplemental rebate agreements; public records
  800  and public meetings exemption.—
  801         (1) The rebate amount, percent of rebate, manufacturer’s
  802  pricing, and supplemental rebate, and other trade secrets as
  803  defined in s. 688.002 that the agency has identified for use in
  804  negotiations, held by the Agency for Health Care Administration
  805  under s. 409.912(37)(39)(a)7. are confidential and exempt from
  806  s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution.
  807         Section 17. Section 409.912, Florida Statutes, is amended
  808  to read:
  809         409.912 Cost-effective purchasing of health care.—The
  810  agency shall purchase goods and services for Medicaid recipients
  811  in the most cost-effective manner consistent with the delivery
  812  of quality medical care. To ensure that medical services are
  813  effectively utilized, the agency may, in any case, require a
  814  confirmation or second physician’s opinion of the correct
  815  diagnosis for purposes of authorizing future services under the
  816  Medicaid program. This section does not restrict access to
  817  emergency services or poststabilization care services as defined
  818  in 42 C.F.R. part 438.114. Such confirmation or second opinion
  819  shall be rendered in a manner approved by the agency. The agency
  820  shall maximize the use of prepaid per capita and prepaid
  821  aggregate fixed-sum basis services when appropriate and other
  822  alternative service delivery and reimbursement methodologies,
  823  including competitive bidding pursuant to s. 287.057, designed
  824  to facilitate the cost-effective purchase of a case-managed
  825  continuum of care. The agency shall also require providers to
  826  minimize the exposure of recipients to the need for acute
  827  inpatient, custodial, and other institutional care and the
  828  inappropriate or unnecessary use of high-cost services. The
  829  agency shall contract with a vendor to monitor and evaluate the
  830  clinical practice patterns of providers in order to identify
  831  trends that are outside the normal practice patterns of a
  832  provider’s professional peers or the national guidelines of a
  833  provider’s professional association. The vendor must be able to
  834  provide information and counseling to a provider whose practice
  835  patterns are outside the norms, in consultation with the agency,
  836  to improve patient care and reduce inappropriate utilization.
  837  The agency may mandate prior authorization, drug therapy
  838  management, or disease management participation for certain
  839  populations of Medicaid beneficiaries, certain drug classes, or
  840  particular drugs to prevent fraud, abuse, overuse, and possible
  841  dangerous drug interactions. The Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics
  842  Committee shall make recommendations to the agency on drugs for
  843  which prior authorization is required. The agency shall inform
  844  the Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committee of its decisions
  845  regarding drugs subject to prior authorization. The agency is
  846  authorized to limit the entities it contracts with or enrolls as
  847  Medicaid providers by developing a provider network through
  848  provider credentialing. The agency may competitively bid single
  849  source-provider contracts if procurement of goods or services
  850  results in demonstrated cost savings to the state without
  851  limiting access to care. The agency may limit its network based
  852  on the assessment of beneficiary access to care, provider
  853  availability, provider quality standards, time and distance
  854  standards for access to care, the cultural competence of the
  855  provider network, demographic characteristics of Medicaid
  856  beneficiaries, practice and provider-to-beneficiary standards,
  857  appointment wait times, beneficiary use of services, provider
  858  turnover, provider profiling, provider licensure history,
  859  previous program integrity investigations and findings, peer
  860  review, provider Medicaid policy and billing compliance records,
  861  clinical and medical record audits, and other factors. Providers
  862  are shall not be entitled to enrollment in the Medicaid provider
  863  network. The agency shall determine instances in which allowing
  864  Medicaid beneficiaries to purchase durable medical equipment and
  865  other goods is less expensive to the Medicaid program than long
  866  term rental of the equipment or goods. The agency may establish
  867  rules to facilitate purchases in lieu of long-term rentals in
  868  order to protect against fraud and abuse in the Medicaid program
  869  as defined in s. 409.913. The agency may seek federal waivers
  870  necessary to administer these policies.
  871         (1) The agency shall work with the Department of Children
  872  and Family Services to ensure access of children and families in
  873  the child protection system to needed and appropriate mental
  874  health and substance abuse services. This subsection expires
  875  October 1, 2014.
  876         (2) The agency may enter into agreements with appropriate
  877  agents of other state agencies or of any agency of the Federal
  878  Government and accept such duties in respect to social welfare
  879  or public aid as may be necessary to implement the provisions of
  880  Title XIX of the Social Security Act and ss. 409.901-409.920.
  881  This subsection expires October 1, 2016.
  882         (3) The agency may contract with health maintenance
  883  organizations certified pursuant to part I of chapter 641 for
  884  the provision of services to recipients. This subsection expires
  885  October 1, 2014.
  886         (4) The agency may contract with:
  887         (a) An entity that provides no prepaid health care services
  888  other than Medicaid services under contract with the agency and
  889  which is owned and operated by a county, county health
  890  department, or county-owned and operated hospital to provide
  891  health care services on a prepaid or fixed-sum basis to
  892  recipients, which entity may provide such prepaid services
  893  either directly or through arrangements with other providers.
  894  Such prepaid health care services entities must be licensed
  895  under parts I and III of chapter 641. An entity recognized under
  896  this paragraph which demonstrates to the satisfaction of the
  897  Office of Insurance Regulation of the Financial Services
  898  Commission that it is backed by the full faith and credit of the
  899  county in which it is located may be exempted from s. 641.225.
  900  This paragraph expires October 1, 2014.
  901         (b) An entity that is providing comprehensive behavioral
  902  health care services to certain Medicaid recipients through a
  903  capitated, prepaid arrangement pursuant to the federal waiver
  904  provided for by s. 409.905(5). Such entity must be licensed
  905  under chapter 624, chapter 636, or chapter 641, or authorized
  906  under paragraph (c) or paragraph (d), and must possess the
  907  clinical systems and operational competence to manage risk and
  908  provide comprehensive behavioral health care to Medicaid
  909  recipients. As used in this paragraph, the term “comprehensive
  910  behavioral health care services” means covered mental health and
  911  substance abuse treatment services that are available to
  912  Medicaid recipients. The secretary of the Department of Children
  913  and Family Services shall approve provisions of procurements
  914  related to children in the department’s care or custody before
  915  enrolling such children in a prepaid behavioral health plan. Any
  916  contract awarded under this paragraph must be competitively
  917  procured. In developing the behavioral health care prepaid plan
  918  procurement document, the agency shall ensure that the
  919  procurement document requires the contractor to develop and
  920  implement a plan to ensure compliance with s. 394.4574 related
  921  to services provided to residents of licensed assisted living
  922  facilities that hold a limited mental health license. Except as
  923  provided in subparagraph 5. 8., and except in counties where the
  924  Medicaid managed care pilot program is authorized pursuant to s.
  925  409.91211, the agency shall seek federal approval to contract
  926  with a single entity meeting these requirements to provide
  927  comprehensive behavioral health care services to all Medicaid
  928  recipients not enrolled in a Medicaid managed care plan
  929  authorized under s. 409.91211, a provider service network
  930  authorized under paragraph (d), or a Medicaid health maintenance
  931  organization in an AHCA area. In an AHCA area where the Medicaid
  932  managed care pilot program is authorized pursuant to s.
  933  409.91211 in one or more counties, the agency may procure a
  934  contract with a single entity to serve the remaining counties as
  935  an AHCA area or the remaining counties may be included with an
  936  adjacent AHCA area and are subject to this paragraph. Each
  937  entity must offer a sufficient choice of providers in its
  938  network to ensure recipient access to care and the opportunity
  939  to select a provider with whom they are satisfied. The network
  940  shall include all public mental health hospitals. To ensure
  941  unimpaired access to behavioral health care services by Medicaid
  942  recipients, all contracts issued pursuant to this paragraph must
  943  require 80 percent of the capitation paid to the managed care
  944  plan, including health maintenance organizations and capitated
  945  provider service networks, to be expended for the provision of
  946  behavioral health care services. If the managed care plan
  947  expends less than 80 percent of the capitation paid for the
  948  provision of behavioral health care services, the difference
  949  shall be returned to the agency. The agency shall provide the
  950  plan with a certification letter indicating the amount of
  951  capitation paid during each calendar year for behavioral health
  952  care services pursuant to this section. The agency may reimburse
  953  for substance abuse treatment services on a fee-for-service
  954  basis until the agency finds that adequate funds are available
  955  for capitated, prepaid arrangements.
  956         1. By January 1, 2001, The agency shall modify the
  957  contracts with the entities providing comprehensive inpatient
  958  and outpatient mental health care services to Medicaid
  959  recipients in Hillsborough, Highlands, Hardee, Manatee, and Polk
  960  Counties, to include substance abuse treatment services.
  961         2. By July 1, 2003, the agency and the Department of
  962  Children and Family Services shall execute a written agreement
  963  that requires collaboration and joint development of all policy,
  964  budgets, procurement documents, contracts, and monitoring plans
  965  that have an impact on the state and Medicaid community mental
  966  health and targeted case management programs.
  967         2.3. Except as provided in subparagraph 5. 8., by July 1,
  968  2006, the agency and the Department of Children and Family
  969  Services shall contract with managed care entities in each AHCA
  970  area except area 6 or arrange to provide comprehensive inpatient
  971  and outpatient mental health and substance abuse services
  972  through capitated prepaid arrangements to all Medicaid
  973  recipients who are eligible to participate in such plans under
  974  federal law and regulation. In AHCA areas where eligible
  975  individuals number less than 150,000, the agency shall contract
  976  with a single managed care plan to provide comprehensive
  977  behavioral health services to all recipients who are not
  978  enrolled in a Medicaid health maintenance organization, a
  979  provider service network authorized under paragraph (d), or a
  980  Medicaid capitated managed care plan authorized under s.
  981  409.91211. The agency may contract with more than one
  982  comprehensive behavioral health provider to provide care to
  983  recipients who are not enrolled in a Medicaid capitated managed
  984  care plan authorized under s. 409.91211, a provider service
  985  network authorized under paragraph (d), or a Medicaid health
  986  maintenance organization in AHCA areas where the eligible
  987  population exceeds 150,000. In an AHCA area where the Medicaid
  988  managed care pilot program is authorized pursuant to s.
  989  409.91211 in one or more counties, the agency may procure a
  990  contract with a single entity to serve the remaining counties as
  991  an AHCA area or the remaining counties may be included with an
  992  adjacent AHCA area and shall be subject to this paragraph.
  993  Contracts for comprehensive behavioral health providers awarded
  994  pursuant to this section shall be competitively procured. Both
  995  for-profit and not-for-profit corporations are eligible to
  996  compete. Managed care plans contracting with the agency under
  997  subsection (3) or paragraph (d), shall provide and receive
  998  payment for the same comprehensive behavioral health benefits as
  999  provided in AHCA rules, including handbooks incorporated by
 1000  reference. In AHCA area 11, the agency shall contract with at
 1001  least two comprehensive behavioral health care providers to
 1002  provide behavioral health care to recipients in that area who
 1003  are enrolled in, or assigned to, the MediPass program. One of
 1004  the behavioral health care contracts must be with the existing
 1005  provider service network pilot project, as described in
 1006  paragraph (d), for the purpose of demonstrating the cost
 1007  effectiveness of the provision of quality mental health services
 1008  through a public hospital-operated managed care model. Payment
 1009  shall be at an agreed-upon capitated rate to ensure cost
 1010  savings. Of the recipients in area 11 who are assigned to
 1011  MediPass under s. 409.9122(2)(k), a minimum of 50,000 of those
 1012  MediPass-enrolled recipients shall be assigned to the existing
 1013  provider service network in area 11 for their behavioral care.
 1014         4. By October 1, 2003, the agency and the department shall
 1015  submit a plan to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and
 1016  the Speaker of the House of Representatives which provides for
 1017  the full implementation of capitated prepaid behavioral health
 1018  care in all areas of the state.
 1019         a. Implementation shall begin in 2003 in those AHCA areas
 1020  of the state where the agency is able to establish sufficient
 1021  capitation rates.
 1022         b. If the agency determines that the proposed capitation
 1023  rate in any area is insufficient to provide appropriate
 1024  services, the agency may adjust the capitation rate to ensure
 1025  that care will be available. The agency and the department may
 1026  use existing general revenue to address any additional required
 1027  match but may not over-obligate existing funds on an annualized
 1028  basis.
 1029         c. Subject to any limitations provided in the General
 1030  Appropriations Act, the agency, in compliance with appropriate
 1031  federal authorization, shall develop policies and procedures
 1032  that allow for certification of local and state funds.
 1033         3.5. Children residing in a statewide inpatient psychiatric
 1034  program, or in a Department of Juvenile Justice or a Department
 1035  of Children and Family Services residential program approved as
 1036  a Medicaid behavioral health overlay services provider may not
 1037  be included in a behavioral health care prepaid health plan or
 1038  any other Medicaid managed care plan pursuant to this paragraph.
 1039         6. In converting to a prepaid system of delivery, the
 1040  agency shall in its procurement document require an entity
 1041  providing only comprehensive behavioral health care services to
 1042  prevent the displacement of indigent care patients by enrollees
 1043  in the Medicaid prepaid health plan providing behavioral health
 1044  care services from facilities receiving state funding to provide
 1045  indigent behavioral health care, to facilities licensed under
 1046  chapter 395 which do not receive state funding for indigent
 1047  behavioral health care, or reimburse the unsubsidized facility
 1048  for the cost of behavioral health care provided to the displaced
 1049  indigent care patient.
 1050         4.7. Traditional community mental health providers under
 1051  contract with the Department of Children and Family Services
 1052  pursuant to part IV of chapter 394, child welfare providers
 1053  under contract with the Department of Children and Family
 1054  Services in areas 1 and 6, and inpatient mental health providers
 1055  licensed pursuant to chapter 395 must be offered an opportunity
 1056  to accept or decline a contract to participate in any provider
 1057  network for prepaid behavioral health services.
 1058         5.8. All Medicaid-eligible children, except children in
 1059  area 1 and children in Highlands County, Hardee County, Polk
 1060  County, or Manatee County of area 6, that are open for child
 1061  welfare services in the statewide automated child welfare
 1062  information HomeSafeNet system, shall receive their behavioral
 1063  health care services through a specialty prepaid plan operated
 1064  by community-based lead agencies through a single agency or
 1065  formal agreements among several agencies. The specialty prepaid
 1066  plan must result in savings to the state comparable to savings
 1067  achieved in other Medicaid managed care and prepaid programs.
 1068  Such plan must provide mechanisms to maximize state and local
 1069  revenues. The specialty prepaid plan shall be developed by the
 1070  agency and the Department of Children and Family Services. The
 1071  agency may seek federal waivers to implement this initiative.
 1072  Medicaid-eligible children whose cases are open for child
 1073  welfare services in the statewide automated child welfare
 1074  information HomeSafeNet system and who reside in AHCA area 10
 1075  shall be enrolled in a capitated provider service network or
 1076  other capitated managed care plan, which, in coordination with
 1077  available community-based care providers specified in s.
 1078  409.1671, shall provide sufficient medical, developmental, and
 1079  behavioral health services to meet the needs of these children
 1080  are exempt from the specialty prepaid plan upon the development
 1081  of a service delivery mechanism for children who reside in area
 1082  10 as specified in s. 409.91211(3)(dd).
 1083  
 1084  This paragraph expires October 1, 2014.
 1085         (c) A federally qualified health center or an entity owned
 1086  by one or more federally qualified health centers or an entity
 1087  owned by other migrant and community health centers receiving
 1088  non-Medicaid financial support from the Federal Government to
 1089  provide health care services on a prepaid or fixed-sum basis to
 1090  recipients. A federally qualified health center or an entity
 1091  that is owned by one or more federally qualified health centers
 1092  and is reimbursed by the agency on a prepaid basis is exempt
 1093  from parts I and III of chapter 641, but must comply with the
 1094  solvency requirements in s. 641.2261(2) and meet the appropriate
 1095  requirements governing financial reserve, quality assurance, and
 1096  patients’ rights established by the agency. This paragraph
 1097  expires October 1, 2014.
 1098         (d)1. A provider service network, which may be reimbursed
 1099  on a fee-for-service or prepaid basis. Prepaid provider service
 1100  networks shall receive per-member, per-month payments. A
 1101  provider service network that does not choose to be a prepaid
 1102  plan shall receive fee-for-service rates with a shared savings
 1103  settlement. The fee-for-service option shall be available to a
 1104  provider service network only for the first 2 years of the
 1105  plan’s operation or until the contract year beginning September
 1106  1, 2014, whichever is later. The agency shall annually conduct
 1107  cost reconciliations to determine the amount of cost savings
 1108  achieved by fee-for-service provider service networks for the
 1109  dates of service in the period being reconciled. Only payments
 1110  for covered services for dates of service within the
 1111  reconciliation period and paid within 6 months after the last
 1112  date of service in the reconciliation period shall be included.
 1113  The agency shall perform the necessary adjustments for the
 1114  inclusion of claims incurred but not reported within the
 1115  reconciliation for claims that could be received and paid by the
 1116  agency after the 6-month claims processing time lag. The agency
 1117  shall provide the results of the reconciliations to the fee-for
 1118  service provider service networks within 45 days after the end
 1119  of the reconciliation period. The fee-for-service provider
 1120  service networks shall review and provide written comments or a
 1121  letter of concurrence to the agency within 45 days after receipt
 1122  of the reconciliation results. This reconciliation shall be
 1123  considered final.
 1124         2. A provider service network which is reimbursed by the
 1125  agency on a prepaid basis shall be exempt from parts I and III
 1126  of chapter 641, but must comply with the solvency requirements
 1127  in s. 641.2261(2) and meet appropriate financial reserve,
 1128  quality assurance, and patient rights requirements as
 1129  established by the agency.
 1130         3. Medicaid recipients assigned to a provider service
 1131  network shall be chosen equally from those who would otherwise
 1132  have been assigned to prepaid plans and MediPass. The agency is
 1133  authorized to seek federal Medicaid waivers as necessary to
 1134  implement the provisions of this section. This subparagraph
 1135  expires October 1, 2014. Any contract previously awarded to a
 1136  provider service network operated by a hospital pursuant to this
 1137  subsection shall remain in effect for a period of 3 years
 1138  following the current contract expiration date, regardless of
 1139  any contractual provisions to the contrary.
 1140         4. A provider service network is a network established or
 1141  organized and operated by a health care provider, or group of
 1142  affiliated health care providers, including minority physician
 1143  networks and emergency room diversion programs that meet the
 1144  requirements of s. 409.91211, which provides a substantial
 1145  proportion of the health care items and services under a
 1146  contract directly through the provider or affiliated group of
 1147  providers and may make arrangements with physicians or other
 1148  health care professionals, health care institutions, or any
 1149  combination of such individuals or institutions to assume all or
 1150  part of the financial risk on a prospective basis for the
 1151  provision of basic health services by the physicians, by other
 1152  health professionals, or through the institutions. The health
 1153  care providers must have a controlling interest in the governing
 1154  body of the provider service network organization.
 1155         (e) An entity that provides only comprehensive behavioral
 1156  health care services to certain Medicaid recipients through an
 1157  administrative services organization agreement. Such an entity
 1158  must possess the clinical systems and operational competence to
 1159  provide comprehensive health care to Medicaid recipients. As
 1160  used in this paragraph, the term “comprehensive behavioral
 1161  health care services” means covered mental health and substance
 1162  abuse treatment services that are available to Medicaid
 1163  recipients. Any contract awarded under this paragraph must be
 1164  competitively procured. The agency must ensure that Medicaid
 1165  recipients have available the choice of at least two managed
 1166  care plans for their behavioral health care services. This
 1167  paragraph expires October 1, 2014.
 1168         (f) An entity that provides in-home physician services to
 1169  test the cost-effectiveness of enhanced home-based medical care
 1170  to Medicaid recipients with degenerative neurological diseases
 1171  and other diseases or disabling conditions associated with high
 1172  costs to Medicaid. The program shall be designed to serve very
 1173  disabled persons and to reduce Medicaid reimbursed costs for
 1174  inpatient, outpatient, and emergency department services. The
 1175  agency shall contract with vendors on a risk-sharing basis.
 1176         (g) Children’s provider networks that provide care
 1177  coordination and care management for Medicaid-eligible pediatric
 1178  patients, primary care, authorization of specialty care, and
 1179  other urgent and emergency care through organized providers
 1180  designed to service Medicaid eligibles under age 18 and
 1181  pediatric emergency departments’ diversion programs. The
 1182  networks shall provide after-hour operations, including evening
 1183  and weekend hours, to promote, when appropriate, the use of the
 1184  children’s networks rather than hospital emergency departments.
 1185         (f)(h) An entity authorized in s. 430.205 to contract with
 1186  the agency and the Department of Elderly Affairs to provide
 1187  health care and social services on a prepaid or fixed-sum basis
 1188  to elderly recipients. Such prepaid health care services
 1189  entities are exempt from the provisions of part I of chapter 641
 1190  for the first 3 years of operation. An entity recognized under
 1191  this paragraph that demonstrates to the satisfaction of the
 1192  Office of Insurance Regulation that it is backed by the full
 1193  faith and credit of one or more counties in which it operates
 1194  may be exempted from s. 641.225. This paragraph expires October
 1195  1, 2013.
 1196         (g)(i) A Children’s Medical Services Network, as defined in
 1197  s. 391.021. This paragraph expires October 1, 2014.
 1198         (5) The Agency for Health Care Administration, in
 1199  partnership with the Department of Elderly Affairs, shall create
 1200  an integrated, fixed-payment delivery program for Medicaid
 1201  recipients who are 60 years of age or older or dually eligible
 1202  for Medicare and Medicaid. The Agency for Health Care
 1203  Administration shall implement the integrated program initially
 1204  on a pilot basis in two areas of the state. The pilot areas
 1205  shall be Area 7 and Area 11 of the Agency for Health Care
 1206  Administration. Enrollment in the pilot areas shall be on a
 1207  voluntary basis and in accordance with approved federal waivers
 1208  and this section. The agency and its program contractors and
 1209  providers shall not enroll any individual in the integrated
 1210  program because the individual or the person legally responsible
 1211  for the individual fails to choose to enroll in the integrated
 1212  program. Enrollment in the integrated program shall be
 1213  exclusively by affirmative choice of the eligible individual or
 1214  by the person legally responsible for the individual. The
 1215  integrated program must transfer all Medicaid services for
 1216  eligible elderly individuals who choose to participate into an
 1217  integrated-care management model designed to serve Medicaid
 1218  recipients in the community. The integrated program must combine
 1219  all funding for Medicaid services provided to individuals who
 1220  are 60 years of age or older or dually eligible for Medicare and
 1221  Medicaid into the integrated program, including funds for
 1222  Medicaid home and community-based waiver services; all Medicaid
 1223  services authorized in ss. 409.905 and 409.906, excluding funds
 1224  for Medicaid nursing home services unless the agency is able to
 1225  demonstrate how the integration of the funds will improve
 1226  coordinated care for these services in a less costly manner; and
 1227  Medicare coinsurance and deductibles for persons dually eligible
 1228  for Medicaid and Medicare as prescribed in s. 409.908(13).
 1229         (a) Individuals who are 60 years of age or older or dually
 1230  eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and enrolled in the
 1231  developmental disabilities waiver program, the family and
 1232  supported-living waiver program, the project AIDS care waiver
 1233  program, the traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury
 1234  waiver program, the consumer-directed care waiver program, and
 1235  the program of all-inclusive care for the elderly program, and
 1236  residents of institutional care facilities for the
 1237  developmentally disabled, must be excluded from the integrated
 1238  program.
 1239         (b) Managed care entities who meet or exceed the agency’s
 1240  minimum standards are eligible to operate the integrated
 1241  program. Entities eligible to participate include managed care
 1242  organizations licensed under chapter 641, including entities
 1243  eligible to participate in the nursing home diversion program,
 1244  other qualified providers as defined in s. 430.703(7), community
 1245  care for the elderly lead agencies, and other state-certified
 1246  community service networks that meet comparable standards as
 1247  defined by the agency, in consultation with the Department of
 1248  Elderly Affairs and the Office of Insurance Regulation, to be
 1249  financially solvent and able to take on financial risk for
 1250  managed care. Community service networks that are certified
 1251  pursuant to the comparable standards defined by the agency are
 1252  not required to be licensed under chapter 641. Managed care
 1253  entities who operate the integrated program shall be subject to
 1254  s. 408.7056. Eligible entities shall choose to serve enrollees
 1255  who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, enrollees who
 1256  are 60 years of age or older, or both.
 1257         (c) The agency must ensure that the capitation-rate-setting
 1258  methodology for the integrated program is actuarially sound and
 1259  reflects the intent to provide quality care in the least
 1260  restrictive setting. The agency must also require integrated
 1261  program providers to develop a credentialing system for service
 1262  providers and to contract with all Gold Seal nursing homes,
 1263  where feasible, and exclude, where feasible, chronically poor
 1264  performing facilities and providers as defined by the agency.
 1265  The integrated program must develop and maintain an informal
 1266  provider grievance system that addresses provider payment and
 1267  contract problems. The agency shall also establish a formal
 1268  grievance system to address those issues that were not resolved
 1269  through the informal grievance system. The integrated program
 1270  must provide that if the recipient resides in a noncontracted
 1271  residential facility licensed under chapter 400 or chapter 429
 1272  at the time of enrollment in the integrated program, the
 1273  recipient must be permitted to continue to reside in the
 1274  noncontracted facility as long as the recipient desires. The
 1275  integrated program must also provide that, in the absence of a
 1276  contract between the integrated-program provider and the
 1277  residential facility licensed under chapter 400 or chapter 429,
 1278  current Medicaid rates must prevail. The integrated-program
 1279  provider must ensure that electronic nursing home claims that
 1280  contain sufficient information for processing are paid within 10
 1281  business days after receipt. Alternately, the integrated-program
 1282  provider may establish a capitated payment mechanism to
 1283  prospectively pay nursing homes at the beginning of each month.
 1284  The agency and the Department of Elderly Affairs must jointly
 1285  develop procedures to manage the services provided through the
 1286  integrated program in order to ensure quality and recipient
 1287  choice.
 1288         (d) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
 1289  Accountability, in consultation with the Auditor General, shall
 1290  comprehensively evaluate the pilot project for the integrated,
 1291  fixed-payment delivery program for Medicaid recipients created
 1292  under this subsection. The evaluation shall begin as soon as
 1293  Medicaid recipients are enrolled in the managed care pilot
 1294  program plans and shall continue for 24 months thereafter. The
 1295  evaluation must include assessments of each managed care plan in
 1296  the integrated program with regard to cost savings; consumer
 1297  education, choice, and access to services; coordination of care;
 1298  and quality of care. The evaluation must describe administrative
 1299  or legal barriers to the implementation and operation of the
 1300  pilot program and include recommendations regarding statewide
 1301  expansion of the pilot program. The office shall submit its
 1302  evaluation report to the Governor, the President of the Senate,
 1303  and the Speaker of the House of Representatives no later than
 1304  December 31, 2009.
 1305         (e) The agency may seek federal waivers or Medicaid state
 1306  plan amendments and adopt rules as necessary to administer the
 1307  integrated program. The agency may implement the approved
 1308  federal waivers and other provisions as specified in this
 1309  subsection.
 1310         (f) The implementation of the integrated, fixed-payment
 1311  delivery program created under this subsection is subject to an
 1312  appropriation in the General Appropriations Act.
 1313         (5)(6) The agency may contract with any public or private
 1314  entity otherwise authorized by this section on a prepaid or
 1315  fixed-sum basis for the provision of health care services to
 1316  recipients. An entity may provide prepaid services to
 1317  recipients, either directly or through arrangements with other
 1318  entities, if each entity involved in providing services:
 1319         (a) Is organized primarily for the purpose of providing
 1320  health care or other services of the type regularly offered to
 1321  Medicaid recipients;
 1322         (b) Ensures that services meet the standards set by the
 1323  agency for quality, appropriateness, and timeliness;
 1324         (c) Makes provisions satisfactory to the agency for
 1325  insolvency protection and ensures that neither enrolled Medicaid
 1326  recipients nor the agency will be liable for the debts of the
 1327  entity;
 1328         (d) Submits to the agency, if a private entity, a financial
 1329  plan that the agency finds to be fiscally sound and that
 1330  provides for working capital in the form of cash or equivalent
 1331  liquid assets excluding revenues from Medicaid premium payments
 1332  equal to at least the first 3 months of operating expenses or
 1333  $200,000, whichever is greater;
 1334         (e) Furnishes evidence satisfactory to the agency of
 1335  adequate liability insurance coverage or an adequate plan of
 1336  self-insurance to respond to claims for injuries arising out of
 1337  the furnishing of health care;
 1338         (f) Provides, through contract or otherwise, for periodic
 1339  review of its medical facilities and services, as required by
 1340  the agency; and
 1341         (g) Provides organizational, operational, financial, and
 1342  other information required by the agency.
 1343  
 1344  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1345         (6)(7) The agency may contract on a prepaid or fixed-sum
 1346  basis with any health insurer that:
 1347         (a) Pays for health care services provided to enrolled
 1348  Medicaid recipients in exchange for a premium payment paid by
 1349  the agency;
 1350         (b) Assumes the underwriting risk; and
 1351         (c) Is organized and licensed under applicable provisions
 1352  of the Florida Insurance Code and is currently in good standing
 1353  with the Office of Insurance Regulation.
 1354  
 1355  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1356         (7)(8)(a) The agency may contract on a prepaid or fixed-sum
 1357  basis with an exclusive provider organization to provide health
 1358  care services to Medicaid recipients provided that the exclusive
 1359  provider organization meets applicable managed care plan
 1360  requirements in this section, ss. 409.9122, 409.9123, 409.9128,
 1361  and 627.6472, and other applicable provisions of law. This
 1362  subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1363         (b) For a period of no longer than 24 months after the
 1364  effective date of this paragraph, when a member of an exclusive
 1365  provider organization that is contracted by the agency to
 1366  provide health care services to Medicaid recipients in rural
 1367  areas without a health maintenance organization obtains services
 1368  from a provider that participates in the Medicaid program in
 1369  this state, the provider shall be paid in accordance with the
 1370  appropriate fee schedule for services provided to eligible
 1371  Medicaid recipients. The agency may seek waiver authority to
 1372  implement this paragraph.
 1373         (8)(9) The Agency for Health Care Administration may
 1374  provide cost-effective purchasing of chiropractic services on a
 1375  fee-for-service basis to Medicaid recipients through
 1376  arrangements with a statewide chiropractic preferred provider
 1377  organization incorporated in this state as a not-for-profit
 1378  corporation. The agency shall ensure that the benefit limits and
 1379  prior authorization requirements in the current Medicaid program
 1380  shall apply to the services provided by the chiropractic
 1381  preferred provider organization. This subsection expires October
 1382  1, 2014.
 1383         (9)(10) The agency shall not contract on a prepaid or
 1384  fixed-sum basis for Medicaid services with an entity which knows
 1385  or reasonably should know that any officer, director, agent,
 1386  managing employee, or owner of stock or beneficial interest in
 1387  excess of 5 percent common or preferred stock, or the entity
 1388  itself, has been found guilty of, regardless of adjudication, or
 1389  entered a plea of nolo contendere, or guilty, to:
 1390         (a) Fraud;
 1391         (b) Violation of federal or state antitrust statutes,
 1392  including those proscribing price fixing between competitors and
 1393  the allocation of customers among competitors;
 1394         (c) Commission of a felony involving embezzlement, theft,
 1395  forgery, income tax evasion, bribery, falsification or
 1396  destruction of records, making false statements, receiving
 1397  stolen property, making false claims, or obstruction of justice;
 1398  or
 1399         (d) Any crime in any jurisdiction which directly relates to
 1400  the provision of health services on a prepaid or fixed-sum
 1401  basis.
 1402  
 1403  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1404         (10)(11) The agency, after notifying the Legislature, may
 1405  apply for waivers of applicable federal laws and regulations as
 1406  necessary to implement more appropriate systems of health care
 1407  for Medicaid recipients and reduce the cost of the Medicaid
 1408  program to the state and federal governments and shall implement
 1409  such programs, after legislative approval, within a reasonable
 1410  period of time after federal approval. These programs must be
 1411  designed primarily to reduce the need for inpatient care,
 1412  custodial care and other long-term or institutional care, and
 1413  other high-cost services. Prior to seeking legislative approval
 1414  of such a waiver as authorized by this subsection, the agency
 1415  shall provide notice and an opportunity for public comment.
 1416  Notice shall be provided to all persons who have made requests
 1417  of the agency for advance notice and shall be published in the
 1418  Florida Administrative Weekly not less than 28 days prior to the
 1419  intended action. This subsection expires October 1, 2016.
 1420         (11)(12) The agency shall establish a postpayment
 1421  utilization control program designed to identify recipients who
 1422  may inappropriately overuse or underuse Medicaid services and
 1423  shall provide methods to correct such misuse. This subsection
 1424  expires October 1, 2014.
 1425         (12)(13) The agency shall develop and provide coordinated
 1426  systems of care for Medicaid recipients and may contract with
 1427  public or private entities to develop and administer such
 1428  systems of care among public and private health care providers
 1429  in a given geographic area. This subsection expires October 1,
 1430  2014.
 1431         (13)(14)(a) The agency shall operate or contract for the
 1432  operation of utilization management and incentive systems
 1433  designed to encourage cost-effective use of services and to
 1434  eliminate services that are medically unnecessary. The agency
 1435  shall track Medicaid provider prescription and billing patterns
 1436  and evaluate them against Medicaid medical necessity criteria
 1437  and coverage and limitation guidelines adopted by rule. Medical
 1438  necessity determination requires that service be consistent with
 1439  symptoms or confirmed diagnosis of illness or injury under
 1440  treatment and not in excess of the patient’s needs. The agency
 1441  shall conduct reviews of provider exceptions to peer group norms
 1442  and shall, using statistical methodologies, provider profiling,
 1443  and analysis of billing patterns, detect and investigate
 1444  abnormal or unusual increases in billing or payment of claims
 1445  for Medicaid services and medically unnecessary provision of
 1446  services. Providers that demonstrate a pattern of submitting
 1447  claims for medically unnecessary services shall be referred to
 1448  the Medicaid program integrity unit for investigation. In its
 1449  annual report, required in s. 409.913, the agency shall report
 1450  on its efforts to control overutilization as described in this
 1451  subsection paragraph. This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1452         (b) The agency shall develop a procedure for determining
 1453  whether health care providers and service vendors can provide
 1454  the Medicaid program using a business case that demonstrates
 1455  whether a particular good or service can offset the cost of
 1456  providing the good or service in an alternative setting or
 1457  through other means and therefore should receive a higher
 1458  reimbursement. The business case must include, but need not be
 1459  limited to:
 1460         1. A detailed description of the good or service to be
 1461  provided, a description and analysis of the agency’s current
 1462  performance of the service, and a rationale documenting how
 1463  providing the service in an alternative setting would be in the
 1464  best interest of the state, the agency, and its clients.
 1465         2. A cost-benefit analysis documenting the estimated
 1466  specific direct and indirect costs, savings, performance
 1467  improvements, risks, and qualitative and quantitative benefits
 1468  involved in or resulting from providing the service. The cost
 1469  benefit analysis must include a detailed plan and timeline
 1470  identifying all actions that must be implemented to realize
 1471  expected benefits. The Secretary of Health Care Administration
 1472  shall verify that all costs, savings, and benefits are valid and
 1473  achievable.
 1474         (c) If the agency determines that the increased
 1475  reimbursement is cost-effective, the agency shall recommend a
 1476  change in the reimbursement schedule for that particular good or
 1477  service. If, within 12 months after implementing any rate change
 1478  under this procedure, the agency determines that costs were not
 1479  offset by the increased reimbursement schedule, the agency may
 1480  revert to the former reimbursement schedule for the particular
 1481  good or service.
 1482         (14)(15)(a) The agency shall operate the Comprehensive
 1483  Assessment and Review for Long-Term Care Services (CARES)
 1484  nursing facility preadmission screening program to ensure that
 1485  Medicaid payment for nursing facility care is made only for
 1486  individuals whose conditions require such care and to ensure
 1487  that long-term care services are provided in the setting most
 1488  appropriate to the needs of the person and in the most
 1489  economical manner possible. The CARES program shall also ensure
 1490  that individuals participating in Medicaid home and community
 1491  based waiver programs meet criteria for those programs,
 1492  consistent with approved federal waivers.
 1493         (b) The agency shall operate the CARES program through an
 1494  interagency agreement with the Department of Elderly Affairs.
 1495  The agency, in consultation with the Department of Elderly
 1496  Affairs, may contract for any function or activity of the CARES
 1497  program, including any function or activity required by 42
 1498  C.F.R. part 483.20, relating to preadmission screening and
 1499  resident review.
 1500         (c) Prior to making payment for nursing facility services
 1501  for a Medicaid recipient, the agency must verify that the
 1502  nursing facility preadmission screening program has determined
 1503  that the individual requires nursing facility care and that the
 1504  individual cannot be safely served in community-based programs.
 1505  The nursing facility preadmission screening program shall refer
 1506  a Medicaid recipient to a community-based program if the
 1507  individual could be safely served at a lower cost and the
 1508  recipient chooses to participate in such program. For
 1509  individuals whose nursing home stay is initially funded by
 1510  Medicare and Medicare coverage is being terminated for lack of
 1511  progress towards rehabilitation, CARES staff shall consult with
 1512  the person making the determination of progress toward
 1513  rehabilitation to ensure that the recipient is not being
 1514  inappropriately disqualified from Medicare coverage. If, in
 1515  their professional judgment, CARES staff believes that a
 1516  Medicare beneficiary is still making progress toward
 1517  rehabilitation, they may assist the Medicare beneficiary with an
 1518  appeal of the disqualification from Medicare coverage. The use
 1519  of CARES teams to review Medicare denials for coverage under
 1520  this section is authorized only if it is determined that such
 1521  reviews qualify for federal matching funds through Medicaid. The
 1522  agency shall seek or amend federal waivers as necessary to
 1523  implement this section.
 1524         (d) For the purpose of initiating immediate prescreening
 1525  and diversion assistance for individuals residing in nursing
 1526  homes and in order to make families aware of alternative long
 1527  term care resources so that they may choose a more cost
 1528  effective setting for long-term placement, CARES staff shall
 1529  conduct an assessment and review of a sample of individuals
 1530  whose nursing home stay is expected to exceed 20 days,
 1531  regardless of the initial funding source for the nursing home
 1532  placement. CARES staff shall provide counseling and referral
 1533  services to these individuals regarding choosing appropriate
 1534  long-term care alternatives. This paragraph does not apply to
 1535  continuing care facilities licensed under chapter 651 or to
 1536  retirement communities that provide a combination of nursing
 1537  home, independent living, and other long-term care services.
 1538         (e) By January 15 of each year, the agency shall submit a
 1539  report to the Legislature describing the operations of the CARES
 1540  program. The report must describe:
 1541         1. Rate of diversion to community alternative programs;
 1542         2. CARES program staffing needs to achieve additional
 1543  diversions;
 1544         3. Reasons the program is unable to place individuals in
 1545  less restrictive settings when such individuals desired such
 1546  services and could have been served in such settings;
 1547         4. Barriers to appropriate placement, including barriers
 1548  due to policies or operations of other agencies or state-funded
 1549  programs; and
 1550         5. Statutory changes necessary to ensure that individuals
 1551  in need of long-term care services receive care in the least
 1552  restrictive environment.
 1553         (f) The Department of Elderly Affairs shall track
 1554  individuals over time who are assessed under the CARES program
 1555  and who are diverted from nursing home placement. By January 15
 1556  of each year, the department shall submit to the Legislature a
 1557  longitudinal study of the individuals who are diverted from
 1558  nursing home placement. The study must include:
 1559         1. The demographic characteristics of the individuals
 1560  assessed and diverted from nursing home placement, including,
 1561  but not limited to, age, race, gender, frailty, caregiver
 1562  status, living arrangements, and geographic location;
 1563         2. A summary of community services provided to individuals
 1564  for 1 year after assessment and diversion;
 1565         3. A summary of inpatient hospital admissions for
 1566  individuals who have been diverted; and
 1567         4. A summary of the length of time between diversion and
 1568  subsequent entry into a nursing home or death.
 1569  
 1570  This subsection expires October 1, 2013.
 1571         (15)(16)(a) The agency shall identify health care
 1572  utilization and price patterns within the Medicaid program which
 1573  are not cost-effective or medically appropriate and assess the
 1574  effectiveness of new or alternate methods of providing and
 1575  monitoring service, and may implement such methods as it
 1576  considers appropriate. Such methods may include disease
 1577  management initiatives, an integrated and systematic approach
 1578  for managing the health care needs of recipients who are at risk
 1579  of or diagnosed with a specific disease by using best practices,
 1580  prevention strategies, clinical-practice improvement, clinical
 1581  interventions and protocols, outcomes research, information
 1582  technology, and other tools and resources to reduce overall
 1583  costs and improve measurable outcomes.
 1584         (b) The responsibility of the agency under this subsection
 1585  shall include the development of capabilities to identify actual
 1586  and optimal practice patterns; patient and provider educational
 1587  initiatives; methods for determining patient compliance with
 1588  prescribed treatments; fraud, waste, and abuse prevention and
 1589  detection programs; and beneficiary case management programs.
 1590         1. The practice pattern identification program shall
 1591  evaluate practitioner prescribing patterns based on national and
 1592  regional practice guidelines, comparing practitioners to their
 1593  peer groups. The agency and its Drug Utilization Review Board
 1594  shall consult with the Department of Health and a panel of
 1595  practicing health care professionals consisting of the
 1596  following: the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the
 1597  President of the Senate shall each appoint three physicians
 1598  licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459; and the Governor
 1599  shall appoint two pharmacists licensed under chapter 465 and one
 1600  dentist licensed under chapter 466 who is an oral surgeon. Terms
 1601  of the panel members shall expire at the discretion of the
 1602  appointing official. The advisory panel shall be responsible for
 1603  evaluating treatment guidelines and recommending ways to
 1604  incorporate their use in the practice pattern identification
 1605  program. Practitioners who are prescribing inappropriately or
 1606  inefficiently, as determined by the agency, may have their
 1607  prescribing of certain drugs subject to prior authorization or
 1608  may be terminated from all participation in the Medicaid
 1609  program.
 1610         2. The agency shall also develop educational interventions
 1611  designed to promote the proper use of medications by providers
 1612  and beneficiaries.
 1613         3. The agency shall implement a pharmacy fraud, waste, and
 1614  abuse initiative that may include a surety bond or letter of
 1615  credit requirement for participating pharmacies, enhanced
 1616  provider auditing practices, the use of additional fraud and
 1617  abuse software, recipient management programs for beneficiaries
 1618  inappropriately using their benefits, and other steps that will
 1619  eliminate provider and recipient fraud, waste, and abuse. The
 1620  initiative shall address enforcement efforts to reduce the
 1621  number and use of counterfeit prescriptions.
 1622         4. By September 30, 2002, the agency shall contract with an
 1623  entity in the state to implement a wireless handheld clinical
 1624  pharmacology drug information database for practitioners. The
 1625  initiative shall be designed to enhance the agency’s efforts to
 1626  reduce fraud, abuse, and errors in the prescription drug benefit
 1627  program and to otherwise further the intent of this paragraph.
 1628         5. By April 1, 2006, the agency shall contract with an
 1629  entity to design a database of clinical utilization information
 1630  or electronic medical records for Medicaid providers. This
 1631  system must be web-based and allow providers to review on a
 1632  real-time basis the utilization of Medicaid services, including,
 1633  but not limited to, physician office visits, inpatient and
 1634  outpatient hospitalizations, laboratory and pathology services,
 1635  radiological and other imaging services, dental care, and
 1636  patterns of dispensing prescription drugs in order to coordinate
 1637  care and identify potential fraud and abuse.
 1638         6. The agency may apply for any federal waivers needed to
 1639  administer this paragraph.
 1640  
 1641  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1642         (16)(17) An entity contracting on a prepaid or fixed-sum
 1643  basis shall meet the surplus requirements of s. 641.225. If an
 1644  entity’s surplus falls below an amount equal to the surplus
 1645  requirements of s. 641.225, the agency shall prohibit the entity
 1646  from engaging in marketing and preenrollment activities, shall
 1647  cease to process new enrollments, and may not renew the entity’s
 1648  contract until the required balance is achieved. The
 1649  requirements of this subsection do not apply:
 1650         (a) Where a public entity agrees to fund any deficit
 1651  incurred by the contracting entity; or
 1652         (b) Where the entity’s performance and obligations are
 1653  guaranteed in writing by a guaranteeing organization which:
 1654         1. Has been in operation for at least 5 years and has
 1655  assets in excess of $50 million; or
 1656         2. Submits a written guarantee acceptable to the agency
 1657  which is irrevocable during the term of the contracting entity’s
 1658  contract with the agency and, upon termination of the contract,
 1659  until the agency receives proof of satisfaction of all
 1660  outstanding obligations incurred under the contract.
 1661  
 1662  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1663         (17)(18)(a) The agency may require an entity contracting on
 1664  a prepaid or fixed-sum basis to establish a restricted
 1665  insolvency protection account with a federally guaranteed
 1666  financial institution licensed to do business in this state. The
 1667  entity shall deposit into that account 5 percent of the
 1668  capitation payments made by the agency each month until a
 1669  maximum total of 2 percent of the total current contract amount
 1670  is reached. The restricted insolvency protection account may be
 1671  drawn upon with the authorized signatures of two persons
 1672  designated by the entity and two representatives of the agency.
 1673  If the agency finds that the entity is insolvent, the agency may
 1674  draw upon the account solely with the two authorized signatures
 1675  of representatives of the agency, and the funds may be disbursed
 1676  to meet financial obligations incurred by the entity under the
 1677  prepaid contract. If the contract is terminated, expired, or not
 1678  continued, the account balance must be released by the agency to
 1679  the entity upon receipt of proof of satisfaction of all
 1680  outstanding obligations incurred under this contract.
 1681         (b) The agency may waive the insolvency protection account
 1682  requirement in writing when evidence is on file with the agency
 1683  of adequate insolvency insurance and reinsurance that will
 1684  protect enrollees if the entity becomes unable to meet its
 1685  obligations.
 1686         (18)(19) An entity that contracts with the agency on a
 1687  prepaid or fixed-sum basis for the provision of Medicaid
 1688  services shall reimburse any hospital or physician that is
 1689  outside the entity’s authorized geographic service area as
 1690  specified in its contract with the agency, and that provides
 1691  services authorized by the entity to its members, at a rate
 1692  negotiated with the hospital or physician for the provision of
 1693  services or according to the lesser of the following:
 1694         (a) The usual and customary charges made to the general
 1695  public by the hospital or physician; or
 1696         (b) The Florida Medicaid reimbursement rate established for
 1697  the hospital or physician.
 1698  
 1699  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1700         (19)(20) When a merger or acquisition of a Medicaid prepaid
 1701  contractor has been approved by the Office of Insurance
 1702  Regulation pursuant to s. 628.4615, the agency shall approve the
 1703  assignment or transfer of the appropriate Medicaid prepaid
 1704  contract upon request of the surviving entity of the merger or
 1705  acquisition if the contractor and the other entity have been in
 1706  good standing with the agency for the most recent 12-month
 1707  period, unless the agency determines that the assignment or
 1708  transfer would be detrimental to the Medicaid recipients or the
 1709  Medicaid program. To be in good standing, an entity must not
 1710  have failed accreditation or committed any material violation of
 1711  the requirements of s. 641.52 and must meet the Medicaid
 1712  contract requirements. For purposes of this section, a merger or
 1713  acquisition means a change in controlling interest of an entity,
 1714  including an asset or stock purchase. This subsection expires
 1715  October 1, 2014.
 1716         (20)(21) Any entity contracting with the agency pursuant to
 1717  this section to provide health care services to Medicaid
 1718  recipients is prohibited from engaging in any of the following
 1719  practices or activities:
 1720         (a) Practices that are discriminatory, including, but not
 1721  limited to, attempts to discourage participation on the basis of
 1722  actual or perceived health status.
 1723         (b) Activities that could mislead or confuse recipients, or
 1724  misrepresent the organization, its marketing representatives, or
 1725  the agency. Violations of this paragraph include, but are not
 1726  limited to:
 1727         1. False or misleading claims that marketing
 1728  representatives are employees or representatives of the state or
 1729  county, or of anyone other than the entity or the organization
 1730  by whom they are reimbursed.
 1731         2. False or misleading claims that the entity is
 1732  recommended or endorsed by any state or county agency, or by any
 1733  other organization which has not certified its endorsement in
 1734  writing to the entity.
 1735         3. False or misleading claims that the state or county
 1736  recommends that a Medicaid recipient enroll with an entity.
 1737         4. Claims that a Medicaid recipient will lose benefits
 1738  under the Medicaid program, or any other health or welfare
 1739  benefits to which the recipient is legally entitled, if the
 1740  recipient does not enroll with the entity.
 1741         (c) Granting or offering of any monetary or other valuable
 1742  consideration for enrollment, except as authorized by subsection
 1743  (23) (24).
 1744         (d) Door-to-door solicitation of recipients who have not
 1745  contacted the entity or who have not invited the entity to make
 1746  a presentation.
 1747         (e) Solicitation of Medicaid recipients by marketing
 1748  representatives stationed in state offices unless approved and
 1749  supervised by the agency or its agent and approved by the
 1750  affected state agency when solicitation occurs in an office of
 1751  the state agency. The agency shall ensure that marketing
 1752  representatives stationed in state offices shall market their
 1753  managed care plans to Medicaid recipients only in designated
 1754  areas and in such a way as to not interfere with the recipients’
 1755  activities in the state office.
 1756         (f) Enrollment of Medicaid recipients.
 1757         (21)(22) The agency may impose a fine for a violation of
 1758  this section or the contract with the agency by a person or
 1759  entity that is under contract with the agency. With respect to
 1760  any nonwillful violation, such fine shall not exceed $2,500 per
 1761  violation. In no event shall such fine exceed an aggregate
 1762  amount of $10,000 for all nonwillful violations arising out of
 1763  the same action. With respect to any knowing and willful
 1764  violation of this section or the contract with the agency, the
 1765  agency may impose a fine upon the entity in an amount not to
 1766  exceed $20,000 for each such violation. In no event shall such
 1767  fine exceed an aggregate amount of $100,000 for all knowing and
 1768  willful violations arising out of the same action. This
 1769  subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1770         (22)(23) A health maintenance organization or a person or
 1771  entity exempt from chapter 641 that is under contract with the
 1772  agency for the provision of health care services to Medicaid
 1773  recipients may not use or distribute marketing materials used to
 1774  solicit Medicaid recipients, unless such materials have been
 1775  approved by the agency. The provisions of this subsection do not
 1776  apply to general advertising and marketing materials used by a
 1777  health maintenance organization to solicit both non-Medicaid
 1778  subscribers and Medicaid recipients. This subsection expires
 1779  October 1, 2014.
 1780         (23)(24) Upon approval by the agency, health maintenance
 1781  organizations and persons or entities exempt from chapter 641
 1782  that are under contract with the agency for the provision of
 1783  health care services to Medicaid recipients may be permitted
 1784  within the capitation rate to provide additional health benefits
 1785  that the agency has found are of high quality, are practicably
 1786  available, provide reasonable value to the recipient, and are
 1787  provided at no additional cost to the state. This subsection
 1788  expires October 1, 2014.
 1789         (24)(25) The agency shall utilize the statewide health
 1790  maintenance organization complaint hotline for the purpose of
 1791  investigating and resolving Medicaid and prepaid health plan
 1792  complaints, maintaining a record of complaints and confirmed
 1793  problems, and receiving disenrollment requests made by
 1794  recipients. This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1795         (25)(26) The agency shall require the publication of the
 1796  health maintenance organization’s and the prepaid health plan’s
 1797  consumer services telephone numbers and the “800” telephone
 1798  number of the statewide health maintenance organization
 1799  complaint hotline on each Medicaid identification card issued by
 1800  a health maintenance organization or prepaid health plan
 1801  contracting with the agency to serve Medicaid recipients and on
 1802  each subscriber handbook issued to a Medicaid recipient. This
 1803  subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1804         (26)(27) The agency shall establish a health care quality
 1805  improvement system for those entities contracting with the
 1806  agency pursuant to this section, incorporating all the standards
 1807  and guidelines developed by the Medicaid Bureau of the Health
 1808  Care Financing Administration as a part of the quality assurance
 1809  reform initiative. The system shall include, but need not be
 1810  limited to, the following:
 1811         (a) Guidelines for internal quality assurance programs,
 1812  including standards for:
 1813         1. Written quality assurance program descriptions.
 1814         2. Responsibilities of the governing body for monitoring,
 1815  evaluating, and making improvements to care.
 1816         3. An active quality assurance committee.
 1817         4. Quality assurance program supervision.
 1818         5. Requiring the program to have adequate resources to
 1819  effectively carry out its specified activities.
 1820         6. Provider participation in the quality assurance program.
 1821         7. Delegation of quality assurance program activities.
 1822         8. Credentialing and recredentialing.
 1823         9. Enrollee rights and responsibilities.
 1824         10. Availability and accessibility to services and care.
 1825         11. Ambulatory care facilities.
 1826         12. Accessibility and availability of medical records, as
 1827  well as proper recordkeeping and process for record review.
 1828         13. Utilization review.
 1829         14. A continuity of care system.
 1830         15. Quality assurance program documentation.
 1831         16. Coordination of quality assurance activity with other
 1832  management activity.
 1833         17. Delivering care to pregnant women and infants; to
 1834  elderly and disabled recipients, especially those who are at
 1835  risk of institutional placement; to persons with developmental
 1836  disabilities; and to adults who have chronic, high-cost medical
 1837  conditions.
 1838         (b) Guidelines which require the entities to conduct
 1839  quality-of-care studies which:
 1840         1. Target specific conditions and specific health service
 1841  delivery issues for focused monitoring and evaluation.
 1842         2. Use clinical care standards or practice guidelines to
 1843  objectively evaluate the care the entity delivers or fails to
 1844  deliver for the targeted clinical conditions and health services
 1845  delivery issues.
 1846         3. Use quality indicators derived from the clinical care
 1847  standards or practice guidelines to screen and monitor care and
 1848  services delivered.
 1849         (c) Guidelines for external quality review of each
 1850  contractor which require: focused studies of patterns of care;
 1851  individual care review in specific situations; and followup
 1852  activities on previous pattern-of-care study findings and
 1853  individual-care-review findings. In designing the external
 1854  quality review function and determining how it is to operate as
 1855  part of the state’s overall quality improvement system, the
 1856  agency shall construct its external quality review organization
 1857  and entity contracts to address each of the following:
 1858         1. Delineating the role of the external quality review
 1859  organization.
 1860         2. Length of the external quality review organization
 1861  contract with the state.
 1862         3. Participation of the contracting entities in designing
 1863  external quality review organization review activities.
 1864         4. Potential variation in the type of clinical conditions
 1865  and health services delivery issues to be studied at each plan.
 1866         5. Determining the number of focused pattern-of-care
 1867  studies to be conducted for each plan.
 1868         6. Methods for implementing focused studies.
 1869         7. Individual care review.
 1870         8. Followup activities.
 1871  
 1872  This subsection expires October 1, 2016.
 1873         (27)(28) In order to ensure that children receive health
 1874  care services for which an entity has already been compensated,
 1875  an entity contracting with the agency pursuant to this section
 1876  shall achieve an annual Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis,
 1877  and Treatment (EPSDT) Service screening rate of at least 60
 1878  percent for those recipients continuously enrolled for at least
 1879  8 months. The agency shall develop a method by which the EPSDT
 1880  screening rate shall be calculated. For any entity which does
 1881  not achieve the annual 60 percent rate, the entity must submit a
 1882  corrective action plan for the agency’s approval. If the entity
 1883  does not meet the standard established in the corrective action
 1884  plan during the specified timeframe, the agency is authorized to
 1885  impose appropriate contract sanctions. At least annually, the
 1886  agency shall publicly release the EPSDT Services screening rates
 1887  of each entity it has contracted with on a prepaid basis to
 1888  serve Medicaid recipients. This subsection expires October 1,
 1889  2014.
 1890         (28)(29) The agency shall perform enrollments and
 1891  disenrollments for Medicaid recipients who are eligible for
 1892  MediPass or managed care plans. Notwithstanding the prohibition
 1893  contained in paragraph (20)(21)(f), managed care plans may
 1894  perform preenrollments of Medicaid recipients under the
 1895  supervision of the agency or its agents. For the purposes of
 1896  this section, the term “preenrollment” means the provision of
 1897  marketing and educational materials to a Medicaid recipient and
 1898  assistance in completing the application forms, but does not
 1899  include actual enrollment into a managed care plan. An
 1900  application for enrollment may not be deemed complete until the
 1901  agency or its agent verifies that the recipient made an
 1902  informed, voluntary choice. The agency, in cooperation with the
 1903  Department of Children and Family Services, may test new
 1904  marketing initiatives to inform Medicaid recipients about their
 1905  managed care options at selected sites. The agency may contract
 1906  with a third party to perform managed care plan and MediPass
 1907  enrollment and disenrollment services for Medicaid recipients
 1908  and may adopt rules to administer such services. The agency may
 1909  adjust the capitation rate only to cover the costs of a third
 1910  party enrollment and disenrollment contract, and for agency
 1911  supervision and management of the managed care plan enrollment
 1912  and disenrollment contract. This subsection expires October 1,
 1913  2014.
 1914         (29)(30) Any lists of providers made available to Medicaid
 1915  recipients, MediPass enrollees, or managed care plan enrollees
 1916  shall be arranged alphabetically showing the provider’s name and
 1917  specialty and, separately, by specialty in alphabetical order.
 1918  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1919         (30)(31) The agency shall establish an enhanced managed
 1920  care quality assurance oversight function, to include at least
 1921  the following components:
 1922         (a) At least quarterly analysis and followup, including
 1923  sanctions as appropriate, of managed care participant
 1924  utilization of services.
 1925         (b) At least quarterly analysis and followup, including
 1926  sanctions as appropriate, of quality findings of the Medicaid
 1927  peer review organization and other external quality assurance
 1928  programs.
 1929         (c) At least quarterly analysis and followup, including
 1930  sanctions as appropriate, of the fiscal viability of managed
 1931  care plans.
 1932         (d) At least quarterly analysis and followup, including
 1933  sanctions as appropriate, of managed care participant
 1934  satisfaction and disenrollment surveys.
 1935         (e) The agency shall conduct regular and ongoing Medicaid
 1936  recipient satisfaction surveys.
 1937  
 1938  The analyses and followup activities conducted by the agency
 1939  under its enhanced managed care quality assurance oversight
 1940  function shall not duplicate the activities of accreditation
 1941  reviewers for entities regulated under part III of chapter 641,
 1942  but may include a review of the finding of such reviewers. This
 1943  subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1944         (31)(32) Each managed care plan that is under contract with
 1945  the agency to provide health care services to Medicaid
 1946  recipients shall annually conduct a background check with the
 1947  Department of Law Enforcement of all persons with ownership
 1948  interest of 5 percent or more or executive management
 1949  responsibility for the managed care plan and shall submit to the
 1950  agency information concerning any such person who has been found
 1951  guilty of, regardless of adjudication, or has entered a plea of
 1952  nolo contendere or guilty to, any of the offenses listed in s.
 1953  435.04. This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1954         (32)(33) The agency shall, by rule, develop a process
 1955  whereby a Medicaid managed care plan enrollee who wishes to
 1956  enter hospice care may be disenrolled from the managed care plan
 1957  within 24 hours after contacting the agency regarding such
 1958  request. The agency rule shall include a methodology for the
 1959  agency to recoup managed care plan payments on a pro rata basis
 1960  if payment has been made for the enrollment month when
 1961  disenrollment occurs. This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 1962         (33)(34) The agency and entities that contract with the
 1963  agency to provide health care services to Medicaid recipients
 1964  under this section or ss. 409.91211 and 409.9122 must comply
 1965  with the provisions of s. 641.513 in providing emergency
 1966  services and care to Medicaid recipients and MediPass
 1967  recipients. Where feasible, safe, and cost-effective, the agency
 1968  shall encourage hospitals, emergency medical services providers,
 1969  and other public and private health care providers to work
 1970  together in their local communities to enter into agreements or
 1971  arrangements to ensure access to alternatives to emergency
 1972  services and care for those Medicaid recipients who need
 1973  nonemergent care. The agency shall coordinate with hospitals,
 1974  emergency medical services providers, private health plans,
 1975  capitated managed care networks as established in s. 409.91211,
 1976  and other public and private health care providers to implement
 1977  the provisions of ss. 395.1041(7), 409.91255(3)(g), 627.6405,
 1978  and 641.31097 to develop and implement emergency department
 1979  diversion programs for Medicaid recipients. This subsection
 1980  expires October 1, 2014.
 1981         (34)(35) All entities providing health care services to
 1982  Medicaid recipients shall make available, and encourage all
 1983  pregnant women and mothers with infants to receive, and provide
 1984  documentation in the medical records to reflect, the following:
 1985         (a) Healthy Start prenatal or infant screening.
 1986         (b) Healthy Start care coordination, when screening or
 1987  other factors indicate need.
 1988         (c) Healthy Start enhanced services in accordance with the
 1989  prenatal or infant screening results.
 1990         (d) Immunizations in accordance with recommendations of the
 1991  Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the United
 1992  States Public Health Service and the American Academy of
 1993  Pediatrics, as appropriate.
 1994         (e) Counseling and services for family planning to all
 1995  women and their partners.
 1996         (f) A scheduled postpartum visit for the purpose of
 1997  voluntary family planning, to include discussion of all methods
 1998  of contraception, as appropriate.
 1999         (g) Referral to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program
 2000  for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
 2001  
 2002  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 2003         (35)(36) Any entity that provides Medicaid prepaid health
 2004  plan services shall ensure the appropriate coordination of
 2005  health care services with an assisted living facility in cases
 2006  where a Medicaid recipient is both a member of the entity’s
 2007  prepaid health plan and a resident of the assisted living
 2008  facility. If the entity is at risk for Medicaid targeted case
 2009  management and behavioral health services, the entity shall
 2010  inform the assisted living facility of the procedures to follow
 2011  should an emergent condition arise. This subsection expires
 2012  October 1, 2014.
 2013         (37) The agency may seek and implement federal waivers
 2014  necessary to provide for cost-effective purchasing of home
 2015  health services, private duty nursing services, transportation,
 2016  independent laboratory services, and durable medical equipment
 2017  and supplies through competitive bidding pursuant to s. 287.057.
 2018  The agency may request appropriate waivers from the federal
 2019  Health Care Financing Administration in order to competitively
 2020  bid such services. The agency may exclude providers not selected
 2021  through the bidding process from the Medicaid provider network.
 2022         (36)(38) The agency shall enter into agreements with not
 2023  for-profit organizations based in this state for the purpose of
 2024  providing vision screening. This subsection expires October 1,
 2025  2014.
 2026         (37)(39)(a) The agency shall implement a Medicaid
 2027  prescribed-drug spending-control program that includes the
 2028  following components:
 2029         1. A Medicaid preferred drug list, which shall be a listing
 2030  of cost-effective therapeutic options recommended by the
 2031  Medicaid Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee established
 2032  pursuant to s. 409.91195 and adopted by the agency for each
 2033  therapeutic class on the preferred drug list. At the discretion
 2034  of the committee, and when feasible, the preferred drug list
 2035  should include at least two products in a therapeutic class. The
 2036  agency may post the preferred drug list and updates to the
 2037  preferred drug list on an Internet website without following the
 2038  rulemaking procedures of chapter 120. Antiretroviral agents are
 2039  excluded from the preferred drug list. The agency shall also
 2040  limit the amount of a prescribed drug dispensed to no more than
 2041  a 34-day supply unless the drug products’ smallest marketed
 2042  package is greater than a 34-day supply, or the drug is
 2043  determined by the agency to be a maintenance drug in which case
 2044  a 100-day maximum supply may be authorized. The agency is
 2045  authorized to seek any federal waivers necessary to implement
 2046  these cost-control programs and to continue participation in the
 2047  federal Medicaid rebate program, or alternatively to negotiate
 2048  state-only manufacturer rebates. The agency may adopt rules to
 2049  implement this subparagraph. The agency shall continue to
 2050  provide unlimited contraceptive drugs and items. The agency must
 2051  establish procedures to ensure that:
 2052         a. There is a response to a request for prior consultation
 2053  by telephone or other telecommunication device within 24 hours
 2054  after receipt of a request for prior consultation; and
 2055         b. A 72-hour supply of the drug prescribed is provided in
 2056  an emergency or when the agency does not provide a response
 2057  within 24 hours as required by sub-subparagraph a.
 2058         2. Reimbursement to pharmacies for Medicaid prescribed
 2059  drugs shall be set at the lesser of: the average wholesale price
 2060  (AWP) minus 16.4 percent, the wholesaler acquisition cost (WAC)
 2061  plus 4.75 percent, the federal upper limit (FUL), the state
 2062  maximum allowable cost (SMAC), or the usual and customary (UAC)
 2063  charge billed by the provider.
 2064         3. The agency shall develop and implement a process for
 2065  managing the drug therapies of Medicaid recipients who are using
 2066  significant numbers of prescribed drugs each month. The
 2067  management process may include, but is not limited to,
 2068  comprehensive, physician-directed medical-record reviews, claims
 2069  analyses, and case evaluations to determine the medical
 2070  necessity and appropriateness of a patient’s treatment plan and
 2071  drug therapies. The agency may contract with a private
 2072  organization to provide drug-program-management services. The
 2073  Medicaid drug benefit management program shall include
 2074  initiatives to manage drug therapies for HIV/AIDS patients,
 2075  patients using 20 or more unique prescriptions in a 180-day
 2076  period, and the top 1,000 patients in annual spending. The
 2077  agency shall enroll any Medicaid recipient in the drug benefit
 2078  management program if he or she meets the specifications of this
 2079  provision and is not enrolled in a Medicaid health maintenance
 2080  organization.
 2081         4. The agency may limit the size of its pharmacy network
 2082  based on need, competitive bidding, price negotiations,
 2083  credentialing, or similar criteria. The agency shall give
 2084  special consideration to rural areas in determining the size and
 2085  location of pharmacies included in the Medicaid pharmacy
 2086  network. A pharmacy credentialing process may include criteria
 2087  such as a pharmacy’s full-service status, location, size,
 2088  patient educational programs, patient consultation, disease
 2089  management services, and other characteristics. The agency may
 2090  impose a moratorium on Medicaid pharmacy enrollment when it is
 2091  determined that it has a sufficient number of Medicaid
 2092  participating providers. The agency must allow dispensing
 2093  practitioners to participate as a part of the Medicaid pharmacy
 2094  network regardless of the practitioner’s proximity to any other
 2095  entity that is dispensing prescription drugs under the Medicaid
 2096  program. A dispensing practitioner must meet all credentialing
 2097  requirements applicable to his or her practice, as determined by
 2098  the agency.
 2099         5. The agency shall develop and implement a program that
 2100  requires Medicaid practitioners who prescribe drugs to use a
 2101  counterfeit-proof prescription pad for Medicaid prescriptions.
 2102  The agency shall require the use of standardized counterfeit
 2103  proof prescription pads by Medicaid-participating prescribers or
 2104  prescribers who write prescriptions for Medicaid recipients. The
 2105  agency may implement the program in targeted geographic areas or
 2106  statewide.
 2107         6. The agency may enter into arrangements that require
 2108  manufacturers of generic drugs prescribed to Medicaid recipients
 2109  to provide rebates of at least 15.1 percent of the average
 2110  manufacturer price for the manufacturer’s generic products.
 2111  These arrangements shall require that if a generic-drug
 2112  manufacturer pays federal rebates for Medicaid-reimbursed drugs
 2113  at a level below 15.1 percent, the manufacturer must provide a
 2114  supplemental rebate to the state in an amount necessary to
 2115  achieve a 15.1-percent rebate level.
 2116         7. The agency may establish a preferred drug list as
 2117  described in this subsection, and, pursuant to the establishment
 2118  of such preferred drug list, it is authorized to negotiate
 2119  supplemental rebates from manufacturers that are in addition to
 2120  those required by Title XIX of the Social Security Act and at no
 2121  less than 14 percent of the average manufacturer price as
 2122  defined in 42 U.S.C. s. 1936 on the last day of a quarter unless
 2123  the federal or supplemental rebate, or both, equals or exceeds
 2124  29 percent. There is no upper limit on the supplemental rebates
 2125  the agency may negotiate. The agency may determine that specific
 2126  products, brand-name or generic, are competitive at lower rebate
 2127  percentages. Agreement to pay the minimum supplemental rebate
 2128  percentage will guarantee a manufacturer that the Medicaid
 2129  Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committee will consider a
 2130  product for inclusion on the preferred drug list. However, a
 2131  pharmaceutical manufacturer is not guaranteed placement on the
 2132  preferred drug list by simply paying the minimum supplemental
 2133  rebate. Agency decisions will be made on the clinical efficacy
 2134  of a drug and recommendations of the Medicaid Pharmaceutical and
 2135  Therapeutics Committee, as well as the price of competing
 2136  products minus federal and state rebates. The agency is
 2137  authorized to contract with an outside agency or contractor to
 2138  conduct negotiations for supplemental rebates. For the purposes
 2139  of this section, the term “supplemental rebates” means cash
 2140  rebates. Effective July 1, 2004, value-added programs as a
 2141  substitution for supplemental rebates are prohibited. The agency
 2142  is authorized to seek any federal waivers to implement this
 2143  initiative.
 2144         8. The Agency for Health Care Administration shall expand
 2145  home delivery of pharmacy products. To assist Medicaid patients
 2146  in securing their prescriptions and reduce program costs, the
 2147  agency shall expand its current mail-order-pharmacy diabetes
 2148  supply program to include all generic and brand-name drugs used
 2149  by Medicaid patients with diabetes. Medicaid recipients in the
 2150  current program may obtain nondiabetes drugs on a voluntary
 2151  basis. This initiative is limited to the geographic area covered
 2152  by the current contract. The agency may seek and implement any
 2153  federal waivers necessary to implement this subparagraph.
 2154         9. The agency shall limit to one dose per month any drug
 2155  prescribed to treat erectile dysfunction.
 2156         10.a. The agency may implement a Medicaid behavioral drug
 2157  management system. The agency may contract with a vendor that
 2158  has experience in operating behavioral drug management systems
 2159  to implement this program. The agency is authorized to seek
 2160  federal waivers to implement this program.
 2161         b. The agency, in conjunction with the Department of
 2162  Children and Family Services, may implement the Medicaid
 2163  behavioral drug management system that is designed to improve
 2164  the quality of care and behavioral health prescribing practices
 2165  based on best practice guidelines, improve patient adherence to
 2166  medication plans, reduce clinical risk, and lower prescribed
 2167  drug costs and the rate of inappropriate spending on Medicaid
 2168  behavioral drugs. The program may include the following
 2169  elements:
 2170         (I) Provide for the development and adoption of best
 2171  practice guidelines for behavioral health-related drugs such as
 2172  antipsychotics, antidepressants, and medications for treating
 2173  bipolar disorders and other behavioral conditions; translate
 2174  them into practice; review behavioral health prescribers and
 2175  compare their prescribing patterns to a number of indicators
 2176  that are based on national standards; and determine deviations
 2177  from best practice guidelines.
 2178         (II) Implement processes for providing feedback to and
 2179  educating prescribers using best practice educational materials
 2180  and peer-to-peer consultation.
 2181         (III) Assess Medicaid beneficiaries who are outliers in
 2182  their use of behavioral health drugs with regard to the numbers
 2183  and types of drugs taken, drug dosages, combination drug
 2184  therapies, and other indicators of improper use of behavioral
 2185  health drugs.
 2186         (IV) Alert prescribers to patients who fail to refill
 2187  prescriptions in a timely fashion, are prescribed multiple same
 2188  class behavioral health drugs, and may have other potential
 2189  medication problems.
 2190         (V) Track spending trends for behavioral health drugs and
 2191  deviation from best practice guidelines.
 2192         (VI) Use educational and technological approaches to
 2193  promote best practices, educate consumers, and train prescribers
 2194  in the use of practice guidelines.
 2195         (VII) Disseminate electronic and published materials.
 2196         (VIII) Hold statewide and regional conferences.
 2197         (IX) Implement a disease management program with a model
 2198  quality-based medication component for severely mentally ill
 2199  individuals and emotionally disturbed children who are high
 2200  users of care.
 2201         11.a. The agency shall implement a Medicaid prescription
 2202  drug management system. The agency may contract with a vendor
 2203  that has experience in operating prescription drug management
 2204  systems in order to implement this system. Any management system
 2205  that is implemented in accordance with this subparagraph must
 2206  rely on cooperation between physicians and pharmacists to
 2207  determine appropriate practice patterns and clinical guidelines
 2208  to improve the prescribing, dispensing, and use of drugs in the
 2209  Medicaid program. The agency may seek federal waivers to
 2210  implement this program.
 2211         b. The drug management system must be designed to improve
 2212  the quality of care and prescribing practices based on best
 2213  practice guidelines, improve patient adherence to medication
 2214  plans, reduce clinical risk, and lower prescribed drug costs and
 2215  the rate of inappropriate spending on Medicaid prescription
 2216  drugs. The program must:
 2217         (I) Provide for the development and adoption of best
 2218  practice guidelines for the prescribing and use of drugs in the
 2219  Medicaid program, including translating best practice guidelines
 2220  into practice; reviewing prescriber patterns and comparing them
 2221  to indicators that are based on national standards and practice
 2222  patterns of clinical peers in their community, statewide, and
 2223  nationally; and determine deviations from best practice
 2224  guidelines.
 2225         (II) Implement processes for providing feedback to and
 2226  educating prescribers using best practice educational materials
 2227  and peer-to-peer consultation.
 2228         (III) Assess Medicaid recipients who are outliers in their
 2229  use of a single or multiple prescription drugs with regard to
 2230  the numbers and types of drugs taken, drug dosages, combination
 2231  drug therapies, and other indicators of improper use of
 2232  prescription drugs.
 2233         (IV) Alert prescribers to patients who fail to refill
 2234  prescriptions in a timely fashion, are prescribed multiple drugs
 2235  that may be redundant or contraindicated, or may have other
 2236  potential medication problems.
 2237         (V) Track spending trends for prescription drugs and
 2238  deviation from best practice guidelines.
 2239         (VI) Use educational and technological approaches to
 2240  promote best practices, educate consumers, and train prescribers
 2241  in the use of practice guidelines.
 2242         (VII) Disseminate electronic and published materials.
 2243         (VIII) Hold statewide and regional conferences.
 2244         (IX) Implement disease management programs in cooperation
 2245  with physicians and pharmacists, along with a model quality
 2246  based medication component for individuals having chronic
 2247  medical conditions.
 2248         12. The agency is authorized to contract for drug rebate
 2249  administration, including, but not limited to, calculating
 2250  rebate amounts, invoicing manufacturers, negotiating disputes
 2251  with manufacturers, and maintaining a database of rebate
 2252  collections.
 2253         13. The agency may specify the preferred daily dosing form
 2254  or strength for the purpose of promoting best practices with
 2255  regard to the prescribing of certain drugs as specified in the
 2256  General Appropriations Act and ensuring cost-effective
 2257  prescribing practices.
 2258         14. The agency may require prior authorization for
 2259  Medicaid-covered prescribed drugs. The agency may, but is not
 2260  required to, prior-authorize the use of a product:
 2261         a. For an indication not approved in labeling;
 2262         b. To comply with certain clinical guidelines; or
 2263         c. If the product has the potential for overuse, misuse, or
 2264  abuse.
 2265  
 2266  The agency may require the prescribing professional to provide
 2267  information about the rationale and supporting medical evidence
 2268  for the use of a drug. The agency may post prior authorization
 2269  criteria and protocol and updates to the list of drugs that are
 2270  subject to prior authorization on an Internet website without
 2271  amending its rule or engaging in additional rulemaking.
 2272         15. The agency, in conjunction with the Pharmaceutical and
 2273  Therapeutics Committee, may require age-related prior
 2274  authorizations for certain prescribed drugs. The agency may
 2275  preauthorize the use of a drug for a recipient who may not meet
 2276  the age requirement or may exceed the length of therapy for use
 2277  of this product as recommended by the manufacturer and approved
 2278  by the Food and Drug Administration. Prior authorization may
 2279  require the prescribing professional to provide information
 2280  about the rationale and supporting medical evidence for the use
 2281  of a drug.
 2282         16. The agency shall implement a step-therapy prior
 2283  authorization approval process for medications excluded from the
 2284  preferred drug list. Medications listed on the preferred drug
 2285  list must be used within the previous 12 months prior to the
 2286  alternative medications that are not listed. The step-therapy
 2287  prior authorization may require the prescriber to use the
 2288  medications of a similar drug class or for a similar medical
 2289  indication unless contraindicated in the Food and Drug
 2290  Administration labeling. The trial period between the specified
 2291  steps may vary according to the medical indication. The step
 2292  therapy approval process shall be developed in accordance with
 2293  the committee as stated in s. 409.91195(7) and (8). A drug
 2294  product may be approved without meeting the step-therapy prior
 2295  authorization criteria if the prescribing physician provides the
 2296  agency with additional written medical or clinical documentation
 2297  that the product is medically necessary because:
 2298         a. There is not a drug on the preferred drug list to treat
 2299  the disease or medical condition which is an acceptable clinical
 2300  alternative;
 2301         b. The alternatives have been ineffective in the treatment
 2302  of the beneficiary’s disease; or
 2303         c. Based on historic evidence and known characteristics of
 2304  the patient and the drug, the drug is likely to be ineffective,
 2305  or the number of doses have been ineffective.
 2306  
 2307  The agency shall work with the physician to determine the best
 2308  alternative for the patient. The agency may adopt rules waiving
 2309  the requirements for written clinical documentation for specific
 2310  drugs in limited clinical situations.
 2311         17. The agency shall implement a return and reuse program
 2312  for drugs dispensed by pharmacies to institutional recipients,
 2313  which includes payment of a $5 restocking fee for the
 2314  implementation and operation of the program. The return and
 2315  reuse program shall be implemented electronically and in a
 2316  manner that promotes efficiency. The program must permit a
 2317  pharmacy to exclude drugs from the program if it is not
 2318  practical or cost-effective for the drug to be included and must
 2319  provide for the return to inventory of drugs that cannot be
 2320  credited or returned in a cost-effective manner. The agency
 2321  shall determine if the program has reduced the amount of
 2322  Medicaid prescription drugs which are destroyed on an annual
 2323  basis and if there are additional ways to ensure more
 2324  prescription drugs are not destroyed which could safely be
 2325  reused. The agency’s conclusion and recommendations shall be
 2326  reported to the Legislature by December 1, 2005.
 2327         (b) The agency shall implement this subsection to the
 2328  extent that funds are appropriated to administer the Medicaid
 2329  prescribed-drug spending-control program. The agency may
 2330  contract all or any part of this program to private
 2331  organizations.
 2332         (c) The agency shall submit quarterly reports to the
 2333  Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
 2334  House of Representatives which must include, but need not be
 2335  limited to, the progress made in implementing this subsection
 2336  and its effect on Medicaid prescribed-drug expenditures.
 2337         (38)(40) Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 287, the
 2338  agency may, at its discretion, renew a contract or contracts for
 2339  fiscal intermediary services one or more times for such periods
 2340  as the agency may decide; however, all such renewals may not
 2341  combine to exceed a total period longer than the term of the
 2342  original contract.
 2343         (39)(41) The agency shall provide for the development of a
 2344  demonstration project by establishment in Miami-Dade County of a
 2345  long-term-care facility licensed pursuant to chapter 395 to
 2346  improve access to health care for a predominantly minority,
 2347  medically underserved, and medically complex population and to
 2348  evaluate alternatives to nursing home care and general acute
 2349  care for such population. Such project is to be located in a
 2350  health care condominium and colocated with licensed facilities
 2351  providing a continuum of care. The establishment of this project
 2352  is not subject to the provisions of s. 408.036 or s. 408.039.
 2353  This subsection expires October 1, 2013.
 2354         (40)(42) The agency shall develop and implement a
 2355  utilization management program for Medicaid-eligible recipients
 2356  for the management of occupational, physical, respiratory, and
 2357  speech therapies. The agency shall establish a utilization
 2358  program that may require prior authorization in order to ensure
 2359  medically necessary and cost-effective treatments. The program
 2360  shall be operated in accordance with a federally approved waiver
 2361  program or state plan amendment. The agency may seek a federal
 2362  waiver or state plan amendment to implement this program. The
 2363  agency may also competitively procure these services from an
 2364  outside vendor on a regional or statewide basis. This subsection
 2365  expires October 1, 2014.
 2366         (41)(43) The agency shall may contract on a prepaid or
 2367  fixed-sum basis with appropriately licensed prepaid dental
 2368  health plans to provide dental services. This subsection expires
 2369  October 1, 2014.
 2370         (42)(44) The Agency for Health Care Administration shall
 2371  ensure that any Medicaid managed care plan as defined in s.
 2372  409.9122(2)(f), whether paid on a capitated basis or a shared
 2373  savings basis, is cost-effective. For purposes of this
 2374  subsection, the term “cost-effective” means that a network’s
 2375  per-member, per-month costs to the state, including, but not
 2376  limited to, fee-for-service costs, administrative costs, and
 2377  case-management fees, if any, must be no greater than the
 2378  state’s costs associated with contracts for Medicaid services
 2379  established under subsection (3), which may be adjusted for
 2380  health status. The agency shall conduct actuarially sound
 2381  adjustments for health status in order to ensure such cost
 2382  effectiveness and shall annually publish the results on its
 2383  Internet website. Contracts established pursuant to this
 2384  subsection which are not cost-effective may not be renewed. This
 2385  subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 2386         (43)(45) Subject to the availability of funds, the agency
 2387  shall mandate a recipient’s participation in a provider lock-in
 2388  program, when appropriate, if a recipient is found by the agency
 2389  to have used Medicaid goods or services at a frequency or amount
 2390  not medically necessary, limiting the receipt of goods or
 2391  services to medically necessary providers after the 21-day
 2392  appeal process has ended, for a period of not less than 1 year.
 2393  The lock-in programs shall include, but are not limited to,
 2394  pharmacies, medical doctors, and infusion clinics. The
 2395  limitation does not apply to emergency services and care
 2396  provided to the recipient in a hospital emergency department.
 2397  The agency shall seek any federal waivers necessary to implement
 2398  this subsection. The agency shall adopt any rules necessary to
 2399  comply with or administer this subsection. This subsection
 2400  expires October 1, 2014.
 2401         (44)(46) The agency shall seek a federal waiver for
 2402  permission to terminate the eligibility of a Medicaid recipient
 2403  who has been found to have committed fraud, through judicial or
 2404  administrative determination, two times in a period of 5 years.
 2405         (47) The agency shall conduct a study of available
 2406  electronic systems for the purpose of verifying the identity and
 2407  eligibility of a Medicaid recipient. The agency shall recommend
 2408  to the Legislature a plan to implement an electronic
 2409  verification system for Medicaid recipients by January 31, 2005.
 2410         (45)(48)(a) A provider is not entitled to enrollment in the
 2411  Medicaid provider network. The agency may implement a Medicaid
 2412  fee-for-service provider network controls, including, but not
 2413  limited to, competitive procurement and provider credentialing.
 2414  If a credentialing process is used, the agency may limit its
 2415  provider network based upon the following considerations:
 2416  beneficiary access to care, provider availability, provider
 2417  quality standards and quality assurance processes, cultural
 2418  competency, demographic characteristics of beneficiaries,
 2419  practice standards, service wait times, provider turnover,
 2420  provider licensure and accreditation history, program integrity
 2421  history, peer review, Medicaid policy and billing compliance
 2422  records, clinical and medical record audit findings, and such
 2423  other areas that are considered necessary by the agency to
 2424  ensure the integrity of the program.
 2425         (b) The agency shall limit its network of durable medical
 2426  equipment and medical supply providers. For dates of service
 2427  after January 1, 2009, the agency shall limit payment for
 2428  durable medical equipment and supplies to providers that meet
 2429  all the requirements of this paragraph.
 2430         1. Providers must be accredited by a Centers for Medicare
 2431  and Medicaid Services deemed accreditation organization for
 2432  suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics,
 2433  and supplies. The provider must maintain accreditation and is
 2434  subject to unannounced reviews by the accrediting organization.
 2435         2. Providers must provide the services or supplies directly
 2436  to the Medicaid recipient or caregiver at the provider location
 2437  or recipient’s residence or send the supplies directly to the
 2438  recipient’s residence with receipt of mailed delivery.
 2439  Subcontracting or consignment of the service or supply to a
 2440  third party is prohibited.
 2441         3. Notwithstanding subparagraph 2., a durable medical
 2442  equipment provider may store nebulizers at a physician’s office
 2443  for the purpose of having the physician’s staff issue the
 2444  equipment if it meets all of the following conditions:
 2445         a. The physician must document the medical necessity and
 2446  need to prevent further deterioration of the patient’s
 2447  respiratory status by the timely delivery of the nebulizer in
 2448  the physician’s office.
 2449         b. The durable medical equipment provider must have written
 2450  documentation of the competency and training by a Florida
 2451  licensed registered respiratory therapist of any durable medical
 2452  equipment staff who participate in the training of physician
 2453  office staff for the use of nebulizers, including cleaning,
 2454  warranty, and special needs of patients.
 2455         c. The physician’s office must have documented the training
 2456  and competency of any staff member who initiates the delivery of
 2457  nebulizers to patients. The durable medical equipment provider
 2458  must maintain copies of all physician office training.
 2459         d. The physician’s office must maintain inventory records
 2460  of stored nebulizers, including documentation of the durable
 2461  medical equipment provider source.
 2462         e. A physician contracted with a Medicaid durable medical
 2463  equipment provider may not have a financial relationship with
 2464  that provider or receive any financial gain from the delivery of
 2465  nebulizers to patients.
 2466         4. Providers must have a physical business location and a
 2467  functional landline business phone. The location must be within
 2468  the state or not more than 50 miles from the Florida state line.
 2469  The agency may make exceptions for providers of durable medical
 2470  equipment or supplies not otherwise available from other
 2471  enrolled providers located within the state.
 2472         5. Physical business locations must be clearly identified
 2473  as a business that furnishes durable medical equipment or
 2474  medical supplies by signage that can be read from 20 feet away.
 2475  The location must be readily accessible to the public during
 2476  normal, posted business hours and must operate at least 5 hours
 2477  per day and at least 5 days per week, with the exception of
 2478  scheduled and posted holidays. The location may not be located
 2479  within or at the same numbered street address as another
 2480  enrolled Medicaid durable medical equipment or medical supply
 2481  provider or as an enrolled Medicaid pharmacy that is also
 2482  enrolled as a durable medical equipment provider. A licensed
 2483  orthotist or prosthetist that provides only orthotic or
 2484  prosthetic devices as a Medicaid durable medical equipment
 2485  provider is exempt from this paragraph.
 2486         6. Providers must maintain a stock of durable medical
 2487  equipment and medical supplies on site that is readily available
 2488  to meet the needs of the durable medical equipment business
 2489  location’s customers.
 2490         7. Providers must provide a surety bond of $50,000 for each
 2491  provider location, up to a maximum of 5 bonds statewide or an
 2492  aggregate bond of $250,000 statewide, as identified by Federal
 2493  Employer Identification Number. Providers who post a statewide
 2494  or an aggregate bond must identify all of their locations in any
 2495  Medicaid durable medical equipment and medical supply provider
 2496  enrollment application or bond renewal. Each provider location’s
 2497  surety bond must be renewed annually and the provider must
 2498  submit proof of renewal even if the original bond is a
 2499  continuous bond. A licensed orthotist or prosthetist that
 2500  provides only orthotic or prosthetic devices as a Medicaid
 2501  durable medical equipment provider is exempt from the provisions
 2502  in this paragraph.
 2503         8. Providers must obtain a level 2 background screening, in
 2504  accordance with chapter 435 and s. 408.809, for each provider
 2505  employee in direct contact with or providing direct services to
 2506  recipients of durable medical equipment and medical supplies in
 2507  their homes. This requirement includes, but is not limited to,
 2508  repair and service technicians, fitters, and delivery staff. The
 2509  provider shall pay for the cost of the background screening.
 2510         9. The following providers are exempt from subparagraphs 1.
 2511  and 7.:
 2512         a. Durable medical equipment providers owned and operated
 2513  by a government entity.
 2514         b. Durable medical equipment providers that are operating
 2515  within a pharmacy that is currently enrolled as a Medicaid
 2516  pharmacy provider.
 2517         c. Active, Medicaid-enrolled orthopedic physician groups,
 2518  primarily owned by physicians, which provide only orthotic and
 2519  prosthetic devices.
 2520         (46)(49) The agency shall contract with established
 2521  minority physician networks that provide services to
 2522  historically underserved minority patients. The networks must
 2523  provide cost-effective Medicaid services, comply with the
 2524  requirements to be a MediPass provider, and provide their
 2525  primary care physicians with access to data and other management
 2526  tools necessary to assist them in ensuring the appropriate use
 2527  of services, including inpatient hospital services and
 2528  pharmaceuticals.
 2529         (a) The agency shall provide for the development and
 2530  expansion of minority physician networks in each service area to
 2531  provide services to Medicaid recipients who are eligible to
 2532  participate under federal law and rules.
 2533         (b) The agency shall reimburse each minority physician
 2534  network as a fee-for-service provider, including the case
 2535  management fee for primary care, if any, or as a capitated rate
 2536  provider for Medicaid services. Any savings shall be shared with
 2537  the minority physician networks pursuant to the contract.
 2538         (c) For purposes of this subsection, the term “cost
 2539  effective” means that a network’s per-member, per-month costs to
 2540  the state, including, but not limited to, fee-for-service costs,
 2541  administrative costs, and case-management fees, if any, must be
 2542  no greater than the state’s costs associated with contracts for
 2543  Medicaid services established under subsection (3), which shall
 2544  be actuarially adjusted for case mix, model, and service area.
 2545  The agency shall conduct actuarially sound audits adjusted for
 2546  case mix and model in order to ensure such cost-effectiveness
 2547  and shall annually publish the audit results on its Internet
 2548  website. Contracts established pursuant to this subsection which
 2549  are not cost-effective may not be renewed.
 2550         (d) The agency may apply for any federal waivers needed to
 2551  implement this subsection.
 2552  
 2553  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 2554         (47)(50) To the extent permitted by federal law and as
 2555  allowed under s. 409.906, the agency shall provide reimbursement
 2556  for emergency mental health care services for Medicaid
 2557  recipients in crisis stabilization facilities licensed under s.
 2558  394.875 as long as those services are less expensive than the
 2559  same services provided in a hospital setting.
 2560         (48)(51) The agency shall work with the Agency for Persons
 2561  with Disabilities to develop a home and community-based waiver
 2562  to serve children and adults who are diagnosed with familial
 2563  dysautonomia or Riley-Day syndrome caused by a mutation of the
 2564  IKBKAP gene on chromosome 9. The agency shall seek federal
 2565  waiver approval and implement the approved waiver subject to the
 2566  availability of funds and any limitations provided in the
 2567  General Appropriations Act. The agency may adopt rules to
 2568  implement this waiver program.
 2569         (49)(52) The agency shall implement a program of all
 2570  inclusive care for children. The program of all-inclusive care
 2571  for children shall be established to provide in-home hospice
 2572  like support services to children diagnosed with a life
 2573  threatening illness and enrolled in the Children’s Medical
 2574  Services network to reduce hospitalizations as appropriate. The
 2575  agency, in consultation with the Department of Health, may
 2576  implement the program of all-inclusive care for children after
 2577  obtaining approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
 2578  Services.
 2579         (50)(53) Before seeking an amendment to the state plan for
 2580  purposes of implementing programs authorized by the Deficit
 2581  Reduction Act of 2005, the agency shall notify the Legislature.
 2582         (51) The agency may not pay for psychotropic medication
 2583  prescribed for a child in the Medicaid program without the
 2584  express and informed consent of the child’s parent or legal
 2585  guardian. The physician shall document the consent in the
 2586  child’s medical record and provide the pharmacy with a signed
 2587  attestation of this documentation with the prescription. The
 2588  express and informed consent or court authorization for a
 2589  prescription of psychotropic medication for a child in the
 2590  custody of the Department of Children and Family Services shall
 2591  be obtained pursuant to s. 39.407.
 2592         Section 18. Section 409.91207, Florida Statutes, is
 2593  repealed.
 2594         Section 19. Paragraphs (e), (l), (p), (w), and (dd) of
 2595  subsection (3) of section 409.91211, Florida Statutes, are
 2596  amended to read:
 2597         409.91211 Medicaid managed care pilot program.—
 2598         (3) The agency shall have the following powers, duties, and
 2599  responsibilities with respect to the pilot program:
 2600         (e) To implement policies and guidelines for phasing in
 2601  financial risk for approved provider service networks that, for
 2602  purposes of this paragraph, include the Children’s Medical
 2603  Services Network, over the period of the waiver and the
 2604  extension thereof. These policies and guidelines must include an
 2605  option for a provider service network to be paid fee-for-service
 2606  rates. For any provider service network established in a managed
 2607  care pilot area, the option to be paid fee-for-service rates
 2608  must include a savings-settlement mechanism that is consistent
 2609  with s. 409.912(42)(44). This model must be converted to a risk
 2610  adjusted capitated rate by the beginning of the final year of
 2611  operation under the waiver extension, and may be converted
 2612  earlier at the option of the provider service network. Federally
 2613  qualified health centers may be offered an opportunity to accept
 2614  or decline a contract to participate in any provider network for
 2615  prepaid primary care services.
 2616         (l) To implement a system that prohibits capitated managed
 2617  care plans, their representatives, and providers employed by or
 2618  contracted with the capitated managed care plans from recruiting
 2619  persons eligible for or enrolled in Medicaid, from providing
 2620  inducements to Medicaid recipients to select a particular
 2621  capitated managed care plan, and from prejudicing Medicaid
 2622  recipients against other capitated managed care plans. The
 2623  system shall require the entity performing choice counseling to
 2624  determine if the recipient has made a choice of a plan or has
 2625  opted out because of duress, threats, payment to the recipient,
 2626  or incentives promised to the recipient by a third party. If the
 2627  choice counseling entity determines that the decision to choose
 2628  a plan was unlawfully influenced or a plan violated any of the
 2629  provisions of s. 409.912(20)(21), the choice counseling entity
 2630  shall immediately report the violation to the agency’s program
 2631  integrity section for investigation. Verification of choice
 2632  counseling by the recipient shall include a stipulation that the
 2633  recipient acknowledges the provisions of this subsection.
 2634         (p) To implement standards for plan compliance, including,
 2635  but not limited to, standards for quality assurance and
 2636  performance improvement, standards for peer or professional
 2637  reviews, grievance policies, and policies for maintaining
 2638  program integrity. The agency shall develop a data-reporting
 2639  system, seek input from managed care plans in order to establish
 2640  requirements for patient-encounter reporting, and ensure that
 2641  the data reported is accurate and complete.
 2642         1. In performing the duties required under this section,
 2643  the agency shall work with managed care plans to establish a
 2644  uniform system to measure and monitor outcomes for a recipient
 2645  of Medicaid services.
 2646         2. The system shall use financial, clinical, and other
 2647  criteria based on pharmacy, medical services, and other data
 2648  that is related to the provision of Medicaid services,
 2649  including, but not limited to:
 2650         a. The Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set
 2651  (HEDIS) or measures that are similar to HEDIS.
 2652         b. Member satisfaction.
 2653         c. Provider satisfaction.
 2654         d. Report cards on plan performance and best practices.
 2655         e. Compliance with the requirements for prompt payment of
 2656  claims under ss. 627.613, 641.3155, and 641.513.
 2657         f. Utilization and quality data for the purpose of ensuring
 2658  access to medically necessary services, including
 2659  underutilization or inappropriate denial of services.
 2660         3. The agency shall require the managed care plans that
 2661  have contracted with the agency to establish a quality assurance
 2662  system that incorporates the provisions of s. 409.912(26)(27)
 2663  and any standards, rules, and guidelines developed by the
 2664  agency.
 2665         4. The agency shall establish an encounter database in
 2666  order to compile data on health services rendered by health care
 2667  practitioners who provide services to patients enrolled in
 2668  managed care plans in the demonstration sites. The encounter
 2669  database shall:
 2670         a. Collect the following for each type of patient encounter
 2671  with a health care practitioner or facility, including:
 2672         (I) The demographic characteristics of the patient.
 2673         (II) The principal, secondary, and tertiary diagnosis.
 2674         (III) The procedure performed.
 2675         (IV) The date and location where the procedure was
 2676  performed.
 2677         (V) The payment for the procedure, if any.
 2678         (VI) If applicable, the health care practitioner’s
 2679  universal identification number.
 2680         (VII) If the health care practitioner rendering the service
 2681  is a dependent practitioner, the modifiers appropriate to
 2682  indicate that the service was delivered by the dependent
 2683  practitioner.
 2684         b. Collect appropriate information relating to prescription
 2685  drugs for each type of patient encounter.
 2686         c. Collect appropriate information related to health care
 2687  costs and utilization from managed care plans participating in
 2688  the demonstration sites.
 2689         5. To the extent practicable, when collecting the data the
 2690  agency shall use a standardized claim form or electronic
 2691  transfer system that is used by health care practitioners,
 2692  facilities, and payors.
 2693         6. Health care practitioners and facilities in the
 2694  demonstration sites shall electronically submit, and managed
 2695  care plans participating in the demonstration sites shall
 2696  electronically receive, information concerning claims payments
 2697  and any other information reasonably related to the encounter
 2698  database using a standard format as required by the agency.
 2699         7. The agency shall establish reasonable deadlines for
 2700  phasing in the electronic transmittal of full encounter data.
 2701         8. The system must ensure that the data reported is
 2702  accurate and complete.
 2703         (w) To implement procedures to minimize the risk of
 2704  Medicaid fraud and abuse in all plans operating in the Medicaid
 2705  managed care pilot program authorized in this section.
 2706         1. The agency shall ensure that applicable provisions of
 2707  this chapter and chapters 414, 626, 641, and 932 which relate to
 2708  Medicaid fraud and abuse are applied and enforced at the
 2709  demonstration project sites.
 2710         2. Providers must have the certification, license, and
 2711  credentials that are required by law and waiver requirements.
 2712         3. The agency shall ensure that the plan is in compliance
 2713  with s. 409.912(20) and (21) and (22).
 2714         4. The agency shall require that each plan establish
 2715  functions and activities governing program integrity in order to
 2716  reduce the incidence of fraud and abuse. Plans must report
 2717  instances of fraud and abuse pursuant to chapter 641.
 2718         5. The plan shall have written administrative and
 2719  management arrangements or procedures, including a mandatory
 2720  compliance plan, which are designed to guard against fraud and
 2721  abuse. The plan shall designate a compliance officer who has
 2722  sufficient experience in health care.
 2723         6.a. The agency shall require all managed care plan
 2724  contractors in the pilot program to report all instances of
 2725  suspected fraud and abuse. A failure to report instances of
 2726  suspected fraud and abuse is a violation of law and subject to
 2727  the penalties provided by law.
 2728         b. An instance of fraud and abuse in the managed care plan,
 2729  including, but not limited to, defrauding the state health care
 2730  benefit program by misrepresentation of fact in reports, claims,
 2731  certifications, enrollment claims, demographic statistics, or
 2732  patient-encounter data; misrepresentation of the qualifications
 2733  of persons rendering health care and ancillary services; bribery
 2734  and false statements relating to the delivery of health care;
 2735  unfair and deceptive marketing practices; and false claims
 2736  actions in the provision of managed care, is a violation of law
 2737  and subject to the penalties provided by law.
 2738         c. The agency shall require that all contractors make all
 2739  files and relevant billing and claims data accessible to state
 2740  regulators and investigators and that all such data is linked
 2741  into a unified system to ensure consistent reviews and
 2742  investigations.
 2743         (dd) To implement service delivery mechanisms within a
 2744  specialty plan in area 10 to provide behavioral health care
 2745  services to Medicaid-eligible children whose cases are open for
 2746  child welfare services in the HomeSafeNet system. These services
 2747  must be coordinated with community-based care providers as
 2748  specified in s. 409.1671, where available, and be sufficient to
 2749  meet the developmental, behavioral, and emotional needs of these
 2750  children. Children in area 10 who have an open case in the
 2751  HomeSafeNet system shall be enrolled into the specialty plan.
 2752  These service delivery mechanisms must be implemented no later
 2753  than July 1, 2011, in AHCA area 10 in order for the children in
 2754  AHCA area 10 to remain exempt from the statewide plan under s.
 2755  409.912(4)(b)5.8. An administrative fee may be paid to the
 2756  specialty plan for the coordination of services based on the
 2757  receipt of the state share of that fee being provided through
 2758  intergovernmental transfers.
 2759         Section 20. Effective October 1, 2014, section 409.91211,
 2760  Florida Statutes, is repealed.
 2761         Section 21. Section 409.9122, Florida Statutes, is amended
 2762  to read:
 2763         409.9122 Mandatory Medicaid managed care enrollment;
 2764  programs and procedures.—
 2765         (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that the MediPass
 2766  program be cost-effective, provide quality health care, and
 2767  improve access to health services, and that the program be
 2768  statewide. This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 2769         (2)(a) The agency shall enroll in a managed care plan or
 2770  MediPass all Medicaid recipients, except those Medicaid
 2771  recipients who are: in an institution; enrolled in the Medicaid
 2772  medically needy program; or eligible for both Medicaid and
 2773  Medicare. Upon enrollment, individuals will be able to change
 2774  their managed care option during the 90-day opt out period
 2775  required by federal Medicaid regulations. The agency is
 2776  authorized to seek the necessary Medicaid state plan amendment
 2777  to implement this policy. However, to the extent permitted by
 2778  federal law, the agency may enroll in a managed care plan or
 2779  MediPass a Medicaid recipient who is exempt from mandatory
 2780  managed care enrollment, provided that:
 2781         1. The recipient’s decision to enroll in a managed care
 2782  plan or MediPass is voluntary;
 2783         2. If the recipient chooses to enroll in a managed care
 2784  plan, the agency has determined that the managed care plan
 2785  provides specific programs and services which address the
 2786  special health needs of the recipient; and
 2787         3. The agency receives any necessary waivers from the
 2788  federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
 2789  
 2790  The agency shall develop rules to establish policies by which
 2791  exceptions to the mandatory managed care enrollment requirement
 2792  may be made on a case-by-case basis. The rules shall include the
 2793  specific criteria to be applied when making a determination as
 2794  to whether to exempt a recipient from mandatory enrollment in a
 2795  managed care plan or MediPass. School districts participating in
 2796  the certified school match program pursuant to ss. 409.908(21)
 2797  and 1011.70 shall be reimbursed by Medicaid, subject to the
 2798  limitations of s. 1011.70(1), for a Medicaid-eligible child
 2799  participating in the services as authorized in s. 1011.70, as
 2800  provided for in s. 409.9071, regardless of whether the child is
 2801  enrolled in MediPass or a managed care plan. Managed care plans
 2802  shall make a good faith effort to execute agreements with school
 2803  districts regarding the coordinated provision of services
 2804  authorized under s. 1011.70. County health departments
 2805  delivering school-based services pursuant to ss. 381.0056 and
 2806  381.0057 shall be reimbursed by Medicaid for the federal share
 2807  for a Medicaid-eligible child who receives Medicaid-covered
 2808  services in a school setting, regardless of whether the child is
 2809  enrolled in MediPass or a managed care plan. Managed care plans
 2810  shall make a good faith effort to execute agreements with county
 2811  health departments regarding the coordinated provision of
 2812  services to a Medicaid-eligible child. To ensure continuity of
 2813  care for Medicaid patients, the agency, the Department of
 2814  Health, and the Department of Education shall develop procedures
 2815  for ensuring that a student’s managed care plan or MediPass
 2816  provider receives information relating to services provided in
 2817  accordance with ss. 381.0056, 381.0057, 409.9071, and 1011.70.
 2818         (b) A Medicaid recipient shall not be enrolled in or
 2819  assigned to a managed care plan or MediPass unless the managed
 2820  care plan or MediPass has complied with the quality-of-care
 2821  standards specified in paragraphs (3)(a) and (b), respectively.
 2822         (c) Medicaid recipients shall have a choice of managed care
 2823  plans or MediPass. The Agency for Health Care Administration,
 2824  the Department of Health, the Department of Children and Family
 2825  Services, and the Department of Elderly Affairs shall cooperate
 2826  to ensure that each Medicaid recipient receives clear and easily
 2827  understandable information that meets the following
 2828  requirements:
 2829         1. Explains the concept of managed care, including
 2830  MediPass.
 2831         2. Provides information on the comparative performance of
 2832  managed care plans and MediPass in the areas of quality,
 2833  credentialing, preventive health programs, network size and
 2834  availability, and patient satisfaction.
 2835         3. Explains where additional information on each managed
 2836  care plan and MediPass in the recipient’s area can be obtained.
 2837         4. Explains that recipients have the right to choose their
 2838  managed care coverage at the time they first enroll in Medicaid
 2839  and again at regular intervals set by the agency. However, if a
 2840  recipient does not choose a managed care plan or MediPass, the
 2841  agency will assign the recipient to a managed care plan or
 2842  MediPass according to the criteria specified in this section.
 2843         5. Explains the recipient’s right to complain, file a
 2844  grievance, or change managed care plans or MediPass providers if
 2845  the recipient is not satisfied with the managed care plan or
 2846  MediPass.
 2847         (d) The agency shall develop a mechanism for providing
 2848  information to Medicaid recipients for the purpose of making a
 2849  managed care plan or MediPass selection. Examples of such
 2850  mechanisms may include, but not be limited to, interactive
 2851  information systems, mailings, and mass marketing materials.
 2852  Managed care plans and MediPass providers are prohibited from
 2853  providing inducements to Medicaid recipients to select their
 2854  plans or from prejudicing Medicaid recipients against other
 2855  managed care plans or MediPass providers.
 2856         (e) Medicaid recipients who are already enrolled in a
 2857  managed care plan or MediPass shall be offered the opportunity
 2858  to change managed care plans or MediPass providers on a
 2859  staggered basis, as defined by the agency. All Medicaid
 2860  recipients shall have 30 days in which to make a choice of
 2861  managed care plans or MediPass providers. Those Medicaid
 2862  recipients who do not make a choice shall be assigned in
 2863  accordance with paragraph (f). To facilitate continuity of care,
 2864  for a Medicaid recipient who is also a recipient of Supplemental
 2865  Security Income (SSI), prior to assigning the SSI recipient to a
 2866  managed care plan or MediPass, the agency shall determine
 2867  whether the SSI recipient has an ongoing relationship with a
 2868  MediPass provider or managed care plan, and if so, the agency
 2869  shall assign the SSI recipient to that MediPass provider or
 2870  managed care plan. Those SSI recipients who do not have such a
 2871  provider relationship shall be assigned to a managed care plan
 2872  or MediPass provider in accordance with paragraph (f).
 2873         (f) If a Medicaid recipient does not choose a managed care
 2874  plan or MediPass provider, the agency shall assign the Medicaid
 2875  recipient to a managed care plan or MediPass provider. Medicaid
 2876  recipients eligible for managed care plan enrollment who are
 2877  subject to mandatory assignment but who fail to make a choice
 2878  shall be assigned to managed care plans until an enrollment of
 2879  35 percent in MediPass and 65 percent in managed care plans, of
 2880  all those eligible to choose managed care, is achieved. Once
 2881  this enrollment is achieved, the assignments shall be divided in
 2882  order to maintain an enrollment in MediPass and managed care
 2883  plans which is in a 35 percent and 65 percent proportion,
 2884  respectively. Thereafter, assignment of Medicaid recipients who
 2885  fail to make a choice shall be based proportionally on the
 2886  preferences of recipients who have made a choice in the previous
 2887  period. Such proportions shall be revised at least quarterly to
 2888  reflect an update of the preferences of Medicaid recipients. The
 2889  agency shall disproportionately assign Medicaid-eligible
 2890  recipients who are required to but have failed to make a choice
 2891  of managed care plan or MediPass, including children, and who
 2892  would be assigned to the MediPass program to the children’s
 2893  networks as described in s. 409.912(4)(g), Children’s Medical
 2894  Services Network as defined in s. 391.021, exclusive provider
 2895  organizations, provider service networks, minority physician
 2896  networks, and pediatric emergency department diversion programs
 2897  authorized by this chapter or the General Appropriations Act, in
 2898  such manner as the agency deems appropriate, until the agency
 2899  has determined that the networks and programs have sufficient
 2900  numbers to be operated economically. For purposes of this
 2901  paragraph, when referring to assignment, the term “managed care
 2902  plans” includes health maintenance organizations, exclusive
 2903  provider organizations, provider service networks, minority
 2904  physician networks, Children’s Medical Services Network, and
 2905  pediatric emergency department diversion programs authorized by
 2906  this chapter or the General Appropriations Act. When making
 2907  assignments, the agency shall take into account the following
 2908  criteria:
 2909         1. A managed care plan has sufficient network capacity to
 2910  meet the need of members.
 2911         2. The managed care plan or MediPass has previously
 2912  enrolled the recipient as a member, or one of the managed care
 2913  plan’s primary care providers or MediPass providers has
 2914  previously provided health care to the recipient.
 2915         3. The agency has knowledge that the member has previously
 2916  expressed a preference for a particular managed care plan or
 2917  MediPass provider as indicated by Medicaid fee-for-service
 2918  claims data, but has failed to make a choice.
 2919         4. The managed care plan’s or MediPass primary care
 2920  providers are geographically accessible to the recipient’s
 2921  residence.
 2922         (g) When more than one managed care plan or MediPass
 2923  provider meets the criteria specified in paragraph (f), the
 2924  agency shall make recipient assignments consecutively by family
 2925  unit.
 2926         (h) The agency may not engage in practices that are
 2927  designed to favor one managed care plan over another or that are
 2928  designed to influence Medicaid recipients to enroll in MediPass
 2929  rather than in a managed care plan or to enroll in a managed
 2930  care plan rather than in MediPass. This subsection does not
 2931  prohibit the agency from reporting on the performance of
 2932  MediPass or any managed care plan, as measured by performance
 2933  criteria developed by the agency.
 2934         (i) After a recipient has made his or her selection or has
 2935  been enrolled in a managed care plan or MediPass, the recipient
 2936  shall have 90 days to exercise the opportunity to voluntarily
 2937  disenroll and select another managed care plan or MediPass.
 2938  After 90 days, no further changes may be made except for good
 2939  cause. Good cause includes, but is not limited to, poor quality
 2940  of care, lack of access to necessary specialty services, an
 2941  unreasonable delay or denial of service, or fraudulent
 2942  enrollment. The agency shall develop criteria for good cause
 2943  disenrollment for chronically ill and disabled populations who
 2944  are assigned to managed care plans if more appropriate care is
 2945  available through the MediPass program. The agency must make a
 2946  determination as to whether cause exists. However, the agency
 2947  may require a recipient to use the managed care plan’s or
 2948  MediPass grievance process prior to the agency’s determination
 2949  of cause, except in cases in which immediate risk of permanent
 2950  damage to the recipient’s health is alleged. The grievance
 2951  process, when utilized, must be completed in time to permit the
 2952  recipient to disenroll by the first day of the second month
 2953  after the month the disenrollment request was made. If the
 2954  managed care plan or MediPass, as a result of the grievance
 2955  process, approves an enrollee’s request to disenroll, the agency
 2956  is not required to make a determination in the case. The agency
 2957  must make a determination and take final action on a recipient’s
 2958  request so that disenrollment occurs no later than the first day
 2959  of the second month after the month the request was made. If the
 2960  agency fails to act within the specified timeframe, the
 2961  recipient’s request to disenroll is deemed to be approved as of
 2962  the date agency action was required. Recipients who disagree
 2963  with the agency’s finding that cause does not exist for
 2964  disenrollment shall be advised of their right to pursue a
 2965  Medicaid fair hearing to dispute the agency’s finding.
 2966         (j) The agency shall apply for a federal waiver from the
 2967  Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to lock eligible
 2968  Medicaid recipients into a managed care plan or MediPass for 12
 2969  months after an open enrollment period. After 12 months’
 2970  enrollment, a recipient may select another managed care plan or
 2971  MediPass provider. However, nothing shall prevent a Medicaid
 2972  recipient from changing primary care providers within the
 2973  managed care plan or MediPass program during the 12-month
 2974  period.
 2975         (k) When a Medicaid recipient does not choose a managed
 2976  care plan or MediPass provider, the agency shall assign the
 2977  Medicaid recipient to a managed care plan, except in those
 2978  counties in which there are fewer than two managed care plans
 2979  accepting Medicaid enrollees, in which case assignment shall be
 2980  to a managed care plan or a MediPass provider. Medicaid
 2981  recipients in counties with fewer than two managed care plans
 2982  accepting Medicaid enrollees who are subject to mandatory
 2983  assignment but who fail to make a choice shall be assigned to
 2984  managed care plans until an enrollment of 35 percent in MediPass
 2985  and 65 percent in managed care plans, of all those eligible to
 2986  choose managed care, is achieved. Once that enrollment is
 2987  achieved, the assignments shall be divided in order to maintain
 2988  an enrollment in MediPass and managed care plans which is in a
 2989  35 percent and 65 percent proportion, respectively. For purposes
 2990  of this paragraph, when referring to assignment, the term
 2991  “managed care plans” includes exclusive provider organizations,
 2992  provider service networks, Children’s Medical Services Network,
 2993  minority physician networks, and pediatric emergency department
 2994  diversion programs authorized by this chapter or the General
 2995  Appropriations Act. When making assignments, the agency shall
 2996  take into account the following criteria:
 2997         1. A managed care plan has sufficient network capacity to
 2998  meet the need of members.
 2999         2. The managed care plan or MediPass has previously
 3000  enrolled the recipient as a member, or one of the managed care
 3001  plan’s primary care providers or MediPass providers has
 3002  previously provided health care to the recipient.
 3003         3. The agency has knowledge that the member has previously
 3004  expressed a preference for a particular managed care plan or
 3005  MediPass provider as indicated by Medicaid fee-for-service
 3006  claims data, but has failed to make a choice.
 3007         4. The managed care plan’s or MediPass primary care
 3008  providers are geographically accessible to the recipient’s
 3009  residence.
 3010         5. The agency has authority to make mandatory assignments
 3011  based on quality of service and performance of managed care
 3012  plans.
 3013         (l) If the Medicaid recipient is diagnosed with HIV/AIDS
 3014  and resides in Broward, Miami-Dade, or Palm Beach Counties, the
 3015  agency shall assign the Medicaid recipient to a managed care
 3016  plan that is a health maintenance organization authorized under
 3017  chapter 641, is under contract with the agency on July 1, 2011,
 3018  and offers a delivery system through a university-based teaching
 3019  and research-oriented organization that specializes in providing
 3020  health care services and treatment for individuals diagnosed
 3021  with HIV/AIDS.
 3022         (m)(l) Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter 287, the
 3023  agency may, at its discretion, renew cost-effective contracts
 3024  for choice counseling services once or more for such periods as
 3025  the agency may decide. However, all such renewals may not
 3026  combine to exceed a total period longer than the term of the
 3027  original contract.
 3028  
 3029  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 3030         (3)(a) The agency shall establish quality-of-care standards
 3031  for managed care plans. These standards shall be based upon, but
 3032  are not limited to:
 3033         1. Compliance with the accreditation requirements as
 3034  provided in s. 641.512.
 3035         2. Compliance with Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis,
 3036  and Treatment screening requirements.
 3037         3. The percentage of voluntary disenrollments.
 3038         4. Immunization rates.
 3039         5. Standards of the National Committee for Quality
 3040  Assurance and other approved accrediting bodies.
 3041         6. Recommendations of other authoritative bodies.
 3042         7. Specific requirements of the Medicaid program, or
 3043  standards designed to specifically assist the unique needs of
 3044  Medicaid recipients.
 3045         8. Compliance with the health quality improvement system as
 3046  established by the agency, which incorporates standards and
 3047  guidelines developed by the Medicaid Bureau of the Health Care
 3048  Financing Administration as part of the quality assurance reform
 3049  initiative.
 3050         (b) For the MediPass program, the agency shall establish
 3051  standards which are based upon, but are not limited to:
 3052         1. Quality-of-care standards which are comparable to those
 3053  required of managed care plans.
 3054         2. Credentialing standards for MediPass providers.
 3055         3. Compliance with Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis,
 3056  and Treatment screening requirements.
 3057         4. Immunization rates.
 3058         5. Specific requirements of the Medicaid program, or
 3059  standards designed to specifically assist the unique needs of
 3060  Medicaid recipients.
 3061  
 3062  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 3063         (4)(a) Each female recipient may select as her primary care
 3064  provider an obstetrician/gynecologist who has agreed to
 3065  participate as a MediPass primary care case manager.
 3066         (b) The agency shall establish a complaints and grievance
 3067  process to assist Medicaid recipients enrolled in the MediPass
 3068  program to resolve complaints and grievances. The agency shall
 3069  investigate reports of quality-of-care grievances which remain
 3070  unresolved to the satisfaction of the enrollee.
 3071  
 3072  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 3073         (5)(a) The agency shall work cooperatively with the Social
 3074  Security Administration to identify beneficiaries who are
 3075  jointly eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and shall develop
 3076  cooperative programs to encourage these beneficiaries to enroll
 3077  in a Medicare participating health maintenance organization or
 3078  prepaid health plans.
 3079         (b) The agency shall work cooperatively with the Department
 3080  of Elderly Affairs to assess the potential cost-effectiveness of
 3081  providing MediPass to beneficiaries who are jointly eligible for
 3082  Medicare and Medicaid on a voluntary choice basis. If the agency
 3083  determines that enrollment of these beneficiaries in MediPass
 3084  has the potential for being cost-effective for the state, the
 3085  agency shall offer MediPass to these beneficiaries on a
 3086  voluntary choice basis in the counties where MediPass operates.
 3087  
 3088  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 3089         (6) MediPass enrolled recipients may receive up to 10
 3090  visits of reimbursable services by participating Medicaid
 3091  physicians licensed under chapter 460 and up to four visits of
 3092  reimbursable services by participating Medicaid physicians
 3093  licensed under chapter 461. Any further visits must be by prior
 3094  authorization by the MediPass primary care provider. However,
 3095  nothing in this subsection may be construed to increase the
 3096  total number of visits or the total amount of dollars per year
 3097  per person under current Medicaid rules, unless otherwise
 3098  provided for in the General Appropriations Act. This subsection
 3099  expires October 1, 2014.
 3100         (7) The agency shall investigate the feasibility of
 3101  developing managed care plan and MediPass options for the
 3102  following groups of Medicaid recipients:
 3103         (a) Pregnant women and infants.
 3104         (b) Elderly and disabled recipients, especially those who
 3105  are at risk of nursing home placement.
 3106         (c) Persons with developmental disabilities.
 3107         (d) Qualified Medicare beneficiaries.
 3108         (e) Adults who have chronic, high-cost medical conditions.
 3109         (f) Adults and children who have mental health problems.
 3110         (g) Other recipients for whom managed care plans and
 3111  MediPass offer the opportunity of more cost-effective care and
 3112  greater access to qualified providers.
 3113         (8)(a) The agency shall encourage the development of public
 3114  and private partnerships to foster the growth of health
 3115  maintenance organizations and prepaid health plans that will
 3116  provide high-quality health care to Medicaid recipients.
 3117         (b) Subject to the availability of moneys and any
 3118  limitations established by the General Appropriations Act or
 3119  chapter 216, the agency is authorized to enter into contracts
 3120  with traditional providers of health care to low-income persons
 3121  to assist such providers with the technical aspects of
 3122  cooperatively developing Medicaid prepaid health plans.
 3123         1. The agency may contract with disproportionate share
 3124  hospitals, county health departments, federally initiated or
 3125  federally funded community health centers, and counties that
 3126  operate either a hospital or a community clinic.
 3127         2. A contract may not be for more than $100,000 per year,
 3128  and no contract may be extended with any particular provider for
 3129  more than 2 years. The contract is intended only as seed or
 3130  development funding and requires a commitment from the
 3131  interested party.
 3132         3. A contract must require participation by at least one
 3133  community health clinic and one disproportionate share hospital.
 3134         (7)(9)(a) The agency shall develop and implement a
 3135  comprehensive plan to ensure that recipients are adequately
 3136  informed of their choices and rights under all Medicaid managed
 3137  care programs and that Medicaid managed care programs meet
 3138  acceptable standards of quality in patient care, patient
 3139  satisfaction, and financial solvency.
 3140         (b) The agency shall provide adequate means for informing
 3141  patients of their choice and rights under a managed care plan at
 3142  the time of eligibility determination.
 3143         (c) The agency shall require managed care plans and
 3144  MediPass providers to demonstrate and document plans and
 3145  activities, as defined by rule, including outreach and followup,
 3146  undertaken to ensure that Medicaid recipients receive the health
 3147  care service to which they are entitled.
 3148  
 3149  This subsection expires October 1, 2014.
 3150         (8)(10) The agency shall consult with Medicaid consumers
 3151  and their representatives on an ongoing basis regarding
 3152  measurements of patient satisfaction, procedures for resolving
 3153  patient grievances, standards for ensuring quality of care,
 3154  mechanisms for providing patient access to services, and
 3155  policies affecting patient care. This subsection expires October
 3156  1, 2014.
 3157         (9)(11) The agency may extend eligibility for Medicaid
 3158  recipients enrolled in licensed and accredited health
 3159  maintenance organizations for the duration of the enrollment
 3160  period or for 6 months, whichever is earlier, provided the
 3161  agency certifies that such an offer will not increase state
 3162  expenditures. This subsection expires October 1, 2013.
 3163         (10)(12) A managed care plan that has a Medicaid contract
 3164  shall at least annually review each primary care physician’s
 3165  active patient load and shall ensure that additional Medicaid
 3166  recipients are not assigned to physicians who have a total
 3167  active patient load of more than 3,000 patients. As used in this
 3168  subsection, the term “active patient” means a patient who is
 3169  seen by the same primary care physician, or by a physician
 3170  assistant or advanced registered nurse practitioner under the
 3171  supervision of the primary care physician, at least three times
 3172  within a calendar year. Each primary care physician shall
 3173  annually certify to the managed care plan whether or not his or
 3174  her patient load exceeds the limits established under this
 3175  subsection and the managed care plan shall accept such
 3176  certification on face value as compliance with this subsection.
 3177  The agency shall accept the managed care plan’s representations
 3178  that it is in compliance with this subsection based on the
 3179  certification of its primary care physicians, unless the agency
 3180  has an objective indication that access to primary care is being
 3181  compromised, such as receiving complaints or grievances relating
 3182  to access to care. If the agency determines that an objective
 3183  indication exists that access to primary care is being
 3184  compromised, it may verify the patient load certifications
 3185  submitted by the managed care plan’s primary care physicians and
 3186  that the managed care plan is not assigning Medicaid recipients
 3187  to primary care physicians who have an active patient load of
 3188  more than 3,000 patients. This subsection expires October 1,
 3189  2014.
 3190         (11)(13) Effective July 1, 2003, the agency shall adjust
 3191  the enrollee assignment process of Medicaid managed prepaid
 3192  health plans for those Medicaid managed prepaid plans operating
 3193  in Miami-Dade County which have executed a contract with the
 3194  agency for a minimum of 8 consecutive years in order for the
 3195  Medicaid managed prepaid plan to maintain a minimum enrollment
 3196  level of 15,000 members per month. When assigning enrollees
 3197  pursuant to this subsection, the agency shall give priority to
 3198  providers that initially qualified under this subsection until
 3199  such providers reach and maintain an enrollment level of 15,000
 3200  members per month. A prepaid health plan that has a statewide
 3201  Medicaid enrollment of 25,000 or more members is not eligible
 3202  for enrollee assignments under this subsection. This subsection
 3203  expires October 1, 2014.
 3204         (12)(14) The agency shall include in its calculation of the
 3205  hospital inpatient component of a Medicaid health maintenance
 3206  organization’s capitation rate any special payments, including,
 3207  but not limited to, upper payment limit or disproportionate
 3208  share hospital payments, made to qualifying hospitals through
 3209  the fee-for-service program. The agency may seek federal waiver
 3210  approval or state plan amendment as needed to implement this
 3211  adjustment.
 3212         (13) The agency shall develop a process to enable any
 3213  recipient with access to employer-sponsored health care coverage
 3214  to opt out of all eligible plans in the Medicaid program and to
 3215  use Medicaid financial assistance to pay for the recipient’s
 3216  share of cost in any such employer-sponsored coverage.
 3217  Contingent on federal approval, the agency shall also enable
 3218  recipients with access to other insurance or related products
 3219  that provide access to health care services created pursuant to
 3220  state law, including any plan or product available pursuant to
 3221  the Florida Health Choices Program or any health exchange, to
 3222  opt out. The amount of financial assistance provided for each
 3223  recipient may not exceed the amount of the Medicaid premium that
 3224  would have been paid to a plan for that recipient.
 3225         (14) The agency shall maintain and operate the Medicaid
 3226  Encounter Data System to collect, process, store, and report on
 3227  covered services provided to all Florida Medicaid recipients
 3228  enrolled in prepaid managed care plans.
 3229         (a) Prepaid managed care plans shall submit encounter data
 3230  electronically in a format that complies with the Health
 3231  Insurance Portability and Accountability Act provisions for
 3232  electronic claims and in accordance with deadlines established
 3233  by the agency. Prepaid managed care plans must certify that the
 3234  data reported is accurate and complete.
 3235         (b) The agency is responsible for validating the data
 3236  submitted by the plans. The agency shall develop methods and
 3237  protocols for ongoing analysis of the encounter data that
 3238  adjusts for differences in characteristics of prepaid plan
 3239  enrollees to allow comparison of service utilization among plans
 3240  and against expected levels of use. The analysis shall be used
 3241  to identify possible cases of systemic underutilization or
 3242  denials of claims and inappropriate service utilization such as
 3243  higher-than-expected emergency department encounters. The
 3244  analysis shall provide periodic feedback to the plans and enable
 3245  the agency to establish corrective action plans when necessary.
 3246  One of the focus areas for the analysis shall be the use of
 3247  prescription drugs.
 3248         (15) The agency may establish a per-member, per-month
 3249  payment for Medicare Advantage Special Needs members that are
 3250  also eligible for Medicaid as a mechanism for meeting the
 3251  state’s cost-sharing obligation. The agency may also develop a
 3252  per-member, per-month payment only for Medicaid-covered services
 3253  for which the state is responsible. The agency shall develop a
 3254  mechanism to ensure that such per-member, per-month payment
 3255  enhances the value to the state and enrolled members by limiting
 3256  cost sharing, enhances the scope of Medicare supplemental
 3257  benefits that are equal to or greater than Medicaid coverage for
 3258  select services, and improves care coordination.
 3259         (16) The agency shall establish, and managed care plans
 3260  shall use, a uniform method of accounting for and reporting
 3261  medical and nonmedical costs.
 3262         (a) Managed care plans shall submit financial data
 3263  electronically in a format that complies with the uniform
 3264  accounting procedures established by the agency. Managed care
 3265  plans must certify that the data reported is accurate and
 3266  complete.
 3267         (b) The agency is responsible for validating the financial
 3268  data submitted by the plans. The agency shall develop methods
 3269  and protocols for ongoing analysis of data that adjusts for
 3270  differences in characteristics of plan enrollees to allow
 3271  comparison among plans and against expected levels of
 3272  expenditures. The analysis shall be used to identify possible
 3273  cases of overspending on administrative costs or under spending
 3274  on medical services.
 3275         (17) The agency shall establish and maintain an information
 3276  system to make encounter data, financial data, and other
 3277  measures of plan performance to the public and any interested
 3278  party.
 3279         (a) Information submitted by the managed care plans shall
 3280  be available online as well as in other formats.
 3281         (b) Periodic agency reports shall be published that include
 3282  provide summary as well as plan specific measures of financial
 3283  performance and service utilization.
 3284         (c) Any release of the financial and encounter data
 3285  submitted by managed care plans shall ensure the confidentiality
 3286  of personal health information.
 3287         (18) The agency may, on a case-by-case basis, exempt a
 3288  recipient from mandatory enrollment in a managed care plan when
 3289  the recipient has a unique, time-limited disease or condition
 3290  related circumstance and managed care enrollment will interfere
 3291  with ongoing care because the recipient’s provider does not
 3292  participate in the managed care plans available in the
 3293  recipient’s area.
 3294         (19) The agency shall contract with a single provider
 3295  service network to function as a managing entity for the
 3296  MediPass program in all counties with fewer than two prepaid
 3297  plans. The contractor shall be responsible for implementing
 3298  preauthorization procedures, case management programs, and
 3299  utilization management initiatives in order to improve care
 3300  coordination and patient outcomes while reducing costs. The
 3301  contractor may earn an administrative fee, if the fee is less
 3302  than any savings determined by the reconciliation process
 3303  pursuant to s. 409.912(4)(d)1. This subsection expires October
 3304  1, 2014, or upon full implementation of the managed medical
 3305  assistance program, whichever is sooner.
 3306         (20) Subject to federal approval, the agency shall contract
 3307  with a single provider service network to function as a third
 3308  party administrator and managing entity for the Medically Needy
 3309  program in all counties. The contractor shall provide care
 3310  coordination and utilization management in order to achieve more
 3311  cost-effective services for Medically Needy enrollees. To
 3312  facilitate the care management functions of the provider service
 3313  network, enrollment in the network shall be for a continuous 6
 3314  month period or until the end of the contract between the
 3315  provider service network and the agency, whichever is sooner.
 3316  Beginning the second month after the determination of
 3317  eligibility, the contractor may collect a monthly premium from
 3318  each Medically Needy recipient provided the premium does not
 3319  exceed the enrollee’s share of cost as determined by the
 3320  Department of Children and Family Services. The contractor must
 3321  provide a 90-day grace period before disenrolling a Medically
 3322  Needy recipient for failure to pay premiums. The contractor may
 3323  earn an administrative fee, if the fee is less than any savings
 3324  determined by the reconciliation process pursuant to s.
 3325  409.912(4)(d)1. Premium revenue collected from the recipients
 3326  shall be deducted from the contractor’s earned savings. This
 3327  subsection expires October 1, 2014, or upon full implementation
 3328  of the managed medical assistance program, whichever is sooner.
 3329         Section 22. Subsection (15) of section 430.04, Florida
 3330  Statutes, is amended to read:
 3331         430.04 Duties and responsibilities of the Department of
 3332  Elderly Affairs.—The Department of Elderly Affairs shall:
 3333         (15) Administer all Medicaid waivers and programs relating
 3334  to elders and their appropriations. The waivers include, but are
 3335  not limited to:
 3336         (a) The Alzheimer’s Dementia-Specific Medicaid Waiver as
 3337  established in s. 430.502(7), (8), and (9).
 3338         (a)(b) The Assisted Living for the Frail Elderly Waiver.
 3339         (b)(c) The Aged and Disabled Adult Waiver.
 3340         (c)(d) The Adult Day Health Care Waiver.
 3341         (d)(e) The Consumer-Directed Care Plus Program as defined
 3342  in s. 409.221.
 3343         (e)(f) The Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly.
 3344         (f)(g) The Long-Term Care Community-Based Diversion Pilot
 3345  Project as described in s. 430.705.
 3346         (g)(h) The Channeling Services Waiver for Frail Elders.
 3347  
 3348  The department shall develop a transition plan for recipients
 3349  receiving services in long-term care Medicaid waivers for elders
 3350  or disabled adults on the date eligible plans become available
 3351  in each recipient’s region defined in s. 409.981(2) to enroll
 3352  those recipients in eligible plans. This subsection expires
 3353  October 1, 2014.
 3354         Section 23. Section 430.2053, Florida Statutes, is amended
 3355  to read:
 3356         430.2053 Aging resource centers.—
 3357         (1) The department, in consultation with the Agency for
 3358  Health Care Administration and the Department of Children and
 3359  Family Services, shall develop pilot projects for aging resource
 3360  centers. By October 31, 2004, the department, in consultation
 3361  with the agency and the Department of Children and Family
 3362  Services, shall develop an implementation plan for aging
 3363  resource centers and submit the plan to the Governor, the
 3364  President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
 3365  Representatives. The plan must include qualifications for
 3366  designation as a center, the functions to be performed by each
 3367  center, and a process for determining that a current area agency
 3368  on aging is ready to assume the functions of an aging resource
 3369  center.
 3370         (2) Each area agency on aging shall develop, in
 3371  consultation with the existing community care for the elderly
 3372  lead agencies within their planning and service areas, a
 3373  proposal that describes the process the area agency on aging
 3374  intends to undertake to transition to an aging resource center
 3375  prior to July 1, 2005, and that describes the area agency’s
 3376  compliance with the requirements of this section. The proposals
 3377  must be submitted to the department prior to December 31, 2004.
 3378  The department shall evaluate all proposals for readiness and,
 3379  prior to March 1, 2005, shall select three area agencies on
 3380  aging which meet the requirements of this section to begin the
 3381  transition to aging resource centers. Those area agencies on
 3382  aging which are not selected to begin the transition to aging
 3383  resource centers shall, in consultation with the department and
 3384  the existing community care for the elderly lead agencies within
 3385  their planning and service areas, amend their proposals as
 3386  necessary and resubmit them to the department prior to July 1,
 3387  2005. The department may transition additional area agencies to
 3388  aging resource centers as it determines that area agencies are
 3389  in compliance with the requirements of this section.
 3390         (3) The Auditor General and the Office of Program Policy
 3391  Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) shall jointly
 3392  review and assess the department’s process for determining an
 3393  area agency’s readiness to transition to an aging resource
 3394  center.
 3395         (a) The review must, at a minimum, address the
 3396  appropriateness of the department’s criteria for selection of an
 3397  area agency to transition to an aging resource center, the
 3398  instruments applied, the degree to which the department
 3399  accurately determined each area agency’s compliance with the
 3400  readiness criteria, the quality of the technical assistance
 3401  provided by the department to an area agency in correcting any
 3402  weaknesses identified in the readiness assessment, and the
 3403  degree to which each area agency overcame any identified
 3404  weaknesses.
 3405         (b) Reports of these reviews must be submitted to the
 3406  appropriate substantive and appropriations committees in the
 3407  Senate and the House of Representatives on March 1 and September
 3408  1 of each year until full transition to aging resource centers
 3409  has been accomplished statewide, except that the first report
 3410  must be submitted by February 1, 2005, and must address all
 3411  readiness activities undertaken through December 31, 2004. The
 3412  perspectives of all participants in this review process must be
 3413  included in each report.
 3414         (2)(4) The purposes of an aging resource center shall be:
 3415         (a) To provide Florida’s elders and their families with a
 3416  locally focused, coordinated approach to integrating information
 3417  and referral for all available services for elders with the
 3418  eligibility determination entities for state and federally
 3419  funded long-term-care services.
 3420         (b) To provide for easier access to long-term-care services
 3421  by Florida’s elders and their families by creating multiple
 3422  access points to the long-term-care network that flow through
 3423  one established entity with wide community recognition.
 3424         (3)(5) The duties of an aging resource center are to:
 3425         (a) Develop referral agreements with local community
 3426  service organizations, such as senior centers, existing elder
 3427  service providers, volunteer associations, and other similar
 3428  organizations, to better assist clients who do not need or do
 3429  not wish to enroll in programs funded by the department or the
 3430  agency. The referral agreements must also include a protocol,
 3431  developed and approved by the department, which provides
 3432  specific actions that an aging resource center and local
 3433  community service organizations must take when an elder or an
 3434  elder’s representative seeking information on long-term-care
 3435  services contacts a local community service organization prior
 3436  to contacting the aging resource center. The protocol shall be
 3437  designed to ensure that elders and their families are able to
 3438  access information and services in the most efficient and least
 3439  cumbersome manner possible.
 3440         (b) Provide an initial screening of all clients who request
 3441  long-term-care services to determine whether the person would be
 3442  most appropriately served through any combination of federally
 3443  funded programs, state-funded programs, locally funded or
 3444  community volunteer programs, or private funding for services.
 3445         (c) Determine eligibility for the programs and services
 3446  listed in subsection (9) (11) for persons residing within the
 3447  geographic area served by the aging resource center and
 3448  determine a priority ranking for services which is based upon
 3449  the potential recipient’s frailty level and likelihood of
 3450  institutional placement without such services.
 3451         (d) Manage the availability of financial resources for the
 3452  programs and services listed in subsection (9) (11) for persons
 3453  residing within the geographic area served by the aging resource
 3454  center.
 3455         (e) When financial resources become available, refer a
 3456  client to the most appropriate entity to begin receiving
 3457  services. The aging resource center shall make referrals to lead
 3458  agencies for service provision that ensure that individuals who
 3459  are vulnerable adults in need of services pursuant to s.
 3460  415.104(3)(b), or who are victims of abuse, neglect, or
 3461  exploitation in need of immediate services to prevent further
 3462  harm and are referred by the adult protective services program,
 3463  are given primary consideration for receiving community-care
 3464  for-the-elderly services in compliance with the requirements of
 3465  s. 430.205(5)(a) and that other referrals for services are in
 3466  compliance with s. 430.205(5)(b).
 3467         (f) Convene a work group to advise in the planning,
 3468  implementation, and evaluation of the aging resource center. The
 3469  work group shall be comprised of representatives of local
 3470  service providers, Alzheimer’s Association chapters, housing
 3471  authorities, social service organizations, advocacy groups,
 3472  representatives of clients receiving services through the aging
 3473  resource center, and any other persons or groups as determined
 3474  by the department. The aging resource center, in consultation
 3475  with the work group, must develop annual program improvement
 3476  plans that shall be submitted to the department for
 3477  consideration. The department shall review each annual
 3478  improvement plan and make recommendations on how to implement
 3479  the components of the plan.
 3480         (g) Enhance the existing area agency on aging in each
 3481  planning and service area by integrating, either physically or
 3482  virtually, the staff and services of the area agency on aging
 3483  with the staff of the department’s local CARES Medicaid nursing
 3484  home preadmission screening unit and a sufficient number of
 3485  staff from the Department of Children and Family Services’
 3486  Economic Self-Sufficiency Unit necessary to determine the
 3487  financial eligibility for all persons age 60 and older residing
 3488  within the area served by the aging resource center that are
 3489  seeking Medicaid services, Supplemental Security Income, and
 3490  food assistance.
 3491         (h) Assist clients who request long-term care services in
 3492  being evaluated for eligibility for enrollment in the Medicaid
 3493  long-term care managed care program as eligible plans become
 3494  available in each of the regions pursuant to s. 409.981(2).
 3495         (i) Provide enrollment and coverage information to Medicaid
 3496  managed long-term care enrollees as qualified plans become
 3497  available in each of the regions pursuant to s. 409.981(2).
 3498         (j) Assist Medicaid recipients enrolled in the Medicaid
 3499  long-term care managed care program with informally resolving
 3500  grievances with a managed care network and assist Medicaid
 3501  recipients in accessing the managed care network’s formal
 3502  grievance process as eligible plans become available in each of
 3503  the regions defined in s. 409.981(2).
 3504         (4)(6) The department shall select the entities to become
 3505  aging resource centers based on each entity’s readiness and
 3506  ability to perform the duties listed in subsection (3) (5) and
 3507  the entity’s:
 3508         (a) Expertise in the needs of each target population the
 3509  center proposes to serve and a thorough knowledge of the
 3510  providers that serve these populations.
 3511         (b) Strong connections to service providers, volunteer
 3512  agencies, and community institutions.
 3513         (c) Expertise in information and referral activities.
 3514         (d) Knowledge of long-term-care resources, including
 3515  resources designed to provide services in the least restrictive
 3516  setting.
 3517         (e) Financial solvency and stability.
 3518         (f) Ability to collect, monitor, and analyze data in a
 3519  timely and accurate manner, along with systems that meet the
 3520  department’s standards.
 3521         (g) Commitment to adequate staffing by qualified personnel
 3522  to effectively perform all functions.
 3523         (h) Ability to meet all performance standards established
 3524  by the department.
 3525         (5)(7) The aging resource center shall have a governing
 3526  body which shall be the same entity described in s. 20.41(7),
 3527  and an executive director who may be the same person as
 3528  described in s. 20.41(7). The governing body shall annually
 3529  evaluate the performance of the executive director.
 3530         (6)(8) The aging resource center may not be a provider of
 3531  direct services other than information and referral services,
 3532  and screening.
 3533         (7)(9) The aging resource center must agree to allow the
 3534  department to review any financial information the department
 3535  determines is necessary for monitoring or reporting purposes,
 3536  including financial relationships.
 3537         (8)(10) The duties and responsibilities of the community
 3538  care for the elderly lead agencies within each area served by an
 3539  aging resource center shall be to:
 3540         (a) Develop strong community partnerships to maximize the
 3541  use of community resources for the purpose of assisting elders
 3542  to remain in their community settings for as long as it is
 3543  safely possible.
 3544         (b) Conduct comprehensive assessments of clients that have
 3545  been determined eligible and develop a care plan consistent with
 3546  established protocols that ensures that the unique needs of each
 3547  client are met.
 3548         (9)(11) The services to be administered through the aging
 3549  resource center shall include those funded by the following
 3550  programs:
 3551         (a) Community care for the elderly.
 3552         (b) Home care for the elderly.
 3553         (c) Contracted services.
 3554         (d) Alzheimer’s disease initiative.
 3555         (e) Aged and disabled adult Medicaid waiver. This paragraph
 3556  expires October 1, 2013.
 3557         (f) Assisted living for the frail elderly Medicaid waiver.
 3558  This paragraph expires October 1, 2013.
 3559         (g) Older Americans Act.
 3560         (10)(12) The department shall, prior to designation of an
 3561  aging resource center, develop by rule operational and quality
 3562  assurance standards and outcome measures to ensure that clients
 3563  receiving services through all long-term-care programs
 3564  administered through an aging resource center are receiving the
 3565  appropriate care they require and that contractors and
 3566  subcontractors are adhering to the terms of their contracts and
 3567  are acting in the best interests of the clients they are
 3568  serving, consistent with the intent of the Legislature to reduce
 3569  the use of and cost of nursing home care. The department shall
 3570  by rule provide operating procedures for aging resource centers,
 3571  which shall include:
 3572         (a) Minimum standards for financial operation, including
 3573  audit procedures.
 3574         (b) Procedures for monitoring and sanctioning of service
 3575  providers.
 3576         (c) Minimum standards for technology utilized by the aging
 3577  resource center.
 3578         (d) Minimum staff requirements which shall ensure that the
 3579  aging resource center employs sufficient quality and quantity of
 3580  staff to adequately meet the needs of the elders residing within
 3581  the area served by the aging resource center.
 3582         (e) Minimum accessibility standards, including hours of
 3583  operation.
 3584         (f) Minimum oversight standards for the governing body of
 3585  the aging resource center to ensure its continuous involvement
 3586  in, and accountability for, all matters related to the
 3587  development, implementation, staffing, administration, and
 3588  operations of the aging resource center.
 3589         (g) Minimum education and experience requirements for
 3590  executive directors and other executive staff positions of aging
 3591  resource centers.
 3592         (h) Minimum requirements regarding any executive staff
 3593  positions that the aging resource center must employ and minimum
 3594  requirements that a candidate must meet in order to be eligible
 3595  for appointment to such positions.
 3596         (11)(13) In an area in which the department has designated
 3597  an area agency on aging as an aging resource center, the
 3598  department and the agency shall not make payments for the
 3599  services listed in subsection (9) (11) and the Long-Term Care
 3600  Community Diversion Project for such persons who were not
 3601  screened and enrolled through the aging resource center. The
 3602  department shall cease making payments for recipients in
 3603  eligible plans as eligible plans become available in each of the
 3604  regions defined in s. 409.981(2).
 3605         (12)(14) Each aging resource center shall enter into a
 3606  memorandum of understanding with the department for
 3607  collaboration with the CARES unit staff. The memorandum of
 3608  understanding shall outline the staff person responsible for
 3609  each function and shall provide the staffing levels necessary to
 3610  carry out the functions of the aging resource center.
 3611         (13)(15) Each aging resource center shall enter into a
 3612  memorandum of understanding with the Department of Children and
 3613  Family Services for collaboration with the Economic Self
 3614  Sufficiency Unit staff. The memorandum of understanding shall
 3615  outline which staff persons are responsible for which functions
 3616  and shall provide the staffing levels necessary to carry out the
 3617  functions of the aging resource center.
 3618         (14)(16) If any of the state activities described in this
 3619  section are outsourced, either in part or in whole, the contract
 3620  executing the outsourcing shall mandate that the contractor or
 3621  its subcontractors shall, either physically or virtually,
 3622  execute the provisions of the memorandum of understanding
 3623  instead of the state entity whose function the contractor or
 3624  subcontractor now performs.
 3625         (15)(17) In order to be eligible to begin transitioning to
 3626  an aging resource center, an area agency on aging board must
 3627  ensure that the area agency on aging which it oversees meets all
 3628  of the minimum requirements set by law and in rule.
 3629         (18) The department shall monitor the three initial
 3630  projects for aging resource centers and report on the progress
 3631  of those projects to the Governor, the President of the Senate,
 3632  and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by June 30,
 3633  2005. The report must include an evaluation of the
 3634  implementation process.
 3635         (16)(19)(a) Once an aging resource center is operational,
 3636  the department, in consultation with the agency, may develop
 3637  capitation rates for any of the programs administered through
 3638  the aging resource center. Capitation rates for programs shall
 3639  be based on the historical cost experience of the state in
 3640  providing those same services to the population age 60 or older
 3641  residing within each area served by an aging resource center.
 3642  Each capitated rate may vary by geographic area as determined by
 3643  the department.
 3644         (b) The department and the agency may determine for each
 3645  area served by an aging resource center whether it is
 3646  appropriate, consistent with federal and state laws and
 3647  regulations, to develop and pay separate capitated rates for
 3648  each program administered through the aging resource center or
 3649  to develop and pay capitated rates for service packages which
 3650  include more than one program or service administered through
 3651  the aging resource center.
 3652         (c) Once capitation rates have been developed and certified
 3653  as actuarially sound, the department and the agency may pay
 3654  service providers the capitated rates for services when
 3655  appropriate.
 3656         (d) The department, in consultation with the agency, shall
 3657  annually reevaluate and recertify the capitation rates,
 3658  adjusting forward to account for inflation, programmatic
 3659  changes.
 3660         (20) The department, in consultation with the agency, shall
 3661  submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
 3662  Speaker of the House of Representatives, by December 1, 2006, a
 3663  report addressing the feasibility of administering the following
 3664  services through aging resource centers beginning July 1, 2007:
 3665         (a) Medicaid nursing home services.
 3666         (b) Medicaid transportation services.
 3667         (c) Medicaid hospice care services.
 3668         (d) Medicaid intermediate care services.
 3669         (e) Medicaid prescribed drug services.
 3670         (f) Medicaid assistive care services.
 3671         (g) Any other long-term-care program or Medicaid service.
 3672         (17)(21) This section shall not be construed to allow an
 3673  aging resource center to restrict, manage, or impede the local
 3674  fundraising activities of service providers.
 3675         Section 24. Effective October 1, 2013, sections 430.701,
 3676  430.702, 430.703, 430.7031, 430.704, 430.705, 430.706, 430.707,
 3677  430.708, and 430.709, Florida Statutes, are repealed.
 3678         Section 25. Sections 409.9301, 409.942, 409.944, 409.945,
 3679  409.946, 409.953, and 409.9531, Florida Statutes, are renumbered
 3680  as sections 402.81, 402.82, 402.83, 402.84, 402.85, 402.86, and
 3681  402.87, Florida Statutes, respectively.
 3682         Section 26. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
 3683  443.111, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
 3684         443.111 Payment of benefits.—
 3685         (1) MANNER OF PAYMENT.—Benefits are payable from the fund
 3686  in accordance with rules adopted by the Agency for Workforce
 3687  Innovation, subject to the following requirements:
 3688         (a) Benefits are payable by mail or electronically.
 3689  Notwithstanding s. 402.82(4) s. 409.942(4), the agency may
 3690  develop a system for the payment of benefits by electronic funds
 3691  transfer, including, but not limited to, debit cards, electronic
 3692  payment cards, or any other means of electronic payment that the
 3693  agency deems to be commercially viable or cost-effective.
 3694  Commodities or services related to the development of such a
 3695  system shall be procured by competitive solicitation, unless
 3696  they are purchased from a state term contract pursuant to s.
 3697  287.056. The agency shall adopt rules necessary to administer
 3698  the system.
 3699         Section 27. Subsection (4) of section 641.386, Florida
 3700  Statutes, is amended to read:
 3701         641.386 Agent licensing and appointment required;
 3702  exceptions.—
 3703         (4) All agents and health maintenance organizations shall
 3704  comply with and be subject to the applicable provisions of ss.
 3705  641.309 and 409.912(20)(21), and all companies and entities
 3706  appointing agents shall comply with s. 626.451, when marketing
 3707  for any health maintenance organization licensed pursuant to
 3708  this part, including those organizations under contract with the
 3709  Agency for Health Care Administration to provide health care
 3710  services to Medicaid recipients or any private entity providing
 3711  health care services to Medicaid recipients pursuant to a
 3712  prepaid health plan contract with the Agency for Health Care
 3713  Administration.
 3714         Section 28. Subsections (6) and (7) of section 766.118,
 3715  Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (7) and (8),
 3716  respectively, and a new subsection (6) is added to that section,
 3717  to read:
 3718         766.118 Determination of noneconomic damages.—
 3719         (6) LIMITATION ON NONECONOMIC DAMAGES FOR NEGLIGENCE OF A
 3720  PRACTITIONER PROVIDING SERVICES AND CARE TO A MEDICAID
 3721  RECIPIENT.—Notwithstanding subsections (2), (3), and (5), with
 3722  respect to a cause of action for personal injury or wrongful
 3723  death arising from medical negligence of a practitioner
 3724  committed in the course of providing medical services and
 3725  medical care to a Medicaid recipient, regardless of the number
 3726  of such practitioner defendants providing the services and care,
 3727  noneconomic damages may not exceed $300,000 per claimant, unless
 3728  the claimant pleads and proves, by clear and convincing
 3729  evidence, that the practitioner acted in a wrongful manner. A
 3730  practitioner providing medical services and medical care to a
 3731  Medicaid recipient is not liable for more than $200,000 in
 3732  noneconomic damages, regardless of the number of claimants,
 3733  unless the claimant pleads and proves, by clear and convincing
 3734  evidence, that the practitioner acted in a wrongful manner. The
 3735  fact that a claimant proves that a practitioner acted in a
 3736  wrongful manner does not preclude the application of the
 3737  limitation on noneconomic damages prescribed elsewhere in this
 3738  section. For purposes of this subsection:
 3739         (a) The terms “medical services,” “medical care,” and
 3740  “Medicaid recipient” have the same meaning as provided in s.
 3741  409.901.
 3742         (b) The term “practitioner,” in addition to the meaning
 3743  prescribed in subsection (1), includes any hospital, ambulatory
 3744  surgical center, or mobile surgical facility as defined and
 3745  licensed under chapter 395.
 3746         (c) The term “wrongful manner” means in bad faith or with
 3747  malicious purpose or in a manner exhibiting wanton and willful
 3748  disregard of human rights, safety, or property, and shall be
 3749  construed in conformity with the standard set forth in s.
 3750  768.28(9)(a).
 3751         Section 29. The Agency for Health Care Administration shall
 3752  develop a plan for implementing a plan for medically needy
 3753  Medicaid enrollees pursuant to s. 409.975(8), Florida Statutes,
 3754  as created in HB 7107 or similar legislation that is adopted in
 3755  the same legislative session or an extension thereof and becomes
 3756  law, and shall immediately seek federal approval to implement
 3757  that subsection. The plan shall include a preliminary
 3758  calculation of actuarially sound rates and estimated fiscal
 3759  impact.
 3760         Section 30. The Agency for Health Care Administration shall
 3761  develop a reorganization plan for realignment of administrative
 3762  resources of the Medicaid program to respond to changes in
 3763  functional responsibilities and priorities necessary for
 3764  implementation of HB 7107 or similar legislation that is adopted
 3765  in the same legislative session or an extension thereof and
 3766  becomes law. The plan shall assess the agency’s current
 3767  capabilities, identify shifts in staffing and other resources
 3768  necessary to strengthen procurement and contract monitoring
 3769  functions, and establish an implementation timeline. The plan
 3770  shall be submitted to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of
 3771  Representatives, and the President of the Senate by August 1,
 3772  2011.
 3773         Section 31. Subsection (1) of section 393.0662, Florida
 3774  Statutes, is amended to read:
 3775         393.0662 Individual budgets for delivery of home and
 3776  community-based services; iBudget system established.—The
 3777  Legislature finds that improved financial management of the
 3778  existing home and community-based Medicaid waiver program is
 3779  necessary to avoid deficits that impede the provision of
 3780  services to individuals who are on the waiting list for
 3781  enrollment in the program. The Legislature further finds that
 3782  clients and their families should have greater flexibility to
 3783  choose the services that best allow them to live in their
 3784  community within the limits of an established budget. Therefore,
 3785  the Legislature intends that the agency, in consultation with
 3786  the Agency for Health Care Administration, develop and implement
 3787  a comprehensive redesign of the service delivery system using
 3788  individual budgets as the basis for allocating the funds
 3789  appropriated for the home and community-based services Medicaid
 3790  waiver program among eligible enrolled clients. The service
 3791  delivery system that uses individual budgets shall be called the
 3792  iBudget system.
 3793         (1) The agency shall establish an individual budget,
 3794  referred to as an iBudget, for each individual served by the
 3795  home and community-based services Medicaid waiver program. The
 3796  funds appropriated to the agency shall be allocated through the
 3797  iBudget system to eligible, Medicaid-enrolled clients. For the
 3798  iBudget system, eligible clients shall include individuals with
 3799  a diagnosis of Down syndrome or a developmental disability as
 3800  defined in s. 393.063. The iBudget system shall be designed to
 3801  provide for: enhanced client choice within a specified service
 3802  package; appropriate assessment strategies; an efficient
 3803  consumer budgeting and billing process that includes
 3804  reconciliation and monitoring components; a redefined role for
 3805  support coordinators that avoids potential conflicts of
 3806  interest; a flexible and streamlined service review process; and
 3807  a methodology and process that ensures the equitable allocation
 3808  of available funds to each client based on the client’s level of
 3809  need, as determined by the variables in the allocation
 3810  algorithm.
 3811         (a) In developing each client’s iBudget, the agency shall
 3812  use an allocation algorithm and methodology. The algorithm shall
 3813  use variables that have been determined by the agency to have a
 3814  statistically validated relationship to the client’s level of
 3815  need for services provided through the home and community-based
 3816  services Medicaid waiver program. The algorithm and methodology
 3817  may consider individual characteristics, including, but not
 3818  limited to, a client’s age and living situation, information
 3819  from a formal assessment instrument that the agency determines
 3820  is valid and reliable, and information from other assessment
 3821  processes.
 3822         (b) The allocation methodology shall provide the algorithm
 3823  that determines the amount of funds allocated to a client’s
 3824  iBudget. The agency may approve an increase in the amount of
 3825  funds allocated, as determined by the algorithm, based on the
 3826  client having one or more of the following needs that cannot be
 3827  accommodated within the funding as determined by the algorithm
 3828  and having no other resources, supports, or services available
 3829  to meet the need:
 3830         1. An extraordinary need that would place the health and
 3831  safety of the client, the client’s caregiver, or the public in
 3832  immediate, serious jeopardy unless the increase is approved. An
 3833  extraordinary need may include, but is not limited to:
 3834         a. A documented history of significant, potentially life
 3835  threatening behaviors, such as recent attempts at suicide,
 3836  arson, nonconsensual sexual behavior, or self-injurious behavior
 3837  requiring medical attention;
 3838         b. A complex medical condition that requires active
 3839  intervention by a licensed nurse on an ongoing basis that cannot
 3840  be taught or delegated to a nonlicensed person;
 3841         c. A chronic comorbid condition. As used in this
 3842  subparagraph, the term “comorbid condition” means a medical
 3843  condition existing simultaneously but independently with another
 3844  medical condition in a patient; or
 3845         d. A need for total physical assistance with activities
 3846  such as eating, bathing, toileting, grooming, and personal
 3847  hygiene.
 3848  
 3849  However, the presence of an extraordinary need alone does not
 3850  warrant an increase in the amount of funds allocated to a
 3851  client’s iBudget as determined by the algorithm.
 3852         2. A significant need for one-time or temporary support or
 3853  services that, if not provided, would place the health and
 3854  safety of the client, the client’s caregiver, or the public in
 3855  serious jeopardy, unless the increase is approved. A significant
 3856  need may include, but is not limited to, the provision of
 3857  environmental modifications, durable medical equipment, services
 3858  to address the temporary loss of support from a caregiver, or
 3859  special services or treatment for a serious temporary condition
 3860  when the service or treatment is expected to ameliorate the
 3861  underlying condition. As used in this subparagraph, the term
 3862  “temporary” means a period of fewer than 12 continuous months.
 3863  However, the presence of such significant need for one-time or
 3864  temporary supports or services alone does not warrant an
 3865  increase in the amount of funds allocated to a client’s iBudget
 3866  as determined by the algorithm.
 3867         3. A significant increase in the need for services after
 3868  the beginning of the service plan year that would place the
 3869  health and safety of the client, the client’s caregiver, or the
 3870  public in serious jeopardy because of substantial changes in the
 3871  client’s circumstances, including, but not limited to, permanent
 3872  or long-term loss or incapacity of a caregiver, loss of services
 3873  authorized under the state Medicaid plan due to a change in age,
 3874  or a significant change in medical or functional status which
 3875  requires the provision of additional services on a permanent or
 3876  long-term basis that cannot be accommodated within the client’s
 3877  current iBudget. As used in this subparagraph, the term “long
 3878  term” means a period of 12 or more continuous months. However,
 3879  such significant increase in need for services of a permanent or
 3880  long-term nature alone does not warrant an increase in the
 3881  amount of funds allocated to a client’s iBudget as determined by
 3882  the algorithm.
 3883  
 3884  The agency shall reserve portions of the appropriation for the
 3885  home and community-based services Medicaid waiver program for
 3886  adjustments required pursuant to this paragraph and may use the
 3887  services of an independent actuary in determining the amount of
 3888  the portions to be reserved.
 3889         (c) A client’s iBudget shall be the total of the amount
 3890  determined by the algorithm and any additional funding provided
 3891  pursuant to paragraph (b). A client’s annual expenditures for
 3892  home and community-based services Medicaid waiver services may
 3893  not exceed the limits of his or her iBudget. The total of all
 3894  clients’ projected annual iBudget expenditures may not exceed
 3895  the agency’s appropriation for waiver services.
 3896         Section 32. Section 409.902, Florida Statutes, is amended
 3897  to read:
 3898         409.902 Designated single state agency; payment
 3899  requirements; program title; release of medical records.—
 3900         (1) The Agency for Health Care Administration is designated
 3901  as the single state agency authorized to make payments for
 3902  medical assistance and related services under Title XIX of the
 3903  Social Security Act. These payments shall be made, subject to
 3904  any limitations or directions provided for in the General
 3905  Appropriations Act, only for services included in the program,
 3906  shall be made only on behalf of eligible individuals, and shall
 3907  be made only to qualified providers in accordance with federal
 3908  requirements for Title XIX of the Social Security Act and the
 3909  provisions of state law. This program of medical assistance is
 3910  designated the “Medicaid program.” The Department of Children
 3911  and Family Services is responsible for Medicaid eligibility
 3912  determinations, including, but not limited to, policy, rules,
 3913  and the agreement with the Social Security Administration for
 3914  Medicaid eligibility determinations for Supplemental Security
 3915  Income recipients, as well as the actual determination of
 3916  eligibility. As a condition of Medicaid eligibility, subject to
 3917  federal approval, the Agency for Health Care Administration and
 3918  the Department of Children and Family Services shall ensure that
 3919  each recipient of Medicaid consents to the release of her or his
 3920  medical records to the Agency for Health Care Administration and
 3921  the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Department of Legal
 3922  Affairs.
 3923         (2) Eligibility is restricted to United States citizens and
 3924  to lawfully admitted noncitizens who meet the criteria provided
 3925  in s. 414.095(3).
 3926         (a) Citizenship or immigration status must be verified. For
 3927  noncitizens, this includes verification of the validity of
 3928  documents with the United States Citizenship and Immigration
 3929  Services using the federal SAVE verification process.
 3930         (b) State funds may not be used to provide medical services
 3931  to individuals who do not meet the requirements of this
 3932  subsection unless the services are necessary to treat an
 3933  emergency medical condition or are for pregnant women. Such
 3934  services are authorized only to the extent provided under
 3935  federal law and in accordance with federal regulations as
 3936  provided in 42 C.F.R. s. 440.255.
 3937         Section 33. Subsection (22) is added to section 641.19,
 3938  Florida Statutes, to read:
 3939         641.19 Definitions.—As used in this part, the term:
 3940         (22) “Provider service network” means a network authorized
 3941  under s. 409.912(4)(d), reimbursed on a prepaid basis, operated
 3942  by a health care provider or group of affiliated health care
 3943  providers, and which directly provides health care services
 3944  under a Medicare, Medicaid, or Healthy Kids contract.
 3945         Section 34. Section 641.2019, Florida Statutes, is created
 3946  to read:
 3947         641.2019 Provider service network certificate of
 3948  authority.—A prepaid provider service network that applies for
 3949  and obtains a health care provider certificate pursuant to part
 3950  III of this chapter, meets the surplus requirements of s.
 3951  641.225, and meets all other applicable requirements of this
 3952  part may obtain a certificate of authority under s. 641.21. A
 3953  certified provider service network has the same rights and
 3954  responsibilities as a health maintenance organization certified
 3955  under this part.
 3956         Section 35. Subsection (2) of section 641.2261, Florida
 3957  Statutes, is amended to read:
 3958         641.2261 Application of solvency requirements to provider
 3959  sponsored organizations and Medicaid provider service networks.—
 3960         (2) Except for a provider service network seeking to obtain
 3961  a certificate of authority under s. 641.2019, the solvency
 3962  requirements in 42 C.F.R. s. 422.350, subpart H, and the
 3963  solvency requirements established in approved federal waivers
 3964  pursuant to chapter 409 apply to a Medicaid provider service
 3965  network rather than the solvency requirements of this part.
 3966         Section 36. If any provision of this act or its application
 3967  to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity
 3968  does not affect other provisions or applications of the act
 3969  which can be given effect without the invalid provision or
 3970  application, and to this end the provisions of this act are
 3971  severable.
 3972         Section 37. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
 3973  act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2011, if HB 7107 or
 3974  similar legislation is adopted in the same legislative session
 3975  or an extension thereof and becomes law.
 3976  
 3977  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
 3978         And the title is amended as follows:
 3979         Delete everything before the enacting clause
 3980  and insert:
 3981                        A bill to be entitled                      
 3982         An act relating to Medicaid; amending s. 393.0661,
 3983         F.S.; requiring the Agency for Persons with
 3984         Disabilities to collect premiums or cost sharing for a
 3985         home and community-based delivery system; providing
 3986         that implementation of Medicaid waiver programs and
 3987         services authorized under ch. 393, F.S., are subject
 3988         to certain funding limitations; requiring that certain
 3989         provisions relating to agency cost containment
 3990         initiatives be included in contracts with independent
 3991         support coordinators and service providers; providing
 3992         for establishment of agency corrective action plans
 3993         and redesign of the waiver program under certain
 3994         circumstances; requiring the plan to be submitted to
 3995         the Legislature; amending s. 393.063, F.S.; defining
 3996         the term “Down syndrome”; amending s. 408.040, F.S.;
 3997         prohibiting the agency from imposing sanctions related
 3998         to patient day utilization by patients eligible for
 3999         care under Title XIX of the Social Security Act for a
 4000         nursing home, effective on a specified date; amending
 4001         s. 408.0435, F.S.; extending the certificate-of-need
 4002         moratorium for additional community nursing home beds;
 4003         designating ss. 409.016-409.803, F.S., as pt. I of ch.
 4004         409, F.S., and entitling the part “Social and Economic
 4005         Assistance”; designating ss. 409.810-409.821, F.S., as
 4006         pt. II of ch. 409, F.S., and entitling the part
 4007         “Kidcare”; designating ss. 409.901-409.9205, F.S., as
 4008         part III of ch. 409, F.S., and entitling the part
 4009         “Medicaid”; amending s. 409.9021, F.S.; revising the
 4010         time period during which a Medicaid applicant must
 4011         agree to forfeiture of all entitlements upon a
 4012         judicial or administrative finding of fraud; amending
 4013         s. 409.905, F.S.; requiring the Agency for Health Care
 4014         Administration to set reimbursements rates for
 4015         hospitals that provide Medicaid services based on
 4016         allowable-cost reporting from the hospitals; removing
 4017         requirements for prior authorization for the provision
 4018         of certain services; providing the methodology for the
 4019         rate calculation and adjustments; requiring the rates
 4020         to be subject to certain limits or ceilings;
 4021         authorizing the agency to require prior authorization
 4022         of home health services under certain conditions;
 4023         providing that exemptions to the limits or ceilings
 4024         may be provided in the General Appropriations Act;
 4025         deleting provisions relating to agency adjustments to
 4026         a hospital’s inpatient per diem rate; directing the
 4027         agency to develop a plan to convert inpatient hospital
 4028         rates to a prospective payment system that categorizes
 4029         each case into diagnosis-related groups; requiring a
 4030         report to the Governor and Legislature; amending s.
 4031         409.906, F.S.; providing conditions under which the
 4032         agency shall seek federal approval to develop a system
 4033         to require payment of premiums or other cost sharing
 4034         by the parents of certain children receiving Medicaid
 4035         home and community-based waiver services; authorizing
 4036         the Department of Children and Family Services to
 4037         collect certain income information; requiring a report
 4038         to the Legislature; amending s. 409.907, F.S.;
 4039         providing additional requirements for provider
 4040         agreements for Medicare crossover providers; providing
 4041         that the agency is not obligated to enroll certain
 4042         providers as Medicare crossover providers; specifying
 4043         additional requirements for certain providers;
 4044         providing the agency may establish additional criteria
 4045         for providers to promote program integrity; amending
 4046         s. 409.908, F.S.; revising provisions relating to
 4047         reimbursement of Medicaid direct care providers to
 4048         include additional, specified medically necessary
 4049         care; amending s. 409.9081, F.S.; providing conditions
 4050         for copayments by Medicaid recipients for nonemergency
 4051         care and services provided in a hospital emergency;
 4052         amending s. 409.911, F.S.; providing for expiration of
 4053         the Medicaid Low-Income Pool Council; amending s.
 4054         409.912, F.S.; providing payment requirements for
 4055         provider service networks; providing for the
 4056         expiration of various provisions relating to agency
 4057         contracts and agreements with certain entities on
 4058         specified dates to conform to the reorganization of
 4059         Medicaid managed care; requiring the agency to
 4060         contract on a prepaid or fixed-sum basis with certain
 4061         prepaid dental health plans; eliminating obsolete
 4062         provisions and updating provisions, to conform;
 4063         amending ss. 409.91195 and 409.91196, F.S.; conforming
 4064         cross-references; repealing s. 409.91207, F.S.,
 4065         relating to the medical home pilot project; amending
 4066         s. 409.91211, F.S.; conforming cross-references;
 4067         providing for future repeal of s. 409.91211, F.S.,
 4068         relating to the Medicaid managed care pilot program;
 4069         amending s. 409.9122, F.S.; providing for the
 4070         expiration of provisions relating to mandatory
 4071         enrollment in a Medicaid managed care plan or MediPass
 4072         on specified dates to conform to the reorganization of
 4073         Medicaid managed care; eliminating obsolete
 4074         provisions; providing for the agency to assign
 4075         Medicaid recipients with HIV/AIDS in specified
 4076         counties to a managed care plan that is a health
 4077         maintenance organization under certain conditions;
 4078         requiring the agency to develop a process to enable
 4079         any recipient with access to employer-sponsored
 4080         coverage to opt out of eligible plans in the Medicaid
 4081         program; requiring the agency, contingent on federal
 4082         approval, to enable recipients with access to other
 4083         coverage or related products that provide access to
 4084         specified health care services to opt out of eligible
 4085         plans in the Medicaid program; requiring the agency to
 4086         maintain and operate the Medicaid Encounter Data
 4087         System; requiring the agency to conduct a review of
 4088         encounter data and publish the results of the review
 4089         before adjusting rates for prepaid plans; authorizing
 4090         the agency to establish a designated payment for
 4091         specified Medicare Advantage Special Needs members;
 4092         authorizing the agency to develop a designated payment
 4093         for Medicaid-only covered services for which the state
 4094         is responsible; requiring the agency to establish, and
 4095         managed care plans to use, a uniform method of
 4096         accounting for and reporting medical and nonmedical
 4097         costs; authorizing the agency to create exceptions to
 4098         mandatory enrollment in managed care under specified
 4099         circumstances; requiring the agency to contract with a
 4100         provider service network to function as a third-party
 4101         administrator and managing entity for the MediPass
 4102         program; providing contract provisions; providing for
 4103         the expiration of such contract requirements on a
 4104         specified date; requiring the agency to contract with
 4105         a single provider service network to function as a
 4106         third-party administrator and managing entity for the
 4107         Medically Needy program; providing contract
 4108         provisions; providing for the expiration of such
 4109         contract requirements on a specified date; amending s.
 4110         430.04, F.S.; eliminating obsolete provisions;
 4111         requiring the Department of Elderly Affairs to develop
 4112         a transition plan for specified elders and disabled
 4113         adults receiving long-term care Medicaid services when
 4114         eligible plans become available; providing for
 4115         expiration of the plan; amending s. 430.2053, F.S.;
 4116         eliminating obsolete provisions; providing additional
 4117         duties of aging resource centers; providing an
 4118         additional exception to direct services that may not
 4119         be provided by an aging resource center; providing an
 4120         expiration date for certain services administered
 4121         through aging resource centers; providing for the
 4122         cessation of specified payments by the department as
 4123         eligible plans become available; providing for a
 4124         memorandum of understanding between the agency and
 4125         aging resource centers under certain circumstances;
 4126         eliminating provisions requiring reports; repealing s.
 4127         430.701, F.S., relating to legislative findings and
 4128         intent and approval for action relating to provider
 4129         enrollment levels; repealing s. 430.702, F.S.,
 4130         relating to the Long-Term Care Community Diversion
 4131         Pilot Project Act; repealing s. 430.703, F.S.,
 4132         relating to definitions; repealing s. 430.7031, F.S.,
 4133         relating to the nursing home transition program;
 4134         repealing s. 430.704, F.S., relating to evaluation of
 4135         long-term care through the pilot projects; repealing
 4136         s. 430.705, F.S., relating to implementation of long
 4137         term care community diversion pilot projects;
 4138         repealing s. 430.706, F.S., relating to quality of
 4139         care; repealing s. 430.707, F.S., relating to
 4140         contracts; repealing s. 430.708, F.S., relating to
 4141         certificate of need; repealing s. 430.709, F.S.,
 4142         relating to reports and evaluations; renumbering ss.
 4143         409.9301, 409.942, 409.944, 409.945, 409.946, 409.953,
 4144         and 409.9531, F.S., as ss. 402.81, 402.82, 402.83,
 4145         402.84, 402.85, 402.86, and 402.87, F.S.,
 4146         respectively; amending ss. 443.111 and 641.386, F.S.;
 4147         conforming cross-references; amending s. 766.118,
 4148         F.S.; providing a limitation on noneconomic damages
 4149         for negligence of practitioners providing medical
 4150         services and medical care to Medicaid recipients;
 4151         defining terms for purposes of the limitation;
 4152         requiring the agency to develop a plan to implement
 4153         and seek federal approval for the medically needy
 4154         program for Medicaid enrollees; requiring the agency
 4155         to develop a reorganization plan for realignment of
 4156         administrative resources of the Medicaid program;
 4157         requiring the plan to be submitted to the Governor and
 4158         Legislature; amending s. 393.0662, F.S.; including
 4159         certain individuals with Down syndrome or a
 4160         developmental disability as eligible to participate in
 4161         the iBudget system; amending s. 409.902, F.S.;
 4162         restricting Medicaid eligibility to citizens of the
 4163         United States who meet certain criteria; amending s.
 4164         641.19, F.S.; defining the term “provider service
 4165         network” for purposes of pt. I of ch. 641, F.S.;
 4166         creating s. 641.2019, F.S.; providing conditions under
 4167         which a prepaid provider service network may obtain a
 4168         certificate of authority under s. 641.21, F.S.;
 4169         amending s. 641.2261, F.S.; providing an exception for
 4170         provider service networks from certain federal
 4171         solvency requirements; providing for severability;
 4172         providing effective dates and a contingent effective
 4173         date.