The Florida Senate

409.906  Optional Medicaid services.--Subject to specific appropriations, the agency may make payments for services which are optional to the state under Title XIX of the Social Security Act and are furnished by Medicaid providers to recipients who are determined to be eligible on the dates on which the services were provided. Any optional service that is provided shall be provided only when medically necessary and in accordance with state and federal law. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent or limit the agency from adjusting fees, reimbursement rates, lengths of stay, number of visits, or number of services, or making any other adjustments necessary to comply with the availability of moneys and any limitations or directions provided for in the General Appropriations Act or chapter 216. If necessary to safeguard the state's systems of providing services to elderly and disabled persons and subject to the notice and review provisions of s. 216.177, the Governor may direct the Agency for Health Care Administration to amend the Medicaid state plan to delete the optional Medicaid service known as "Intermediate Care Facilities for the Developmentally Disabled." Optional services may include:

(1)  ADULT DENTURE SERVICES.--The agency may pay for dentures, the procedures required to seat dentures, and the repair and reline of dentures, provided by or under the direction of a licensed dentist, for a recipient who is age 21 or older.

(2)  ADULT HEALTH SCREENING SERVICES.--The agency may pay for an annual routine physical examination, conducted by or under the direction of a licensed physician, for a recipient age 21 or older, without regard to medical necessity, in order to detect and prevent disease, disability, or other health condition or its progression.

(3)  AMBULATORY SURGICAL CENTER SERVICES.--The agency may pay for services provided to a recipient in an ambulatory surgical center licensed under part I of chapter 395, by or under the direction of a licensed physician or dentist.

(4)  BIRTH CENTER SERVICES.--The agency may pay for examinations and delivery, recovery, and newborn assessment, and related services, provided in a licensed birth center staffed with licensed physicians, certified nurse midwives, and midwives licensed in accordance with chapter 467, to a recipient expected to experience a low-risk pregnancy and delivery.

(5)  CASE MANAGEMENT SERVICES.--The agency may pay for primary care case management services rendered to a recipient pursuant to a federally approved waiver, and targeted case management services for specific groups of targeted recipients, for which funding has been provided and which are rendered pursuant to federal guidelines. The agency is authorized to limit reimbursement for targeted case management services in order to comply with any limitations or directions provided for in the General Appropriations Act.

(6)  CHILDREN'S DENTAL SERVICES.--The agency may pay for diagnostic, preventive, or corrective procedures, including orthodontia in severe cases, provided to a recipient under age 21, by or under the supervision of a licensed dentist. Services provided under this program include treatment of the teeth and associated structures of the oral cavity, as well as treatment of disease, injury, or impairment that may affect the oral or general health of the individual.

(7)  CHIROPRACTIC SERVICES.--The agency may pay for manual manipulation of the spine and initial services, screening, and X rays provided to a recipient by a licensed chiropractic physician.

(8)  COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES.--The agency may pay for rehabilitative services provided to a recipient by a mental health or substance abuse provider licensed by the agency and under contract with the agency or the Department of Children and Family Services to provide such services. Those services which are psychiatric in nature shall be rendered or recommended by a psychiatrist, and those services which are medical in nature shall be rendered or recommended by a physician or psychiatrist. The agency must develop a provider enrollment process for community mental health providers which bases provider enrollment on an assessment of service need. The provider enrollment process shall be designed to control costs, prevent fraud and abuse, consider provider expertise and capacity, and assess provider success in managing utilization of care and measuring treatment outcomes. Providers will be selected through a competitive procurement or selective contracting process. In addition to other community mental health providers, the agency shall consider for enrollment mental health programs licensed under chapter 395 and group practices licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 490, or chapter 491. The agency is also authorized to continue operation of its behavioral health utilization management program and may develop new services if these actions are necessary to ensure savings from the implementation of the utilization management system. The agency shall coordinate the implementation of this enrollment process with the Department of Children and Family Services and the Department of Juvenile Justice. The agency is authorized to utilize diagnostic criteria in setting reimbursement rates, to preauthorize certain high-cost or highly utilized services, to limit or eliminate coverage for certain services, or to make any other adjustments necessary to comply with any limitations or directions provided for in the General Appropriations Act.

(9)  DIALYSIS FACILITY SERVICES.--Subject to specific appropriations being provided for this purpose, the agency may pay a dialysis facility that is approved as a dialysis facility in accordance with Title XVIII of the Social Security Act, for dialysis services that are provided to a Medicaid recipient under the direction of a physician licensed to practice medicine or osteopathic medicine in this state, including dialysis services provided in the recipient's home by a hospital-based or freestanding dialysis facility.

(10)  DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT.--The agency may authorize and pay for certain durable medical equipment and supplies provided to a Medicaid recipient as medically necessary.

¹(11)  HEALTHY START SERVICES.--The agency may pay for a continuum of risk-appropriate medical and psychosocial services for the Healthy Start program in accordance with a federal waiver. The agency may not implement the federal waiver unless the waiver permits the state to limit enrollment or the amount, duration, and scope of services to ensure that expenditures will not exceed funds appropriated by the Legislature or available from local sources. If the Health Care Financing Administration does not approve a federal waiver for Healthy Start services, the agency, in consultation with the Department of Health and the Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions, is authorized to establish a Medicaid certified-match program for Healthy Start services. Participation in the Healthy Start certified-match program shall be voluntary, and reimbursement shall be limited to the federal Medicaid share to Medicaid-enrolled Healthy Start coalitions for services provided to Medicaid recipients. The agency shall take no action to implement a certified-match program without ensuring that the amendment and review requirements of ss. 216.177 and 216.181 have been met.

(12)  HEARING SERVICES.--The agency may pay for hearing and related services, including hearing evaluations, hearing aid devices, dispensing of the hearing aid, and related repairs, if provided to a recipient by a licensed hearing aid specialist, otolaryngologist, otologist, audiologist, or physician.

(13)  HOME AND COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICES.--The agency may pay for home-based or community-based services that are rendered to a recipient in accordance with a federally approved waiver program.

(14)  HOSPICE CARE SERVICES.--The agency may pay for all reasonable and necessary services for the palliation or management of a recipient's terminal illness, if the services are provided by a hospice that is licensed under part VI of chapter 400 and meets Medicare certification requirements.

(15)  INTERMEDIATE CARE FACILITY FOR THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED SERVICES.--The agency may pay for health-related care and services provided on a 24-hour-a-day basis by a facility licensed and certified as a Medicaid Intermediate Care Facility for the Developmentally Disabled, for a recipient who needs such care because of a developmental disability.

(16)  INTERMEDIATE CARE SERVICES.--The agency may pay for 24-hour-a-day intermediate care nursing and rehabilitation services rendered to a recipient in a nursing facility licensed under part II of chapter 400, if the services are ordered by and provided under the direction of a physician.

(17)  OPTOMETRIC SERVICES.--The agency may pay for services provided to a recipient, including examination, diagnosis, treatment, and management, related to ocular pathology, if the services are provided by a licensed optometrist or physician.

(18)  PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT SERVICES.--The agency may pay for all services provided to a recipient by a physician assistant licensed under s. 458.347 or s. 459.022. Reimbursement for such services must be not less than 80 percent of the reimbursement that would be paid to a physician who provided the same services.

(19)  PODIATRIC SERVICES.--The agency may pay for services, including diagnosis and medical, surgical, palliative, and mechanical treatment, related to ailments of the human foot and lower leg, if provided to a recipient by a podiatric physician licensed under state law.

(20)  PRESCRIBED DRUG SERVICES.--The agency may pay for medications that are prescribed for a recipient by a physician or other licensed practitioner of the healing arts authorized to prescribe medications and that are dispensed to the recipient by a licensed pharmacist or physician in accordance with applicable state and federal law.

(21)  REGISTERED NURSE FIRST ASSISTANT SERVICES.--The agency may pay for all services provided to a recipient by a registered nurse first assistant as described in s. 464.027. Reimbursement for such services may not be less than 80 percent of the reimbursement that would be paid to a physician providing the same services.

(22)  STATE HOSPITAL SERVICES.--The agency may pay for all-inclusive psychiatric inpatient hospital care provided to a recipient age 65 or older in a state mental hospital.

(23)  VISUAL SERVICES.--The agency may pay for visual examinations, eyeglasses, and eyeglass repairs for a recipient, if they are prescribed by a licensed physician specializing in diseases of the eye or by a licensed optometrist.

(24)  CHILD-WELFARE-TARGETED CASE MANAGEMENT.--The Agency for Health Care Administration, in consultation with the Department of Children and Family Services, may establish a targeted case-management pilot project in those counties identified by the Department of Children and Family Services and for the community-based child welfare project in Sarasota and Manatee counties, as authorized under s. 409.1671. These projects shall be established for the purpose of determining the impact of targeted case management on the child welfare program and the earnings from the child welfare program. Results of the pilot projects shall be reported to the Child Welfare Estimating Conference and the Social Services Estimating Conference established under s. 216.136. The number of projects may not be increased until requested by the Department of Children and Family Services, recommended by the Child Welfare Estimating Conference and the Social Services Estimating Conference, and approved by the Legislature. The covered group of individuals who are eligible to receive targeted case management include children who are eligible for Medicaid; who are between the ages of birth through 21; and who are under protective supervision or postplacement supervision, under foster-care supervision, or in shelter care or foster care. The number of individuals who are eligible to receive targeted case management shall be limited to the number for whom the Department of Children and Family Services has available matching funds to cover the costs. The general revenue funds required to match the funds for services provided by the community-based child welfare projects are limited to funds available for services described under s. 409.1671. The Department of Children and Family Services may transfer the general revenue matching funds as billed by the Agency for Health Care Administration.

History.--s. 35, ch. 91-282; s. 1, ch. 94-299; s. 1, ch. 95-291; s. 4, ch. 95-393; s. 4, ch. 96-417; s. 42, ch. 97-98; s. 12, ch. 97-260; s. 17, ch. 97-263; s. 185, ch. 98-166; s. 52, ch. 98-288; s. 7, ch. 99-144; s. 3, ch. 99-206; s. 66, ch. 99-397.

¹Note.--Section 1, ch. 98-288, provides that "[t]he Agency for Health Care Administration, working jointly with the Department of Health and the Florida Association of Healthy Start Coalitions, is directed to seek a federal waiver to secure matching funds under Title XIX of the Social Security Act for the Healthy Start program. The federal waiver application must seek Medicaid matching funds utilizing appropriated general revenue and local contributions."