Senate Bill sb2636

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2636

    By Senator Posey





    24-1549A-05                                        See HB 1465

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to Medicaid reimbursement to

  3         nursing homes; amending s. 409.908, F.S.;

  4         requiring the Agency for Health Care

  5         Administration to permit licensed nursing homes

  6         to bid on rates for Medicaid certified beds

  7         under certain circumstances; providing for

  8         rules; requiring the agency to provide a list

  9         of approved bidders to social service

10         providers; providing an effective date.

11  

12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

13  

14         Section 1.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section

15  409.908, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

16         409.908  Reimbursement of Medicaid providers.--Subject

17  to specific appropriations, the agency shall reimburse

18  Medicaid providers, in accordance with state and federal law,

19  according to methodologies set forth in the rules of the

20  agency and in policy manuals and handbooks incorporated by

21  reference therein. These methodologies may include fee

22  schedules, reimbursement methods based on cost reporting,

23  negotiated fees, competitive bidding pursuant to s. 287.057,

24  and other mechanisms the agency considers efficient and

25  effective for purchasing services or goods on behalf of

26  recipients. If a provider is reimbursed based on cost

27  reporting and submits a cost report late and that cost report

28  would have been used to set a lower reimbursement rate for a

29  rate semester, then the provider's rate for that semester

30  shall be retroactively calculated using the new cost report,

31  and full payment at the recalculated rate shall be effected

                                  1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2636
    24-1549A-05                                        See HB 1465




 1  retroactively. Medicare-granted extensions for filing cost

 2  reports, if applicable, shall also apply to Medicaid cost

 3  reports. Payment for Medicaid compensable services made on

 4  behalf of Medicaid eligible persons is subject to the

 5  availability of moneys and any limitations or directions

 6  provided for in the General Appropriations Act or chapter 216.

 7  Further, nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent

 8  or limit the agency from adjusting fees, reimbursement rates,

 9  lengths of stay, number of visits, or number of services, or

10  making any other adjustments necessary to comply with the

11  availability of moneys and any limitations or directions

12  provided for in the General Appropriations Act, provided the

13  adjustment is consistent with legislative intent.

14         (2)(a)1.  Reimbursement to nursing homes licensed under

15  part II of chapter 400 and state-owned-and-operated

16  intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled

17  licensed under chapter 393 must be made prospectively.

18         2.  Unless otherwise limited or directed in the General

19  Appropriations Act, reimbursement to hospitals licensed under

20  part I of chapter 395 for the provision of swing-bed nursing

21  home services must be made on the basis of the average

22  statewide nursing home payment, and reimbursement to a

23  hospital licensed under part I of chapter 395 for the

24  provision of skilled nursing services must be made on the

25  basis of the average nursing home payment for those services

26  in the county in which the hospital is located. When a

27  hospital is located in a county that does not have any

28  community nursing homes, reimbursement must be determined by

29  averaging the nursing home payments, in counties that surround

30  the county in which the hospital is located. Reimbursement to

31  hospitals, including Medicaid payment of Medicare copayments,

                                  2

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2636
    24-1549A-05                                        See HB 1465




 1  for skilled nursing services shall be limited to 30 days,

 2  unless a prior authorization has been obtained from the

 3  agency. Medicaid reimbursement may be extended by the agency

 4  beyond 30 days, and approval must be based upon verification

 5  by the patient's physician that the patient requires

 6  short-term rehabilitative and recuperative services only, in

 7  which case an extension of no more than 15 days may be

 8  approved. Reimbursement to a hospital licensed under part I of

 9  chapter 395 for the temporary provision of skilled nursing

10  services to nursing home residents who have been displaced as

11  the result of a natural disaster or other emergency may not

12  exceed the average county nursing home payment for those

13  services in the county in which the hospital is located and is

14  limited to the period of time which the agency considers

15  necessary for continued placement of the nursing home

16  residents in the hospital.

17         3.  The agency shall provide licensed nursing homes the

18  opportunity to competitively bid on per diem rates for

19  Medicaid certified beds within a defined catchment area. The

20  agency shall adopt rules that give priority to the admission

21  of Medicaid patients to a nursing home within the patient's

22  locale. The rules may not prohibit a Medicaid patient from

23  choosing among the lowest-bidding facilities in the area. In

24  all other instances, a patient shall be placed in an available

25  bed in the facility with the lowest bid price. Opening bids

26  must be at a rate below existing Medicaid reimbursement rates

27  within the catchment area. The agency shall provide the list

28  of approved bidders within the catchment area to all social

29  services providers in the area, including hospitals, adult

30  congregate living facilities, and any entity making referrals

31  to nursing homes and update the list as necessary.

                                  3

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2005                                  SB 2636
    24-1549A-05                                        See HB 1465




 1         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.

 2  

 3  

 4  

 5  

 6  

 7  

 8  

 9  

10  

11  

12  

13  

14  

15  

16  

17  

18  

19  

20  

21  

22  

23  

24  

25  

26  

27  

28  

29  

30  

31  

                                  4

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.