Senate Bill sb2450

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    Florida Senate - 2007                                  SB 2450

    By Senator Peaden





    2-1705A-07

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to health care; amending s.

  3         409.912, F.S.; authorizing the Agency for

  4         Health Care Administration to implement an

  5         integrated, fixed-payment delivery system for

  6         certain Medicaid recipients; providing that

  7         enrollment in areas within which a pilot

  8         program is conducted is voluntary; authorizing

  9         the agency to implement federal waivers without

10         prior authorization from the Legislature;

11         providing an effective date.

12  

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

14  

15         Section 1.  Subsection (5) of section 409.912, Florida

16  Statutes, is amended to read:

17         409.912  Cost-effective purchasing of health care.--The

18  agency shall purchase goods and services for Medicaid

19  recipients in the most cost-effective manner consistent with

20  the delivery of quality medical care. To ensure that medical

21  services are effectively utilized, the agency may, in any

22  case, require a confirmation or second physician's opinion of

23  the correct diagnosis for purposes of authorizing future

24  services under the Medicaid program. This section does not

25  restrict access to emergency services or poststabilization

26  care services as defined in 42 C.F.R. part 438.114. Such

27  confirmation or second opinion shall be rendered in a manner

28  approved by the agency. The agency shall maximize the use of

29  prepaid per capita and prepaid aggregate fixed-sum basis

30  services when appropriate and other alternative service

31  delivery and reimbursement methodologies, including

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    Florida Senate - 2007                                  SB 2450
    2-1705A-07




 1  competitive bidding pursuant to s. 287.057, designed to

 2  facilitate the cost-effective purchase of a case-managed

 3  continuum of care. The agency shall also require providers to

 4  minimize the exposure of recipients to the need for acute

 5  inpatient, custodial, and other institutional care and the

 6  inappropriate or unnecessary use of high-cost services. The

 7  agency shall contract with a vendor to monitor and evaluate

 8  the clinical practice patterns of providers in order to

 9  identify trends that are outside the normal practice patterns

10  of a provider's professional peers or the national guidelines

11  of a provider's professional association. The vendor must be

12  able to provide information and counseling to a provider whose

13  practice patterns are outside the norms, in consultation with

14  the agency, to improve patient care and reduce inappropriate

15  utilization. The agency may mandate prior authorization, drug

16  therapy management, or disease management participation for

17  certain populations of Medicaid beneficiaries, certain drug

18  classes, or particular drugs to prevent fraud, abuse, overuse,

19  and possible dangerous drug interactions. The Pharmaceutical

20  and Therapeutics Committee shall make recommendations to the

21  agency on drugs for which prior authorization is required. The

22  agency shall inform the Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics

23  Committee of its decisions regarding drugs subject to prior

24  authorization. The agency is authorized to limit the entities

25  it contracts with or enrolls as Medicaid providers by

26  developing a provider network through provider credentialing.

27  The agency may competitively bid single-source-provider

28  contracts if procurement of goods or services results in

29  demonstrated cost savings to the state without limiting access

30  to care. The agency may limit its network based on the

31  assessment of beneficiary access to care, provider

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    Florida Senate - 2007                                  SB 2450
    2-1705A-07




 1  availability, provider quality standards, time and distance

 2  standards for access to care, the cultural competence of the

 3  provider network, demographic characteristics of Medicaid

 4  beneficiaries, practice and provider-to-beneficiary standards,

 5  appointment wait times, beneficiary use of services, provider

 6  turnover, provider profiling, provider licensure history,

 7  previous program integrity investigations and findings, peer

 8  review, provider Medicaid policy and billing compliance

 9  records, clinical and medical record audits, and other

10  factors. Providers shall not be entitled to enrollment in the

11  Medicaid provider network. The agency shall determine

12  instances in which allowing Medicaid beneficiaries to purchase

13  durable medical equipment and other goods is less expensive to

14  the Medicaid program than long-term rental of the equipment or

15  goods. The agency may establish rules to facilitate purchases

16  in lieu of long-term rentals in order to protect against fraud

17  and abuse in the Medicaid program as defined in s. 409.913.

18  The agency may seek federal waivers necessary to administer

19  these policies.

20         (5)  By December 1, 2005, the Agency for Health Care

21  Administration, in partnership with the Department of Elderly

22  Affairs, shall create an integrated, fixed-payment delivery

23  system for Medicaid recipients who are 60 years of age or

24  older. The Agency for Health Care Administration shall

25  implement the integrated system initially on a pilot basis in

26  two areas of the state. In one of the areas Enrollment in the

27  pilot areas shall be on a voluntary basis. The program must

28  transfer all Medicaid services for eligible elderly

29  individuals who choose to participate into an integrated-care

30  management model designed to serve Medicaid recipients in the

31  community. The program must combine all funding for Medicaid

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    Florida Senate - 2007                                  SB 2450
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 1  services provided to individuals 60 years of age or older into

 2  the integrated system, including funds for Medicaid home and

 3  community-based waiver services; all Medicaid services

 4  authorized in ss. 409.905 and 409.906, excluding funds for

 5  Medicaid nursing home services unless the agency is able to

 6  demonstrate how the integration of the funds will improve

 7  coordinated care for these services in a less costly manner;

 8  and Medicare coinsurance and deductibles for persons dually

 9  eligible for Medicaid and Medicare as prescribed in s.

10  409.908(13).

11         (a)  Individuals who are 60 years of age or older and

12  enrolled in the developmental disabilities waiver program, the

13  family and supported-living waiver program, the project AIDS

14  care waiver program, the traumatic brain injury and spinal

15  cord injury waiver program, the consumer-directed care waiver

16  program, and the program of all-inclusive care for the elderly

17  program, and residents of institutional care facilities for

18  the developmentally disabled, must be excluded from the

19  integrated system.

20         (b)  The program must use a competitive procurement

21  process to select entities to operate the integrated system.

22  Entities eligible to submit bids include managed care

23  organizations licensed under chapter 641, including entities

24  eligible to participate in the nursing home diversion program,

25  other qualified providers as defined in s. 430.703(7),

26  community care for the elderly lead agencies, and other

27  state-certified community service networks that meet

28  comparable standards as defined by the agency, in consultation

29  with the Department of Elderly Affairs and the Office of

30  Insurance Regulation, to be financially solvent and able to

31  take on financial risk for managed care. Community service

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    Florida Senate - 2007                                  SB 2450
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 1  networks that are certified pursuant to the comparable

 2  standards defined by the agency are not required to be

 3  licensed under chapter 641.

 4         (c)  The agency must ensure that the

 5  capitation-rate-setting methodology for the integrated system

 6  is actuarially sound and reflects the intent to provide

 7  quality care in the least restrictive setting. The agency must

 8  also require integrated-system providers to develop a

 9  credentialing system for service providers and to contract

10  with all Gold Seal nursing homes, where feasible, and exclude,

11  where feasible, chronically poor-performing facilities and

12  providers as defined by the agency. The integrated system must

13  provide that if the recipient resides in a noncontracted

14  residential facility licensed under chapter 400 or chapter 429

15  at the time the integrated system is initiated, the recipient

16  must be permitted to continue to reside in the noncontracted

17  facility as long as the recipient desires. The integrated

18  system must also provide that, in the absence of a contract

19  between the integrated-system provider and the residential

20  facility licensed under chapter 400 or chapter 429, current

21  Medicaid rates must prevail. The agency and the Department of

22  Elderly Affairs must jointly develop procedures to manage the

23  services provided through the integrated system in order to

24  ensure quality and recipient choice.

25         (d)  Within 24 months after implementation, the Office

26  of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability, in

27  consultation with the Auditor General, shall comprehensively

28  evaluate the pilot project for the integrated, fixed-payment

29  delivery system for Medicaid recipients who are 60 years of

30  age or older. The evaluation must include assessments of cost

31  savings; consumer education, choice, and access to services;

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    Florida Senate - 2007                                  SB 2450
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 1  coordination of care; and quality of care. The evaluation must

 2  describe administrative or legal barriers to the

 3  implementation and operation of the pilot program and include

 4  recommendations regarding statewide expansion of the pilot

 5  program. The office shall submit an evaluation report to the

 6  Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the

 7  House of Representatives no later than June 30, 2008.

 8         (e)  The agency may seek federal waivers and adopt

 9  rules as necessary to administer the integrated system. The

10  agency may implement the approved federal waivers and other

11  provisions as specified in this section. The agency must

12  receive specific authorization from the Legislature prior to

13  implementing the waiver for the integrated system.

14         Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

15  law.

16  

17            *****************************************

18                          SENATE SUMMARY

19    Authorizes the Agency for Health Care Administration to
      implement an integrated, fixed-payment delivery system
20    for certain Medicaid recipients. Provides that enrollment
      in certain pilot areas is voluntary. Authorizes the
21    agency to implement federal waivers without authorization
      from the Legislature.
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