| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the Medicaid low-income pool and |
| 3 | disproportionate share program; amending s. 409.911, F.S.; |
| 4 | expanding the membership of the Medicaid Low-Income Pool |
| 5 | Council; providing for composition of expanded membership; |
| 6 | designating a council chair; providing restrictions on |
| 7 | specified appointments; providing an effective date. |
| 8 |
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| 9 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Section 1. Subsection (9) of section 409.911, Florida |
| 12 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 13 | 409.911 Disproportionate share program.--Subject to |
| 14 | specific allocations established within the General |
| 15 | Appropriations Act and any limitations established pursuant to |
| 16 | chapter 216, the agency shall distribute, pursuant to this |
| 17 | section, moneys to hospitals providing a disproportionate share |
| 18 | of Medicaid or charity care services by making quarterly |
| 19 | Medicaid payments as required. Notwithstanding the provisions of |
| 20 | s. 409.915, counties are exempt from contributing toward the |
| 21 | cost of this special reimbursement for hospitals serving a |
| 22 | disproportionate share of low-income patients. |
| 23 | (9) The Agency for Health Care Administration shall create |
| 24 | a Medicaid Low-Income Pool Council by July 1, 2006. The Low- |
| 25 | Income Pool Council shall consist of 24 17 members, including 2 |
| 26 | members appointed by the President of the Senate, 2 members |
| 27 | appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 3 |
| 28 | representatives of statutory teaching hospitals, 3 |
| 29 | representatives of public hospitals, 3 representatives of |
| 30 | nonprofit hospitals, 3 representatives of for-profit hospitals, |
| 31 | 2 representatives of rural hospitals, 2 representatives of units |
| 32 | of local government which contribute funding, and 1 |
| 33 | representative of family practice teaching hospitals, 1 |
| 34 | representative of federally qualified health centers, 1 |
| 35 | representative from the Department of Health, and 1 nonvoting |
| 36 | representative of the Agency for Health Care Administration who |
| 37 | shall serve as chair of the council. Except for a full-time |
| 38 | employee of a public entity, an individual who qualifies as a |
| 39 | lobbyist under s. 11.045 or s. 112.3215 may not serve as a |
| 40 | member of the council. Of the members appointed by the Senate |
| 41 | President, only one shall be a physician. Of the members |
| 42 | appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, only |
| 43 | one shall be a physician. The physician member appointed by the |
| 44 | Senate President and the physician member appointed by the |
| 45 | Speaker of the House of Representatives must be physicians who |
| 46 | routinely take calls in a trauma center, as defined in s. |
| 47 | 395.4001, or a hospital emergency department. The council shall: |
| 48 | (a) Make recommendations on the financing of the low- |
| 49 | income pool and the disproportionate share hospital program and |
| 50 | the distribution of their funds. |
| 51 | (b) Advise the Agency for Health Care Administration on |
| 52 | the development of the low-income pool plan required by the |
| 53 | federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services pursuant to |
| 54 | the Medicaid reform waiver. |
| 55 | (c) Advise the Agency for Health Care Administration on |
| 56 | the distribution of hospital funds used to adjust inpatient |
| 57 | hospital rates, rebase rates, or otherwise exempt hospitals from |
| 58 | reimbursement limits as financed by intergovernmental transfers. |
| 59 | (d) Submit its findings and recommendations to the |
| 60 | Governor and the Legislature no later than February 1 of each |
| 61 | year. |
| 62 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |