HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2465        FILED ON: 1/17/2013

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Thomas A. Golden, Jr.

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to stabilizing the Commonwealth’s nursing facilities.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

Thomas A. Golden, Jr.

16th Middlesex

1/17/2013

David M. Nangle

17th Middlesex

 

James J. O'Day

14th Worcester

 

Alice Hanlon Peisch

14th Norfolk

 

F. Jay Barrows

1st Bristol

 

Linda Dorcena Forry

12th Suffolk

 

Stephen L. DiNatale

3rd Worcester

 

Elizabeth A. Poirier

14th Bristol

 

William M. Straus

10th Bristol

 

Jeffrey Sánchez

15th Suffolk

 

Martin J. Walsh

13th Suffolk

1/25/2013

Kimberly N. Ferguson

1st Worcester

 

Edward F. Coppinger

10th Suffolk

 

Cleon H. Turner

1st Barnstable

 

Lori A. Ehrlich

8th Essex

 

James M. Murphy

4th Norfolk

 

Mary S. Keefe

15th Worcester

 

Kenneth I. Gordon

21st Middlesex

 

Walter F. Timilty

7th Norfolk

 

Bruce J. Ayers

1st Norfolk

 

William C. Galvin

6th Norfolk

 

Angelo J. Puppolo, Jr.

12th Hampden

 

Paul McMurtry

11th Norfolk

 

George N. Peterson, Jr.

9th Worcester

 

Christine E. Canavan

10th Plymouth

 

Mark J. Cusack

5th Norfolk

 

James R. Miceli

19th Middlesex

 

Anne M. Gobi

5th Worcester

 

Louis L. Kafka

8th Norfolk

 

Kay Khan

11th Middlesex

 

John P. Fresolo

16th Worcester

 

Angelo L. D'Emilia

8th Plymouth

 

Peter J. Durant

6th Worcester

 

Sean Garballey

23rd Middlesex

 

Aaron Vega

5th Hampden

 

Sarah K. Peake

4th Barnstable

 

James J. Dwyer

30th Middlesex

 

William Smitty Pignatelli

4th Berkshire

 

Ryan C. Fattman

18th Worcester

 

Todd M. Smola

1st Hampden

 

Katherine M. Clark

Fifth Middlesex

 

James M. Cantwell

4th Plymouth

 

Tackey Chan

2nd Norfolk

 

Diana DiZoglio

14th Essex

 

John V. Fernandes

10th Worcester

 

Josh S. Cutler

6th Plymouth

 

Paul Brodeur

32nd Middlesex

 

Carolyn C. Dykema

8th Middlesex

 

John J. Binienda

17th Worcester

 

Ann-Margaret Ferrante

5th Essex

 

Jeffrey N. Roy

10th Norfolk

 

Thomas J. Calter

12th Plymouth

 

David B. Sullivan

6th Bristol

 

Chris Walsh

6th Middlesex

 

Jason M. Lewis

Fifth Middlesex

 

Benjamin Swan

11th Hampden

 

David Paul Linsky

5th Middlesex

 

Garrett J. Bradley

3rd Plymouth

 

Michael F. Rush

Norfolk and Suffolk

 

Timothy R. Madden

Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket

 

Matthew A. Beaton

11th Worcester

 

Randy Hunt

5th Barnstable

 

Paul K. Frost

7th Worcester

 

Viriato Manuel deMacedo

1st Plymouth

 

Geoff Diehl

7th Plymouth

 

Eileen M. Donoghue

First Middlesex

 

Bradford Hill

4th Essex

 

John J. Mahoney

13th Worcester

 

Brian M. Ashe

2nd Hampden

 

Elizabeth A. Malia

11th Suffolk

 

Theodore C. Speliotis

13th Essex

 

Susan Williams Gifford

2nd Plymouth

 

Joseph F. Wagner

8th Hampden

 

Patricia A. Haddad

5th Bristol

 

Keiko M. Orrall

12th Bristol

 

Claire D. Cronin

11th Plymouth

 

John H. Rogers

12th Norfolk

 

Thomas M. Stanley

9th Middlesex

 

James Arciero

2nd Middlesex

 

Danielle W. Gregoire

4th Middlesex

 

Aaron Michlewitz

3rd Suffolk

 

Kevin G. Honan

17th Suffolk

 

Steven M. Walsh

11th Essex

 

David M. Rogers

24th Middlesex

 


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2465        FILED ON: 1/17/2013

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

By Mr. Golden of Lowell, a petition (subject to Joint Rule 9) of Thomas A. Golden, Jr. and others relative to stabilizing nursing facilities in the Commonwealth.  Health Care Financing.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the Year Two Thousand Thirteen

_______________

 

An Act relative to stabilizing the Commonwealth’s nursing facilities.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Section 1:  Chapter 23 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 official edition is hereby amended by inserting after section 9U the following new section:

                The Commonwealth Corporation shall, subject to appropriation, establish an extended care career ladder grant program, consistent with section 410 of chapter 159 of the Acts of 2000.  Grants shall be available for certified nurses’ aides, home health aides, homemakers and other entry level workers in long-term care.  The grants may include training for English for speakers of other languages and other language and adult basic education programs to improve quality of care and improve direct care worker access to and participation in career ladder training.  The length of such grants shall not exceed a period of 3 years.  The Commonwealth Corporation shall submit quarterly reports to the house and senate committees on ways and means on said grant program including, but not limited to, the number of grants awarded, the amount of each grant, a description of the career ladder programs, changes in care-giving and workplace practices that have occurred and their impact on quality of care and worker retention and the certificates, degrees or professional status attained by each participating employee.  The administrative and program management costs for the implementation of said grant program shall not exceed 4 per cent of the amount of the grant program.  Each grant may include funding for technical assistance and evaluation.

Section 2: Chapter 111 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 official edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 4O the following new section:-

                4P. The Department shall, subject to appropriation, establish a scholarship program for certified nurses’ aide and direct care worker training.  The department shall establish appropriate guidelines and application criteria for the administration of the program.  The scholarships shall cover the full cost of tuition to an approved certified nurses’ aide or long-term care direct worker training program, including approved programs providing for cross-training.  Funds may also be available to provide adult basic education and English as a second language training for applicants otherwise meeting criteria for the scholarships, as well as pilot training programs using enhanced curricula designed to support increased retention.  The department shall, in consultation with the nursing home industry, consumer groups, the department of labor and workforce development, the Commonwealth Corporation, training providers and other appropriate state and local agencies, conduct outreach regarding the availability of such scholarships.  The department shall consult with the scholarship program advisory council to review and recommend new training requirements for certified nurses’ aides, home health aides and home care workers to improve the quality of the direct care workforce and the quality of care provided in all long-term care settings by developing skill standards, supporting the transition from training to work, improving retention, promoting portability, recognizing career advancement curricula and addressing language and education barriers.  The costs for outreach activities shall not exceed 3 per cent of the amount of the program and administrative costs of the program shall not exceed 3 per cent of the amount of the program.

Section 3: Section 14A of chapter 118E of the General Laws as appearing in the official 2010 edition is hereby amended by adding the following paragraphs:

In the event that a nursing facility resident who is a MassHealth recipient enters a hospital, the division shall pay to preserve his or her bed in the nursing facility for a period of up to10 days.  The division shall reimburse the nursing facility for the medical leave of absence, which shall include an observation stay in a hospital in excess of twenty-four hours, at the recipient’s pre-absence rate during the medical leave and upon the resident’s return.

In the event that a nursing facility resident who is a MassHealth recipient leaves the nursing facility for non-medical reasons, the division shall pay to preserve his or her bed in the facility for a period of up to 15 days.  The division shall reimburse the nursing facility for the non-medical leave of absence at the recipient’s pre-absence rate during the non-medical leave and upon the resident’s return.

Section 4: Chapter 118E as amended by section 123 of chapter 224 of the Acts of 2012 is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following new section: - 

Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Department, in the calculation of Medicaid payment rates for nursing facility services shall use the wage component of the Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System, national Average Hourly Earnings price index, as established in the annual rule published in the Federal Register, to adjust allowable base year labor costs (whether facility-specific or reflected in standard payments) to the rate year; provided further that the Department is required to obtain from IHS Global Insight a wage and salary price index proxy based on New England regional nursing facility labor costs.  Upon establishment of the regional labor-based proxy, the Department shall substitute it for the national index cited above.

Section 5: Chapter 118E as amended by section 123 of chapter 224 of the acts of 2012 is hereby amended by adding the following new section language:

Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, In the event the division conducts or utilizes an audit of nursing facilities’ base year costs for the purpose of reducing rates below levels that would be in effect in the absence of the audit, the division  shall:—

(1) conduct a field audit of 50 per cent of total nursing facilities licensed in the base year in accordance with specified, uniform criteria;

(2) inform each audited nursing facility in writing of its right to appeal to the division of administrative law appeals each and every audit disallowance to which the nursing facility is subject;

(3) delay implementing the audit until all appeals by nursing facilities have been completely adjudicated by the division of administrative law appeals;

(4) delay implementing the audit until the division has conducted a public hearing the notice of which describes with particularity the methodology, audit criteria and substantive standards utilized in the audit and the impact of implementing the audit on quality care for nursing facility residents; and

(5) not implement any audit disallowance that is not fully concluded in accordance with the preceding subsections by one year after the conclusion of the base period.

Section 6: Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, effective July 1, 2013 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014 nursing facility MassHealth rates shall be set using 2010 costs.