Chapter 118E of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 9F, as appearing in the 2012 Official Edition, the following section:-

Section 9G. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-

“Eligible person”, a resident determined by the division to be clinically eligible for long-term care services pursuant to section 9.

“Family caregiver”, a person who is a family member of an eligible person and who provides medical or supervisory care to the eligible person pursuant to this section.

“Family member”, a person who is related by consanguinity, legal custody, marriage or a person with whom a family caregiver lives in a familial relationship.

(b) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the division shall establish, subject to appropriation, the availability of federal financial participation and all required federal approvals and agreements, a program to provide monthly compensation to family caregivers for providing medical and supervisory care of an eligible person, to be known as the long-term family care program. A family caregiver may not receive compensation pursuant to the long-term family care program if the eligible person resides in a long-term health care or nursing facility.

(c) The division shall ensure that enrollment in the program is voluntary. All eligible persons enrolling in the program have the right to disenroll from the program in any month upon submitting a notice of disenrollment to the division or contracted entity. Disenrollment notices received by the division or contracted entity by the twentieth day of the month shall be effective on the first day of the following month.

(d) The division shall educate consumers and their families as to their enrollment choices under the long-term family care program.

(e) The division shall promulgate any rules or regulations necessary to implement this section.