Amendment ID: S2202-69

Amendment 69

Nursing home owner suitability

Ms. Friedman, Messrs. Feeney and Eldridge and Ms. Gobi move to amend the bill by adding the following section:

SECTION XX. (a) The department of public health, hereinafter referred to as the department, shall amend the regulations governing the application and licensing procedures and suitability requirements for long-term care facilities, as described in 105 CMR 153.00, to establish new requirements that would precede approval of any application for a new license, any notice of intent for transfer of ownership or any notice of intent to sell any for-profit or non-profit skilled nursing facility.

(b) The department shall work in consultation with the executive office of elder affairs, the office of Medicaid, the office of the attorney general and all interested stakeholders to review and develop recommendations for the regulatory improvements outlined in subsection (a). Such recommendations shall include regulatory amendments that:

(1) Establish additional threshold requirements for applicants seeking to be deemed suitable by the department under 105 CMR 153.006(D), provided, that the additional requirements shall include but not be limited to mandating submission of an initial prospective annual operating budget and of an attestation concerning any anticipated changes to the facility’s workforce or working conditions;

(2) Establish a provisional licensure procedure where original applicants not currently doing business in the commonwealth would be issued a provisional original license that would be subject to bi-annual review and revocation procedures within the first year of operation; and

(3) Provide more transparent, timely, and complete public access to information concerning skilled nursing facility licensing and suitability determination standards.

(c) The department shall convene a meeting of interested stakeholders, review recommendations from those stakeholders and other state entities, and submit appropriate amendments to 105 CMR 153.00 for public review no later than 60 days after passage of this act. The department shall issue the new recommendations no later than180 days after passage of this act.