Bill Text: AZ HB2668 | 2020 | Fifty-fourth Legislature 2nd Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Hospitals; unreimbursed costs; assessment; fund
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-03-25 - Chapter 46 [HB2668 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2020-HB2668-Introduced.html
REFERENCE TITLE: hospitals;
unreimbursed costs; assessment; fund |
State of
Arizona House of
Representatives Fifty-fourth
Legislature Second Regular
Session 2020 |
HB 2668 |
|
Introduced by Representative Cobb |
AN ACT
amending section
36‑2903.08, Arizona Revised Statutes; Amending Title 36, chapter 29,
Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding article 7; relating to the Arizona health
care cost containment system.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 36-2903.08, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
36-2903.08. AHCCCS uncompensated care; hospital assessment; reports
A. On or before October 1, 2014, and annually thereafter each year, the Arizona health care cost containment system administration shall report to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, the chairpersons of the appropriations committees of the house of representatives and the senate and the directors of the joint legislative budget committee and the governor's office of strategic planning and budgeting on the change in uncompensated hospital costs experienced by hospitals in this state and hospital profitability during the previous fiscal year.
B. On or before August 1, 2014, and annually thereafter each year, the Arizona health care cost containment system administration shall report to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, the chairpersons of the appropriations committees of the house of representatives and the senate and the directors of the joint legislative budget committee and the governor's office of strategic planning and budgeting the following:
1. The aggregate amount each hospital contributed for the hospital assessment assessments authorized pursuant to section sections 36‑2901.08 and 36‑2999.72 in the previous fiscal year.
2. The aggregate amount of estimated payments each hospital received from the coverage and directed payments funded by the assessment.
Sec. 2. Title 36, chapter 29, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding article 7, to read:
ARTICLE 7. HOSPITAL UNREIMBURSED COSTS
36-2999.71. Definitions
In this article, unless the context otherwise
requires:
1. "Administration" has the
same meaning prescribed in section 36‑2901.
2. "Base reimbursement level" means the total
expenditures by the Arizona health care cost containment system and its
contracted health plans for hospital services to eligible persons in state
fiscal year 2019‑2020.
3. "Director" has the same meaning prescribed in section 36‑2901.
36-2999.72. Hospital
assessment; rules; collection; enforcement
A. In addition to the assessment established pursuant to
section 36-2901.08, beginning October 1, 2020, the director shall establish,
administer and collect an assessment on hospital revenues with respect to
inpatient or outpatient services, or both, for the purposes prescribed in
section 36‑2999.73.
B. The
director shall adopt rules regarding the method for determining the assessment,
the amount or rate of the assessment and modifications to or exemptions from
the assessment. The assessment is subject
to approval by the centers for medicare and medicaid services to ensure that
the assessment is not established or administered in a manner that causes a
reduction in federal financial participation.
C. The
director may establish modifications to or exemptions from the assessment. In determining the modifications or
exemptions, the director may consider such factors as the size of the hospital,
the specialty services available to patients at the hospital and the geographic
location of the hospital.
D. The
administration shall deposit, pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, the
monies collected pursuant to this section in the health care access fund
established by section 36‑2999.73.
E. A
hospital may not pass the cost of the assessment on to patients or third‑party
payors that are liable to pay for care on a patient's behalf. As part of its
financial statement submissions pursuant to section 36‑125.04, a hospital
shall submit to the department of health services an attestation that it has
not passed on the cost of the assessment to patients or third‑party
payors.
F. If a hospital does not comply with this section as prescribed by the director of the Arizona health care cost containment system, the director of the Arizona health care cost containment system may suspend or revoke the hospital's Arizona health care cost containment system provider agreement registration. If the hospital does not comply within one hundred eighty days after the director of the Arizona health care cost containment system suspends or revokes the hospital's provider agreement, the director of the Arizona health care cost containment system shall notify the director of the department of health services, who shall suspend or revoke the hospital's license pursuant to section 36‑427.
36-2999.73. Health care access
fund; purposes; approval
A. The health care access fund is established consisting
of the following:
1. Monies
deposited in the fund pursuant to section 36‑2999.72.
2. Interest
earned pursuant to this section.
3. Legislative
appropriations.
B. The
director shall administer the health care access fund. The director may not use fund monies to pay
for the base reimbursement level for hospital services. The director shall use fund monies as
necessary only for the purpose of funding the nonfederal share of the cost for
the following:
1. To
make directed payments to hospitals pursuant to 42 Code of Federal Regulations
section 438.6(c) that
supplement the base reimbursement level for hospital services to eligible
persons as defined in section 36‑2901.
2. To
make payments to physicians and primary care physicians, as defined in section
36‑2901, and dentists as defined in section 32‑1201 to the extent
necessary as determined by the administration to restore these providers' rates
to the rate levels in existence before fiscal year 2008‑2009, if these
expenses do not exceed the lesser of $70,500,000 or twenty percent of the total
assessment monies deposited pursuant to section 36‑2999.72 for the fiscal
year.
3. To
pay for the nonfederal share of the costs for administrative expenses incurred
by the administration or its agents in performing the activities authorized by
this section, if these expenses do not exceed one percent of the total
assessment monies deposited pursuant to section 36‑2999.72 for the fiscal
year.
C. Monies
in the health care access fund:
1. Are
exempt from the provisions of section 35‑190 relating to lapsing of
appropriations.
2. Are
continuously appropriated.
3. Are
to be credited against the total hospital assessment to be collected pursuant
to section 36‑2999.72 for the subsequent fiscal year if not expended for
the purposes authorized under this section within the same fiscal year the
monies are deposited in the fund.
4. May
not be used to supplant existing and future appropriations to the
administration for existing and future programs.
D. The
administration may not use the monies the health care access fund pursuant to
this section until the centers for medicare and medicaid services approves the
use of the assessment monies for directed hospital expenditures pursuant to 42
Code of Federal Regulations section 438.6(c) and federal financial participation eligibility for
the directed hospital expenditures contemplated under this section.
E. On notice from the administration, the state treasurer shall invest and divest monies in the health care access fund as provided by section 35‑313, and monies earned from investment shall be credited to the fund.
Sec. 3. AHCCCS; rulemaking exemption
For the purposes of this act, the Arizona health care cost
containment system is exempt from the rulemaking requirements of title 41,
chapter 6, Arizona Revised Statutes, for one year after the effective date of
this act.