Bill Text: TX HB1134 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the home-delivered meal program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-04 - Referred to Human Services [HB1134 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB1134-Introduced.html
| 87R5657 MCF-F | ||
| By: Landgraf | H.B. No. 1134 | |
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| relating to the home-delivered meal program. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Section 12.042, Agriculture Code, is amended by | ||
| adding Subsection (m) to read as follows: | ||
| (m) Notwithstanding Subsections (c) and (d) or any other | ||
| provision of this chapter, the department shall allow a | ||
| governmental agency, nonprofit private organization, or for-profit | ||
| private organization to apply to the department for a grant under | ||
| this section if the agency or organization contracts with an area | ||
| agency on aging to deliver meals. | ||
| SECTION 2. Subtitle C, Title 2, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
| amended by adding Chapter 65 to read as follows: | ||
| CHAPTER 65. HOME-DELIVERED MEAL PROGRAM | ||
| Sec. 65.0001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: | ||
| (1) "Area agency on aging" means: | ||
| (A) an area agency on aging designated under 42 | ||
| U.S.C. Section 3025(a)(2)(A); or | ||
| (B) a state agency performing the functions of an | ||
| area agency on aging under 42 U.S.C. Section 3025(b)(5). | ||
| (2) "Client" means an individual who is elderly or has | ||
| a disability and who receives a meal under the program. | ||
| (3) "Program" means the home-delivered meal program | ||
| under this chapter. | ||
| (4) "Provider" means a meal provider who contracts | ||
| with the commission or an area agency on aging to provide and | ||
| deliver home-delivered meals under the program. | ||
| Sec. 65.0002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter does not apply | ||
| to home-delivered meals provided through the Medicaid managed care | ||
| program under Chapter 533, Government Code. | ||
| Sec. 65.0003. PROGRAM MODERNIZATION. (a) The commission | ||
| shall maintain and revise as necessary operating guidelines for a | ||
| home-delivered meal program to effectively and efficiently provide | ||
| meal deliveries to individuals who are elderly or have a | ||
| disability. | ||
| (b) The commission may contract with a meal provider to | ||
| provide home-delivered meals under the program. | ||
| (c) In awarding a contract to a provider, the commission or | ||
| area agency on aging shall: | ||
| (1) prioritize providers who: | ||
| (A) conduct a face-to-face client visit; | ||
| (B) deliver hot meals for the program; and | ||
| (C) comply with reporting requirements for the | ||
| nutrition services incentive program established under 42 U.S.C. | ||
| Section 3030a; | ||
| (2) give extra consideration to providers capable of | ||
| delivering meals to clients in both rural and urban areas; | ||
| (3) give extra consideration to providers with the | ||
| capacity to deliver meals to eligible individuals who are currently | ||
| on an interest or other waiting list for services under the program; | ||
| (4) consider the individual dietary needs of clients | ||
| through condition-specific menus; and | ||
| (5) negotiate enhanced meal rates to ensure program | ||
| efficacy. | ||
| Sec. 65.0004. MEAL REQUIREMENTS. A provider may use | ||
| frozen, chilled, or shelf-stable meals if: | ||
| (1) the provider and the client are capable of | ||
| providing sanitary and safe conditions for storage, thawing, and | ||
| preparation of the meal; and | ||
| (2) the client, or another available person for the | ||
| client, is capable of safely handling the meal. | ||
| Sec. 65.0005. PACKAGING REQUIREMENTS. (a) A provider | ||
| shall use supplies and meal transport carriers that allow hot, | ||
| frozen, chilled, and shelf-stable meals to be packaged and stored | ||
| separately. | ||
| (b) For hot, frozen, chilled, or shelf-stable meals that are | ||
| easily damaged, a provider must use an enclosed meal transport | ||
| carrier and trays or other containers necessary to protect the | ||
| meals from contamination, crushing, or spillage during transport. | ||
| (c) A provider shall equip a meal transport carrier with | ||
| insulation or supplemental hot or cold sources as necessary to | ||
| maintain safe temperatures for meals during transport. | ||
| (d) A provider shall use meal packaging that: | ||
| (1) is sealed to prevent moisture loss or spillage; | ||
| (2) allows preservation of the meal at a safe | ||
| temperature during transport; | ||
| (3) includes compartments for separating food items to | ||
| increase visual appeal and minimize spillage; and | ||
| (4) allows easy access by clients. | ||
| (e) A provider shall maintain the food temperature of meals | ||
| prepared and packaged for delivery in accordance with commission | ||
| rules and area agency on aging requirements for home-delivered | ||
| meals. | ||
| Sec. 65.0006. DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS. (a) A provider shall | ||
| deliver meals: | ||
| (1) at a commercially reasonable time; and | ||
| (2) on a date on which the provider and client mutually | ||
| agree. | ||
| (b) A provider in accordance with the commission or area | ||
| agency on aging contract shall provide and deliver meals to each | ||
| client daily, weekly, or every other week, dependent on the | ||
| acceptable shelf life of the meal. The provider shall document | ||
| whether each meal is delivered or undelivered. A client's | ||
| statement that the client failed to receive a meal delivery | ||
| constitutes documentation that the meal was not delivered. | ||
| (c) If a client is not present to accept delivery of a meal, | ||
| a provider may leave the meal only if the provider ensures the meal | ||
| is maintained at a safe temperature. | ||
| (d) For each undelivered meal, a provider shall document the | ||
| meal as undelivered and the reason the provider was unable to | ||
| deliver the meal. A provider shall maintain documentation of | ||
| undelivered meals in accordance with the contract. | ||
| (e) If a provider violates this section, the commission or | ||
| area agency on aging may consider the provider in breach of the | ||
| contract. | ||
| Sec. 65.0007. CASE MANAGER NOTIFICATION. A provider who | ||
| has not had contact with the client or the client's responsible | ||
| party within the time agreed by contract shall notify in writing the | ||
| client's case manager, if applicable, of the provider's concerns | ||
| regarding the lack of contact. | ||
| SECTION 3. (a) In this section: | ||
| (1) "Area agency on aging," "client," and "program" | ||
| have the meanings assigned by Section 65.0001, Health and Safety | ||
| Code, as added by this Act. | ||
| (2) "Commission" means the Health and Human Services | ||
| Commission. | ||
| (b) The commission shall conduct a study examining the | ||
| interest or other waiting lists of individuals seeking | ||
| home-delivered meals maintained by the commission and each area | ||
| agency on aging in the program. | ||
| (c) In conducting the study under this section, the | ||
| commission shall identify additional strategies the commission | ||
| could employ to provide home-delivered meal services to additional | ||
| clients and eliminate the interest or other waiting lists, | ||
| including strategies employed by other states and strategies | ||
| through which the program could receive additional funding. | ||
| (d) Not later than December 1, 2022, the commission shall | ||
| submit to the legislature a written report containing the findings | ||
| of the study conducted under this section and the commission's | ||
| legislative recommendations. | ||
| SECTION 4. The executive commissioner of the Health and | ||
| Human Services Commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement | ||
| Chapter 65, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, and | ||
| modernize the home-delivered meal program under that chapter. | ||
| SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
| a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
| provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
| Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
| Act takes effect September 1, 2021. | ||
