Bill Text: TX HB13 | 2011 | 82nd Legislature 1st Special | Introduced

Texas House Bill 13 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Relating to the Medicaid program and alternate methods of providing health services to low-income persons in this state.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-06-14 - Received from the House [HB13 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB13-Introduced.html

	82S10017 ALB-D

	By: Kolkhorst	H.B. No. 13



	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the Medicaid program and alternate methods of providing
	health services to low-income persons in this state.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. Subtitle I, Title 4, Government Code, is amended
	by adding Chapter 537 to read as follows:
	CHAPTER 537. MEDICAID REFORM WAIVER
	Sec. 537.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
	(1) "Commission" means the Health and Human Services
	Commission.
	(2) "Executive commissioner" means the executive
	commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.
	Sec. 537.002. FEDERAL AUTHORIZATION FOR MEDICAID REFORM.
	(a) The executive commissioner shall seek a waiver under Section
	1115 of the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1315) to
	the state Medicaid plan.
	(b) The waiver under this section must be designed to
	achieve the following objectives regarding the Medicaid program and
	alternatives to the program:
	(1) provide flexibility to determine Medicaid
	eligibility categories and income levels;
	(2) provide flexibility to design Medicaid benefits
	that meet the demographic, public health, clinical, and cultural
	needs of this state or regions within this state;
	(3) encourage use of the private health benefits
	coverage market rather than public benefits systems;
	(4) encourage people who have access to private
	employer-based health benefits to obtain or maintain those
	benefits;
	(5) create a culture of shared financial
	responsibility, accountability, and participation in the Medicaid
	program by:
	(A) establishing and enforcing copayment
	requirements similar to private sector principles for all
	eligibility groups;
	(B) promoting the use of health savings accounts
	to influence a culture of individual responsibility; and
	(C) promoting the use of vouchers for
	consumer-directed services in which consumers manage and pay for
	health-related services provided to them using program vouchers;
	(6) consolidate federal funding streams, including
	funds from the disproportionate share hospitals and upper payment
	limit supplemental payment programs and other federal Medicaid
	funds, to ensure the most effective and efficient use of those
	funding streams;
	(7) allow flexibility in the use of state funds used to
	obtain federal matching funds, including allowing the use of
	intergovernmental transfers, certified public expenditures, costs
	not otherwise matchable, or other funds and funding mechanisms to
	obtain federal matching funds;
	(8) empower individuals who are uninsured to acquire
	health benefits coverage through the promotion of cost-effective
	coverage models that provide access to affordable primary,
	preventive, and other health care on a sliding scale, with fees paid
	at the point of service; and
	(9) allow for the redesign of long-term care services
	and supports to increase access to patient-centered care in the
	most cost-effective manner.
	SECTION 2. (a) In this section:
	(1) "Commission" means the Health and Human Services
	Commission.
	(2) "FMAP" means the federal medical assistance
	percentage by which state expenditures under the Medicaid program
	are matched with federal funds.
	(3) "Illegal immigrant" means an individual who is not
	a citizen or national of the United States and who is unlawfully
	present in the United States.
	(4) "Medicaid program" means the medical assistance
	program under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code.
	(b) The commission shall actively pursue a modification to
	the formula prescribed by federal law for determining this state's
	FMAP to achieve a formula that would produce an FMAP that accounts
	for and is periodically adjusted to reflect changes in the
	following factors in this state:
	(1) the total population;
	(2) the population growth rate; and
	(3) the percentage of the population with household
	incomes below the federal poverty level.
	(c) The commission shall pursue the modification as
	required by Subsection (b) of this section by providing to the Texas
	delegation to the United States Congress and the federal Centers
	for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other appropriate federal
	agencies data regarding the factors listed in that subsection and
	information indicating the effects of those factors on the Medicaid
	program that are unique to this state.
	(d) In addition to the modification to the FMAP described by
	Subsection (b) of this section, the commission shall make efforts
	to obtain additional federal Medicaid funding for Medicaid services
	required to be provided to illegal immigrants in this state. As
	part of that effort, the commission shall provide to the Texas
	delegation to the United States Congress and the federal Centers
	for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other appropriate federal
	agencies data regarding the costs to this state of providing those
	services.
	(e) This section expires September 1, 2013.
	SECTION 3. (a) The Medicaid Reform Waiver Legislative
	Oversight Committee is created to facilitate the reform waiver
	efforts with respect to Medicaid.
	(b) The committee is composed of eight members, as follows:
	(1) four members of the senate, appointed by the
	lieutenant governor not later than October 1, 2011; and
	(2) four members of the house of representatives,
	appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives not later
	than October 1, 2011.
	(c) A member of the committee serves at the pleasure of the
	appointing official.
	(d) The speaker of the house of representatives shall
	designate a member of the committee as the presiding officer.
	(e) A member of the committee may not receive compensation
	for serving on the committee but is entitled to reimbursement for
	travel expenses incurred by the member while conducting the
	business of the committee as provided by the General Appropriations
	Act.
	(f) The committee shall:
	(1) facilitate the design and development of the
	Medicaid reform waiver required by Chapter 537, Government Code, as
	added by this Act;
	(2) facilitate a smooth transition from existing
	Medicaid payment systems and benefit designs to a new model of
	Medicaid enabled by the waiver described by Subdivision (1) of this
	subsection;
	(3) meet at the call of the presiding officer; and
	(4) research, take public testimony, and issue reports
	requested by the lieutenant governor or speaker of the house of
	representatives.
	(g) The committee may request reports and other information
	from the Health and Human Services Commission.
	(h) The committee shall use existing staff of the senate,
	the house of representatives, and the Texas Legislative Council to
	assist the committee in performing its duties under this section.
	(i) Chapter 551, Government Code, applies to the committee.
	(j) The committee shall report to the lieutenant governor
	and speaker of the house of representatives not later than November
	15, 2012. The report must include:
	(1) identification of significant issues that impede
	the transition to a more effective Medicaid program;
	(2) the measures of effectiveness associated with
	changes to the Medicaid program;
	(3) the impact of Medicaid changes on safety net
	hospitals and other significant traditional providers; and
	(4) the impact on the uninsured in Texas.
	(k) This section expires September 1, 2013, and the
	committee is abolished on that date.
	SECTION 4. 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 on the 91st day after the last day of the
	legislative session.