1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to health; requiring the commissioner of 
  1.3             human services to submit a waiver amendment to allow 
  1.4             greater flexibility in delivering services to persons 
  1.5             served by the home and community-based waiver for 
  1.6             persons with mental retardation and related conditions.
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [WAIVER REQUEST.] 
  1.9      The commissioner of human services shall submit to the 
  1.10  federal health care financing administration by July 1, 1998, a 
  1.11  request to amend the home and community-based waiver for persons 
  1.12  with mental retardation and related conditions to allow more 
  1.13  flexibility in meeting the needs of eligible persons under that 
  1.14  program.  The waiver request must include an option that would 
  1.15  allow waivered service recipients to directly receive 90 percent 
  1.16  of the funds that would otherwise be allocated to them under the 
  1.17  existing program, and use these funds to purchase services to 
  1.18  meet their health care needs.  The waiver option must require 
  1.19  recipients choosing to receive funds directly to annually 
  1.20  provide to the commissioner a description of the type of 
  1.21  services used, the period of time each service was provided, and 
  1.22  the amount paid for the services purchased.  The waiver request 
  1.23  shall require the commissioner to use the remaining ten percent 
  1.24  of funding that would otherwise have been allocated to meet the 
  1.25  needs of other eligible persons waiting for services under the 
  1.26  waiver.  If the waiver amendment is approved, the commissioner, 
  2.1   in consultation with county social service agencies, waivered 
  2.2   service providers, recipients, and recipients' families or legal 
  2.3   guardians, shall evaluate the effectiveness of the option within 
  2.4   two years of its implementation.