E Relating to human services ARTICLE 1 CONTINUING CARE AND DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES LICENSING Requiring commissioner of children, families and learning approval of all education programs for placement of children and youth in care and treatment facilities before licensure by the departments of human services or corrections and requiring the programs to conform to state and federal education laws, defining care and treatment placement, specifying the responsibility of the school district of facility location for the provision of education services, designating the department of corrections as the providing district for education programs operated by the department, specifying certain education services, individual education plan (IEP) and exit report requirements and providing for reimbursement for the services; prohibiting health care providers from charging of fees for copies of patient health care records requested to appeal denials of social security benefits; expanding the definition of project construction costs under the nursing home bed moratorium to include the cost of new technology and depreciable equipment, requiring inclusion in appraised value and allowable debt for reimbursement determination purposes; expanding transition planning grant eligibility to boarding care facilities; eliminating a certain continuing education requirement relating to infection control for acupuncture practitioners licensure renewal purposes; requiring and providing for the administrative services unit for the health related licensing boards to establish a volunteer health care provider program to facilitate the provision of health care services provided by volunteer health care providers through eligible health care facilities and organizations to uninsured or underinsured persons, requiring and providing for health care provider registration; modifying certain human services licensure requirements; defining adult day care for licensure purposes; making permanent a certain exclusion from licensing requirements for certain board and lodge facilities serving mentally ill persons and clarifying the exclusion from licensure requirements for services provided and funded according to approved federal waiver plans; prohibiting the issuance of emergency licenses to relatives or family members disqualified by the county from obtaining a foster care license; requiring applicants or license holders initiating background checks and receiving information on the possible criminal or maltreatment history resulting from the checks to report findings to the commissioner of human services; clarifying the prohibition on access to persons served by the program by persons disqualified due to a background check; modifying certain requirements for reconsideration of disqualifications due to determinations of maltreatment, modifying fair hearing requirements and specifying certain determinations or dispositions considered to be conclusive; prohibiting program operation by license holders appealing final immediate licensing sanctions pending the final order; timely appeals of orders suspending or revoking licenses to stay the suspension or revocation pending final order of the commissioner; providing for the consolidation of certain hearings and reconsiderations; specifying certain minimum sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) prevention training requirements for family and group family child care providers, requiring county licensing agency approval; authorizing fire inspections by local fire code inspectors; authorizing county agency variances for disqualified persons under certain conditions, specifying certain county reporting requirements; expanding certain American Indian chemical dependency treatment services agreement requirements; eliminating the authority of the commissioner to administer a supplemental drug rebate program for drugs purchased under the prescription drug program; modifying certain standards of evidence for maltreatment and disqualification hearings; expanding the definition of vendor of medical care for medical assistance (MA) reimbursement purposes to health care professionals credentialed under standards set by governing bodies of federally recognized Indian tribes, requiring submission of the standards to the commissioner for state standards exemption purposes; requiring the drug formulary committee to consider data from the state medicaid program in developing prior authorization criteria, requiring the commissioner to provide advance notice of drug prior authorization requirements, authorizing appeal of prior authorization denials, requiring provision of the drug without prior authorization pending a decision; recodifying the provision providing medical assistance coverage for case management services for vulnerable adults and adults with developmental disabilities; modifying the medical assistance, general assistance medical care (GAMC) and MinnesotaCare participation percentage for dental service providers to be able to participate in state or public employee health insurance plans and programs; modifying the provision providing eligibility for case management services for certain nursing or certified boarding care home, hospital or intermediate care facility residents and clarifying certain other covered services under the medical assistance alternative care program, granting the state immunity from liability for damages sustained through the purchase of direct supports or goods, eliminating eligibility for cash payments and a certain monthly premium calculation requirement, requiring written notice of denial of alternative care and community and home based services and alternative care providers to enroll as Minnesota health care program providers; requiring initial assessments of client strengths, informal supports and need for services under the elderly waiver, requiring elderly waiver clients to be provided a copy of the written care plan and specifying certain services and supports requirements; requiring the replacement after a certain date of facility fee payments for outpatient hospital emergency room and clinic visits based on the medicare outpatient prospective payment system by a budget neutral prospective payment system derived from medical assistance data; providing for commissioner negotiation in lieu of contracting with nursing facilities eligible to receive medical assistance payments to provide services to ventilator dependent persons and specifying the payment rate limit upon implementation of the RUGs based case mix system; modifying and clarifying certain provisions under the nursing facility planned closure program; specifying a timeline for implementation of reimbursement classifications established under the case mix system; requiring the operating payment rate for intermediate care facilities for persons with mental retardation and related conditions (ICF MR) to be adjusted for increases in department of health licensing fees; requiring the commissioner of human services in consultation with a health care actuary to evaluate regional rate relationships under the prepayment demonstration project based on actual health plan costs for state health care programs, authorizing the commissioner to establish new rate regions recognizing metropolitan areas outside the seven county metropolitan area; delaying the requirement for reimbursement for hospital outpatient services under the budget neutral prospective payment system; increasing the medical assistance rates for outpatient mental health services provided by certain outpatient rehabilitation facilities; requiring the commissioners of human services and children, families and learning and state services for the blind to meet with deaf blind persons and the Minnesota commission serving deaf and hard of hearing individuals to determine the most efficient and effective agency to develop and administer a pilot program for consumer directed services to deaf blind adults, children and families, requiring the agency developing the pilot program to report to the legislature by a certain date, specifying certain report content requirements; requiring the commissioner of human services to combine the existing biennial base level funding for deaf blind services into a single grant program and specifying authorized grant awards; requiring the commissioner to study and report to the legislature by a certain date on the feasibility of expanding medical assistance benefits to certain deaf blind services, exempting the study from the consulting contract moratorium; requiring the commissioner to review prior authorization of prescription drugs in the fee for service medical assistance program for cost effectiveness and quality of patient care; appropriating money to the health related licensing boards administrative services unit for legal costs incurred by the attorney general in defending civil actions against health care providers under the volunteer program ARTICLE 2 HUMAN SERVICES AND CORRECTIONSRequiring and providing for the licensing of plumbers by the commissioner of health; requiring the commissioner to adopt rules establishing criteria and procedures for denial, refusal to renew, suspension and revocation of licenses and registrations under the authority of the commissioner and granting the commissioner the authority to deny, refuse to renew, suspend or revoke licenses and registrations in accordance with the adopted criteria and procedures; establishing a fee schedule for plumber examinations, bond and apprentice registrations, licenses, plan reviews and inspections and specifying certain minimum plumbing installation inspection requirements; extending the availability of rural hospital capital improvement grant funds until expenditure by the grantee; authorizing the corrections ombudsman to apply for and receive grants from public and private entities to exercise powers and duties; modifying continuing education requirements for case managers under the adult and children's mental health acts; modifying a certain provision regulating interstate contracts for mental health services, redefining agency and defining receiving state and sending state; stating the purpose of the contracts relating to appropriate treatment; expanding commissioner of human services and special contracting authority, providing for civil commitment under certain conditions; requiring recipients choosing to use the shared personal care assistant services option under medical assistance (MA) to utilize the same fiscal intermediary; expanding exceptions to nursing facility preadmission screening requirements to certain short term stay residents admitted directly from a hospital, requiring notice of eligibility for long term care consultation services, requiring assessment for longer stays; modifying the limit on annual payments for other services for all clients in a county under the alternative care program; authorizing adjustment of the initially approved monthly conversion rate under the elderly waiver by certain legislatively adopted cost of living increases; expanding the persons authorized for provider face to face contact for medical assistance or MinnesotaCare payment of targeted case management services for vulnerable adults and persons with developmental disabilities; modifying certain region quality assurance pilot project federal and rule waiver requirements; authorizing nursing facilities receiving a planned closure rate adjustment to reassign the adjustment to another facility under the same ownership within a certain number of years of the effective date, providing for computation, requiring commissioner recalculation of planned closure rate adjustments for facilities delicensing beds after a certain date to reflect increases in per bed dollar amounts; defining restricted plumbing contractor for licensing purposes; making mandatory the option of the commissioner of health to by rule prescribe minimum uniform standards for new plumbing installations; requiring commissioner inspection of new plumbing installations for compliance with accepted standards of construction for health and safety and for compliance with applicable codes, exceptions, requiring full implementation and operation of an inspection plan by a certain date; prohibiting city or town license requirements for persons installing building sewer or water service completing pipe laying training prescribed by the commissioner; requiring commissioner licensing of master, journeyman and restricted plumbing contractors and specifying certain requirements for licensing as a restricted plumbing contractor; requiring the commissioner to establish criteria and procedures by rule for inspector certification and examination; requiring the commissioner of human services to study case management services for persons with disabilities and report to the legislature by a certain date on strategies to improve and enhance the services; specifying certain reference change instructions to the revisor of statutes ARTICLE 3 TANFTemporarily extending assistance under the Minnesota family investment program to certain participants following plan requirements and not obtaining sufficient employment, notice requirement; extending hardship extension eligibility to victims of family violence participating in an alternative employment plan, to certain participants with limited work hours due to health conditions and to certain participants receiving TANF (temporary assistance for needy families) counting toward the 60 month time limit during employment and training services requirements exemption periods; clarifying disqualification from MFIP for fourth occurrences of noncompliance occurring after a certain date; cancelling certain unobliged or unexpended funds for health care and human services worker training and retention programs under the Minnesota job skills partnership and eliminating TANF funding for the pathways program; requiring the commissioner of human services to maintain the amount used in certain MFIP forecasts at a certain level; appropriating money to the commissioner for MFIP assistance time limit extensions and associated child care costs and to increase the amount of funds available for reallocation of county administrative aid (mk, ja)