HF 3955

as introduced - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to human services; promoting community-based care for older adults
through the establishment of a community consortium demonstration project;
establishing a community consortium account in the general fund to distribute
pooled resources; requiring an evaluation of the demonstration project.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. new text begin OLDER ADULT SERVICES COMMUNITY CONSORTIUMS.
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new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Establishment. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner of human services, in
cooperation with the commissioners of health and housing finance, shall develop and
implement, beginning July 1, 2009, a three-year demonstration project for older adult
services community consortiums. An older adult services community consortium
may consist of health care and social service providers, county agencies, and other
community stakeholders within a demonstration site that have established a process for
joint decision-making. Demonstration sites may include a portion of a county, an entire
county, or multiple counties.
new text end

new text begin (b) Each community consortium seeking to participate as a demonstration site must
submit an application to the commissioner. The application must include:
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new text begin (1) a description of the entities participating in the consortium, the scope of
collaboration, and the process to be used for joint-decision making;
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new text begin (2) the methods by which the consortium plans to achieve the goals specified in
subdivision 2;
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new text begin (3) a description of the proposed demonstration site; and
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new text begin (4) other information the commissioner determines to be necessary to evaluate
proposals.
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new text begin (c) The commissioner of human services shall convene a review panel to select
community consortiums to participate as demonstration sites. The review panel must
include, at a minimum: representatives of the commissioners of human services,
health, and housing finance; counties; and area agencies on aging. The commissioner,
after considering the recommendations of the review panel, shall designate up to three
community consortiums as demonstration sites.
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new text begin (d) Each community consortium selected to participate shall establish a local group
to assist in planning, designing, implementing, and evaluating the coordinated service
delivery system within the demonstration site. Planning for each consortium shall build
upon current planning processes developed by county gaps analyses and Elder Care
Development Partnerships under Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.0917.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Goals. new text end

new text begin The community consortium demonstration project must be
designed to:
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new text begin (1) ensure consumer access to a continuum of older adult services;
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new text begin (2) create an adequate supply of affordable home-based alternatives to care for
persons currently using nursing facilities, or likely to need nursing facility services
in the future;
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new text begin (3) establish and achieve measurable performance targets for care delivered
throughout the continuum of care; and
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new text begin (4) support the management of chronic and complex conditions through greater
coordination of all services needed by older adults.
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new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Priority for other grants. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of health shall give
priority to community consortiums selected as demonstration sites when awarding
technology-related grants. The commissioner of the Housing Finance Agency shall give
priority to community consortiums selected as demonstration sites when distributing funds
to create affordable housing options for older adults. The commissioner of transportation
shall give priority to community consortiums selected as demonstration sites when
distributing transportation-related funds to create transportation options for older adults.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Federal approval. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of human services shall request any
federal approvals or waivers necessary to implement the community consortiums under
the medical assistance program and include medical assistance funding in the community
consortium account.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin State waivers. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of health may waive applicable state
laws and rules on a time-limited basis if the commissioner determines that a participating
consortium requires a waiver in order to achieve demonstration project goals.
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new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Quality measures. new text end

new text begin (a) Community consortiums participating in the
demonstration project shall report information to the commissioner of human services
necessary to evaluate the demonstration project, in the form and manner specified by
the commissioners. The information collected by the commissioner must include both
process and outcome measures, including but not limited to measures related to enrollee
satisfaction, service delivery, service coordination, service access, use of technology,
individual outcomes, and costs.
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new text begin (b) Participating consortiums shall identify state policies that limit the extent to
which project goals can be achieved and recommend necessary changes to the appropriate
state agencies.
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new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Community consortium account; financing. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioner
of finance shall establish a community consortium account in the general fund for the
purpose of collecting funds for distribution to the selected community consortiums. Funds
must be collected from the following existing grant programs within the Departments
of Health and Human Services and must be transferred as follows to the community
consortium account prior to awarding of the demonstration grants:
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new text begin (1) ten percent of any funds appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 2011,
for the nursing home moratorium exceptions process under Minnesota Statutes, section
144A.073;
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new text begin (2) ten percent of the funds appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 2011, for
community services development grants under Minnesota Statutes, section 256.9754; and
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new text begin (3) ten percent of the funds appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 2011,
for nursing facility performance grants under Minnesota Statutes, section 256B.434,
subdivision 4, paragraph (d).
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new text begin (b) Money in the community consortium account may be used by the commissioner
of human services to provide grants to participating community consortiums.
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new text begin (c) Funds available from closure of nursing facility beds within a demonstration site
may be used by the consortium to fund consortium-related activities if the closed beds
have not been claimed as a planned closure rate adjustment under Minnesota Statutes,
section 256B.437.
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new text begin Subd. 8. new text end

new text begin Evaluation and report. new text end

new text begin The commissioner of human services, in
cooperation with the commissioners of health and housing finance, shall evaluate the
demonstration project, and report findings and recommendations to the legislature by
November 15, 2011, on whether the demonstration project should be continued and
whether the number of demonstration project sites increased. The evaluation and report
must include:
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new text begin (1) a comparison of the performance of demonstration sites relative to nonconsortium
communities on the quality measures specified in subdivision 6;
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new text begin (2) an assessment of the extent to which the demonstration project can be
successfully expanded to other parts of the state; and
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new text begin (3) legislative changes necessary to improve the effectiveness of the demonstration
project and to expand the projects to other parts of the state.
new text end