SF 216

as introduced - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to health; repealing MinnesotaCare provider 
  1.3             tax; repealing the premium tax for health plan 
  1.4             companies and nonprofit health service plan 
  1.5             corporations; repealing the health care access fund; 
  1.6             repealing hospital surcharge; appropriating money; 
  1.7             amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 62J.041, 
  1.8             subdivision 1; 62Q.095, subdivision 6; 144.1494, 
  1.9             subdivision 1; 144.1495, subdivision 2; 144.1496, 
  1.10            subdivision 1; 214.16, subdivisions 2 and 3; 256L.02, 
  1.11            subdivisions 3 and 4; 270B.01, subdivision 8; 270B.14, 
  1.12            subdivision 1; and 297I.15, by adding a subdivision; 
  1.13            repealing Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 13.4967, 
  1.14            subdivision 3; 16A.724; 16A.76; 62T.10; 144.1484, 
  1.15            subdivision 2; 256.9657, subdivision 2; 256B.19, 
  1.16            subdivision 1b; 295.50; 295.51; 295.52; 295.53; 
  1.17            295.54; 295.55; 295.56; 295.57; 295.58; 295.581; 
  1.18            295.582; 295.59; and 297I.05, subdivision 5. 
  1.19  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.20     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 62J.041, 
  1.21  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.22     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) For purposes of this 
  1.23  section, the following definitions apply. 
  1.24     (b) "Health plan company" has the definition provided in 
  1.25  section 62Q.01. 
  1.26     (c) "Total expenditures" means incurred claims or 
  1.27  expenditures on health care services, administrative expenses, 
  1.28  charitable contributions, and all other payments made by health 
  1.29  plan companies out of premium revenues. 
  1.30     (d) "Net expenditures" means total expenditures minus 
  1.31  exempted taxes and assessments and payments or allocations made 
  1.32  to establish or maintain reserves.  
  2.1      (e) "Exempted taxes and assessments" means direct payments 
  2.2   for taxes to government agencies, contributions to the Minnesota 
  2.3   comprehensive health association, the medical assistance 
  2.4   provider's surcharge under section 256.9657, the MinnesotaCare 
  2.5   provider tax under Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 295.52, 
  2.6   assessments by the health coverage reinsurance association, 
  2.7   assessments by the Minnesota life and health insurance guaranty 
  2.8   association, assessments by the Minnesota risk adjustment 
  2.9   association, and any new assessments imposed by federal or state 
  2.10  law. 
  2.11     (f) "Consumer cost-sharing or subscriber liability" means 
  2.12  enrollee coinsurance, copayment, deductible payments, and 
  2.13  amounts in excess of benefit plan maximums. 
  2.14     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 62Q.095, 
  2.15  subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
  2.16     Subd. 6.  [EXEMPTION.] A health plan company, to the extent 
  2.17  that it operates as a staff model health plan company as defined 
  2.18  in section 295.50, subdivision 12b, by employing allied 
  2.19  independent health care providers to deliver health care 
  2.20  services to enrollees, is exempt from this section.  For 
  2.21  purposes of this subdivision, "staff model health plan company" 
  2.22  means a health plan company as defined in section 62Q.01, 
  2.23  subdivision 4, that employs one or more types of health care 
  2.24  provider to deliver health care services to the health plan 
  2.25  company's enrollees. 
  2.26     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 144.1494, 
  2.27  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.28     Subdivision 1.  [CREATION OF ACCOUNT.] A rural physician 
  2.29  education account is established in the health care 
  2.30  access general fund.  The commissioner shall use money from the 
  2.31  account to establish a loan forgiveness program for medical 
  2.32  residents agreeing to practice in designated rural areas, as 
  2.33  defined by the commissioner.  Appropriations made to this 
  2.34  account do not cancel and are available until expended, except 
  2.35  that at the end of each biennium the commissioner shall cancel 
  2.36  to the health care access fund any remaining unobligated balance 
  3.1   in this account. 
  3.2      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 144.1495, 
  3.3   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.4      Subd. 2.  [CREATION OF ACCOUNT.] A midlevel practitioner 
  3.5   education account is established in the health care 
  3.6   access general fund.  The commissioner shall use money from the 
  3.7   account to establish a loan forgiveness program for midlevel 
  3.8   practitioners agreeing to practice in designated rural areas.  
  3.9      Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 144.1496, 
  3.10  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  3.11     Subdivision 1.  [CREATION OF THE ACCOUNT.] An education 
  3.12  account in the health care access general fund is established 
  3.13  for a loan forgiveness program for nurses who agree to practice 
  3.14  nursing in a nursing home or intermediate care facility for 
  3.15  persons with mental retardation or related conditions.  The 
  3.16  account consists of money appropriated by the legislature and 
  3.17  repayments and penalties collected under subdivision 4.  Money 
  3.18  from the account must be used for a loan forgiveness program. 
  3.19     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 214.16, 
  3.20  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.21     Subd. 2.  [BOARD COOPERATION REQUIRED.] The board shall 
  3.22  assist the commissioner of health in data collection activities 
  3.23  required under Laws 1992, chapter 549, article 7, and shall 
  3.24  assist the commissioner of revenue in activities related to 
  3.25  collection of the health care provider tax required under Laws 
  3.26  1992, chapter 549, article 9.  Upon the request of the 
  3.27  commissioner or the commissioner of revenue, the board shall 
  3.28  make available names and addresses of current licensees and 
  3.29  provide other information or assistance as needed. 
  3.30     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 214.16, 
  3.31  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  3.32     Subd. 3.  [GROUNDS FOR DISCIPLINARY ACTION.] The board 
  3.33  shall take disciplinary action, which may include license 
  3.34  revocation, against a regulated person for: 
  3.35     (1) intentional failure to provide the commissioner of 
  3.36  health with the data required under chapter 62J; and 
  4.1      (2) intentional failure to provide the commissioner of 
  4.2   revenue with data on gross revenue and other information 
  4.3   required for the commissioner to implement sections 295.50 to 
  4.4   295.58; 
  4.5      (3) intentional failure to pay the health care provider tax 
  4.6   required under section 295.52; and 
  4.7      (4) entering into a contract or arrangement that is 
  4.8   prohibited under sections 62J.70 to 62J.73. 
  4.9      Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 256L.02, 
  4.10  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  4.11     Subd. 3.  [FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT.] (a) The commissioner 
  4.12  shall manage spending for the MinnesotaCare program in a manner 
  4.13  that maintains a minimum reserve in accordance with section 
  4.14  16A.76.  As part of each state revenue and expenditure forecast, 
  4.15  the commissioner must make an assessment of the expected 
  4.16  expenditures for the services covered services under the 
  4.17  MinnesotaCare program for the remainder of the current biennium 
  4.18  and for the following biennium.  The estimated expenditure, 
  4.19  including the reserve requirements described in section 16A.76, 
  4.20  shall be compared to an estimate of the revenues that will be 
  4.21  available in the health care access fund.  Based on this 
  4.22  comparison, and After consulting with the chairs of the house 
  4.23  ways and means committee and the senate finance committee, and 
  4.24  the legislative commission on health care access, the 
  4.25  commissioner shall, as necessary, make the adjustments specified 
  4.26  in paragraph (b) to ensure that expenditures remain within the 
  4.27  limits of the available revenues for the remainder of the 
  4.28  current biennium and for the following biennium appropriations.  
  4.29  The commissioner shall not hire additional staff using 
  4.30  appropriations from the health care access general fund until 
  4.31  the commissioner of finance makes a determination that the 
  4.32  adjustments implemented under paragraph (b) are sufficient to 
  4.33  allow MinnesotaCare expenditures to remain within the limits of 
  4.34  available revenues for the remainder of the current biennium and 
  4.35  for the following biennium appropriations. 
  4.36     (b) The adjustments the commissioner shall use must be 
  5.1   implemented in this order:  first, stop enrollment of single 
  5.2   adults and households without children; second, upon 45 days' 
  5.3   notice, stop coverage of single adults and households without 
  5.4   children already enrolled in the MinnesotaCare program; third, 
  5.5   upon 90 days' notice, decrease the premium subsidy amounts by 
  5.6   ten percent for families with gross annual income above 200 
  5.7   percent of the federal poverty guidelines; fourth, upon 90 days' 
  5.8   notice, decrease the premium subsidy amounts by ten percent for 
  5.9   families with gross annual income at or below 200 percent; and 
  5.10  fifth, require applicants to be uninsured for at least six 
  5.11  months prior to eligibility in the MinnesotaCare program.  If 
  5.12  these measures are insufficient to limit the expenditures to the 
  5.13  estimated amount of revenue available appropriations, the 
  5.14  commissioner shall further limit enrollment or decrease premium 
  5.15  subsidies. 
  5.16     Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 256L.02, 
  5.17  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  5.18     Subd. 4.  [FUNDING FOR PREGNANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN UNDER 
  5.19  AGE TWO.] For fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 1999, 
  5.20  the state cost of health care services provided to MinnesotaCare 
  5.21  enrollees who are pregnant women or children under age two shall 
  5.22  be paid out of the general fund rather than the health care 
  5.23  access fund.  If the commissioner of finance decides to pay for 
  5.24  these costs using a source other than the general fund, the 
  5.25  commissioner shall include the change as a budget initiative in 
  5.26  the biennial or supplemental budget, and shall not change the 
  5.27  funding source through a forecast modification. 
  5.28     Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 270B.01, 
  5.29  subdivision 8, is amended to read: 
  5.30     Subd. 8.  [MINNESOTA TAX LAWS.] For purposes of this 
  5.31  chapter only, unless expressly stated otherwise, "Minnesota tax 
  5.32  laws" means the taxes, refunds, and fees administered by or paid 
  5.33  to the commissioner under chapters 115B (except taxes imposed 
  5.34  under sections 115B.21 to 115B.24), 289A (except taxes imposed 
  5.35  under sections 298.01, 298.015, and 298.24), 290, 290A, 291, 
  5.36  297A, and 297H and sections 295.50 to 295.59, or any similar 
  6.1   Indian tribal tax administered by the commissioner pursuant to 
  6.2   any tax agreement between the state and the Indian tribal 
  6.3   government, and includes any laws for the assessment, 
  6.4   collection, and enforcement of those taxes, refunds, and fees. 
  6.5      Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 270B.14, 
  6.6   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  6.7      Subdivision 1.  [DISCLOSURE TO COMMISSIONER OF HUMAN 
  6.8   SERVICES.] (a) On the request of the commissioner of human 
  6.9   services, the commissioner shall disclose return information 
  6.10  regarding taxes imposed by chapter 290, and claims for refunds 
  6.11  under chapter 290A, to the extent provided in paragraph (b) and 
  6.12  for the purposes set forth in paragraph (c). 
  6.13     (b) Data that may be disclosed are limited to data relating 
  6.14  to the identity, whereabouts, employment, income, and property 
  6.15  of a person owing or alleged to be owing an obligation of child 
  6.16  support. 
  6.17     (c) The commissioner of human services may request data 
  6.18  only for the purposes of carrying out the child support 
  6.19  enforcement program and to assist in the location of parents who 
  6.20  have, or appear to have, deserted their children.  Data received 
  6.21  may be used only as set forth in section 256.978. 
  6.22     (d) The commissioner shall provide the records and 
  6.23  information necessary to administer the supplemental housing 
  6.24  allowance to the commissioner of human services.  
  6.25     (e) At the request of the commissioner of human services, 
  6.26  the commissioner of revenue shall electronically match the 
  6.27  social security numbers and names of participants in the 
  6.28  telephone assistance plan operated under sections 237.69 to 
  6.29  237.711, with those of property tax refund filers, and determine 
  6.30  whether each participant's household income is within the 
  6.31  eligibility standards for the telephone assistance plan. 
  6.32     (f) The commissioner may provide records and information 
  6.33  collected under Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 295.50 to 
  6.34  295.59, to the commissioner of human services for purposes of 
  6.35  the Medicaid Voluntary Contribution and Provider-Specific Tax 
  6.36  Amendments of 1991, Public Law Number 102-234.  Upon the written 
  7.1   agreement by the United States Department of Health and Human 
  7.2   Services to maintain the confidentiality of the data, the 
  7.3   commissioner may provide records and information collected under 
  7.4   Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 295.50 to 295.59, to the 
  7.5   Health Care Financing Administration section of the United 
  7.6   States Department of Health and Human Services for purposes of 
  7.7   meeting federal reporting requirements.  
  7.8      (g) The commissioner may provide records and information to 
  7.9   the commissioner of human services as necessary to administer 
  7.10  the early refund of refundable tax credits. 
  7.11     (h) The commissioner may disclose information to the 
  7.12  commissioner of human services necessary to verify income for 
  7.13  eligibility and premium payment under the MinnesotaCare program, 
  7.14  under section 256L.05, subdivision 2. 
  7.15     (i) The commissioner may disclose information to the 
  7.16  commissioner of human services necessary to verify whether 
  7.17  applicants or recipients for the Minnesota family investment 
  7.18  program, general assistance, food stamps, and Minnesota 
  7.19  supplemental aid program have claimed refundable tax credits 
  7.20  under chapter 290 and the property tax refund under chapter 
  7.21  290A, and the amounts of the credits. 
  7.22     Sec. 12.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 297I.15, is 
  7.23  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  7.24     Subd. 11.  [HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATIONS; NONPROFIT 
  7.25  HEALTH SERVICE PLAN CORPORATIONS; COMMUNITY INTEGRATED SERVICE 
  7.26  NETWORKS.] Premiums paid to health maintenance organizations, 
  7.27  nonprofit health service plan corporations, and community 
  7.28  integrated service networks are exempt from the taxes imposed 
  7.29  under this chapter. 
  7.30     Sec. 13.  [TRANSFER.] 
  7.31     The commissioner of finance shall transfer all funds 
  7.32  remaining in the health care access fund as of June 30, 2003, to 
  7.33  the general fund. 
  7.34     Sec. 14.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  7.35     $54,476,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  7.36  commissioner of human services for the 2002 fiscal year for 
  8.1   medical assistance costs.  This appropriation shall become part 
  8.2   of base level funding and shall be increased each year by the 
  8.3   change in the Consumer Price Index-All Items (United States city 
  8.4   average) (CPI-U) forecasted by Data Resources, Inc. using the 
  8.5   indices as forecasted in the first quarter of each calendar year 
  8.6   for the subsequent fiscal year.  
  8.7      Sec. 15.  [REPEALER.] 
  8.8      (a) Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 13.4967, subdivision 
  8.9   3; 144.1484, subdivision 2; 295.50; 295.51; 295.52; 295.53; 
  8.10  295.54; 295.55; 295.56; 295.57; 295.58; 295.582; and 295.59, are 
  8.11  repealed. 
  8.12     (b) Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 16A.724; 16A.76; and 
  8.13  295.581, are repealed. 
  8.14     (c) Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 62T.10; and 297I.05, 
  8.15  subdivision 5, are repealed. 
  8.16     (d) Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 256.9657, subdivision 
  8.17  2; and 256B.19, subdivision 1b, are repealed.  
  8.18     Sec. 16.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  8.19     Sections 12 and 15, paragraph (c), are effective January 1, 
  8.20  2002. 
  8.21     Sections 1; 2; 6; 7; 10; 11; and 15, paragraph (a), are 
  8.22  effective July 1, 2002, and apply to gross revenue received on 
  8.23  or after that date. 
  8.24     Section 15, paragraph (d), is effective July 1, 2001. 
  8.25     Sections 3; 4; 5; 8; 9; 13; and 15, paragraph (b), are 
  8.26  effective July 1, 2003.