SF 1604

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to human services; requiring a planned 
  1.3             nursing facility closure to be budget neutral; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 256B.437, 
  1.5             subdivision 3. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 256B.437, 
  1.8   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 3.  [APPLICATIONS FOR PLANNED CLOSURE OF NURSING 
  1.10  FACILITIES.] (a) By August 15, 2001, the commissioner of human 
  1.11  services shall implement and announce a program for closure or 
  1.12  partial closure of nursing facilities.  Names and identifying 
  1.13  information provided in response to the announcement shall 
  1.14  remain private unless approved, according to the timelines 
  1.15  established in the plan.  The announcement must specify: 
  1.16     (1) the criteria in subdivision 4 that will be used by the 
  1.17  commissioner to approve or reject applications; 
  1.18     (2) the information that must accompany an application; and 
  1.19     (3) that applications may combine planned closure rate 
  1.20  adjustments with moratorium exception funding, in which case a 
  1.21  single application may serve both purposes. 
  1.22  Between August 1, 2001, and June 30, 2003, the commissioner may 
  1.23  approve planned closures of up to 5,140 nursing facility beds, 
  1.24  less the number of beds delicensed in facilities during the same 
  1.25  time period without approved closure plans or that have notified 
  2.1   the commissioner of health of their intent to close without an 
  2.2   approved closure plan.  Beginning July 1, 2004, the commissioner 
  2.3   may negotiate a planned closure for nursing facilities providing 
  2.4   the proposal is budget neutral to the state. 
  2.5      (b) A facility or facilities reimbursed under section 
  2.6   256B.431 or 256B.434 with a closure plan approved by the 
  2.7   commissioner under subdivision 5 may assign a planned closure 
  2.8   rate adjustment to another facility or facilities that are not 
  2.9   closing or in the case of a partial closure, to the facility 
  2.10  undertaking the partial closure.  A facility may also elect to 
  2.11  have a planned closure rate adjustment shared equally by the 
  2.12  five nursing facilities with the lowest total operating payment 
  2.13  rates in the state development region designated under section 
  2.14  462.385, in which the facility that is closing is located.  The 
  2.15  planned closure rate adjustment must be calculated under 
  2.16  subdivision 6.  Facilities that delicense beds without a closure 
  2.17  plan, or whose closure plan is not approved by the commissioner, 
  2.18  are not eligible to assign a planned closure rate adjustment 
  2.19  under subdivision 6, unless they are delicensing five or fewer 
  2.20  beds, or less than six percent of their total licensed bed 
  2.21  capacity, whichever is greater, are located in a county in the 
  2.22  top three quartiles of beds per 1,000 persons aged 65 or older, 
  2.23  and have not delicensed beds in the prior three months.  
  2.24  Facilities meeting these criteria are eligible to assign the 
  2.25  amount calculated under subdivision 6 to themselves.  If a 
  2.26  facility is delicensing the greater of six or more beds, or six 
  2.27  percent or more of its total licensed bed capacity, and does not 
  2.28  have an approved closure plan or is not eligible for the 
  2.29  adjustment under subdivision 6, the commissioner shall calculate 
  2.30  the amount the facility would have been eligible to assign under 
  2.31  subdivision 6, and shall use this amount to provide equal rate 
  2.32  adjustments to the five nursing facilities with the lowest total 
  2.33  operating payment rates in the state development region 
  2.34  designated under section 462.385, in which the facility that 
  2.35  delicensed beds is located. 
  2.36     (c) To be considered for approval, an application must 
  3.1   include: 
  3.2      (1) a description of the proposed closure plan, which must 
  3.3   include identification of the facility or facilities to receive 
  3.4   a planned closure rate adjustment; 
  3.5      (2) the proposed timetable for any proposed closure, 
  3.6   including the proposed dates for announcement to residents, 
  3.7   commencement of closure, and completion of closure; 
  3.8      (3) if available, the proposed relocation plan for current 
  3.9   residents of any facility designated for closure.  If a 
  3.10  relocation plan is not available, the application must include a 
  3.11  statement agreeing to develop a relocation plan designed to 
  3.12  comply with section 144A.161; 
  3.13     (4) a description of the relationship between the nursing 
  3.14  facility that is proposed for closure and the nursing facility 
  3.15  or facilities proposed to receive the planned closure rate 
  3.16  adjustment.  If these facilities are not under common ownership, 
  3.17  copies of any contracts, purchase agreements, or other documents 
  3.18  establishing a relationship or proposed relationship must be 
  3.19  provided; 
  3.20     (5) documentation, in a format approved by the 
  3.21  commissioner, that all the nursing facilities receiving a 
  3.22  planned closure rate adjustment under the plan have accepted 
  3.23  joint and several liability for recovery of overpayments under 
  3.24  section 256B.0641, subdivision 2, for the facilities designated 
  3.25  for closure under the plan; and 
  3.26     (6) an explanation of how the application coordinates with 
  3.27  planning efforts under subdivision 2.  If the planning group 
  3.28  does not support a level of nursing facility closures that the 
  3.29  commissioner considers to be reasonable, the commissioner may 
  3.30  approve a planned closure proposal without its support. 
  3.31     (d) The application must address the criteria listed in 
  3.32  subdivision 4.