1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to regulating home medical equipment 
  1.3             services; authorizing rulemaking; proposing coding for 
  1.4             new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 144A. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [144A.481] [HOME MEDICAL EQUIPMENT SERVICES.] 
  1.7      Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) For the purposes of this 
  1.8   section, the terms in this subdivision have the meanings given 
  1.9   them. 
  1.10     (b) "Home medical equipment provider" means a business 
  1.11  engaged in the provision of home medical equipment services, 
  1.12  whether directly or through a contractual arrangement, to the 
  1.13  place of residence of a person whose illness, disability, or 
  1.14  physical condition creates a need for the service.  A home 
  1.15  medical equipment provider does not include the following 
  1.16  entities or individuals unless those entities or individuals 
  1.17  also engage in the provision of home medical equipment services: 
  1.18     (1) licensed health care facilities such as hospitals, 
  1.19  nursing homes, hospices, boarding care homes, and supervised 
  1.20  living facilities; 
  1.21     (2) pharmacies; 
  1.22     (3) health care practitioners legally eligible to prescribe 
  1.23  or order home medical equipment, or who use home medical 
  1.24  equipment to treat their patients, including but not limited 
  1.25  to:  physicians, nurses, physical therapists, respiratory care 
  2.1   practitioners, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, 
  2.2   optometrists, chiropractors, pharmacists, and dentists; and 
  2.3      (4) home care providers. 
  2.4      (c) "Home medical equipment services" means the delivery, 
  2.5   installation, maintenance, or replacement of, or instruction in 
  2.6   the use of, home medical equipment used by the individual to 
  2.7   allow the individual to be maintained in the individual's 
  2.8   residence, regardless of the origin of the home medical 
  2.9   equipment provider.  It does not include the training of: 
  2.10     (1) individuals while patients or residents in a health 
  2.11  care facility in the use of home medical equipment; or 
  2.12     (2) home care clients in the use of home medical equipment 
  2.13  or the monitoring of the client's use of such equipment if the 
  2.14  equipment is not furnished by the home care provider and the use 
  2.15  of the equipment is part of the client's plan of care. 
  2.16     (d) "Home medical equipment" means technologically 
  2.17  sophisticated medical devices usable in a home setting, 
  2.18  including, but not limited to:  oxygen and oxygen delivery 
  2.19  systems; ventilators; respiratory disease management devices; 
  2.20  standard, electronic, or computer driven wheelchairs, scooters, 
  2.21  and seating systems; apnea monitors; transcutaneous electrical 
  2.22  nerve stimulator (TENS) units; low air loss cutaneous pressure 
  2.23  management devices; sequential compression devices; neonatal 
  2.24  home phototherapy devices; feeding pumps; infusion pumps; and 
  2.25  other similar equipment defined in rules established by the 
  2.26  commissioner of health. 
  2.27     Subd. 2.  [LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS.] A home medical 
  2.28  equipment provider may not operate in the state without a 
  2.29  current license issued by the commissioner of health.  The 
  2.30  commissioner shall license home medical equipment providers 
  2.31  using the powers and authorities contained in sections 144A.43 
  2.32  to 144A.47.  A home medical equipment provider shall comply with 
  2.33  the home care licensure rules established for a class A or 
  2.34  professional home care agency.  Notwithstanding the licensure 
  2.35  rules, a home medical equipment provider is not required to 
  2.36  offer additional home care services. 
  3.1      Subd. 3.  [RULE AUTHORITY.] The commissioner shall adopt 
  3.2   rules as necessary to establish additional licensure standards 
  3.3   for the provision of home medical equipment services.  These 
  3.4   rules shall include, but not be limited to, the types of home 
  3.5   medical equipment that can only be furnished by a licensed 
  3.6   provider, provisions for equipment management, training of 
  3.7   personnel, orientation to the use of the equipment, and other 
  3.8   matters relating to the health and safety of the recipients of 
  3.9   its services.