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62J.17 Expenditure reporting.

Subdivision 1. Purpose. To ensure access to affordable health care services for all Minnesotans it is necessary to restrain the rate of growth in health care costs. An important factor believed to contribute to escalating costs may be the purchase of costly new medical equipment, major capital expenditures, and the addition of new specialized services. After spending limits are established under section 62J.04, providers, patients, and communities will have the opportunity to decide for themselves whether they can afford capital expenditures or new equipment or specialized services within the constraints of a spending limit. In this environment, the state's role in reviewing these spending commitments can be more limited. However, during the interim period until spending targets are established, it is important to prevent unrestrained major spending commitments that will contribute further to the escalation of health care costs and make future cost containment efforts more difficult. In addition, it is essential to protect against the possibility that the legislature's expression of its attempt to control health care costs may lead a provider to make major spending commitments before targets or other cost containment constraints are fully implemented because the provider recognizes that the spending commitment may not be considered appropriate, needed, or affordable within the context of a fixed budget for health care spending. Therefore, the legislature finds that a requirement for reporting health care expenditures is necessary.

Subd. 2. Definitions. For purposes of this section, the terms defined in this subdivision have the meanings given.

(a) Access. "Access" means the financial, temporal, and geographic availability of health care to individuals who need it.

(b) Capital expenditure. "Capital expenditure" means an expenditure which, under generally accepted accounting principles, is not properly chargeable as an expense of operation and maintenance.

(c) Cost. "Cost" means the amount paid by consumers or third party payers for health care services or products.

(d) Date of the major spending commitment. "Date of the major spending commitment" means the date the provider formally obligated itself to the major spending commitment. The obligation may be incurred by entering into a contract, making a down payment, issuing bonds or entering a loan agreement to provide financing for the major spending commitment, or taking some other formal, tangible action evidencing the provider's intention to make the major spending commitment.

(e) Health care service. "Health care service" means:

(1) a service or item that would be covered by the medical assistance program under chapter 256B if provided in accordance with medical assistance requirements to an eligible medical assistance recipient; and

(2) a service or item that would be covered by medical assistance except that it is characterized as experimental, cosmetic, or voluntary.

"Health care service" does not include retail, over-the-counter sales of nonprescription drugs and other retail sales of health-related products that are not generally paid for by medical assistance and other third-party coverage.

(f) Major spending commitment. "Major spending commitment" means an expenditure in excess of $500,000 for:

(1) acquisition of a unit of medical equipment;

(2) a capital expenditure for a single project for the purposes of providing health care services, other than for the acquisition of medical equipment;

(3) offering a new specialized service not offered before;

(4) planning for an activity that would qualify as a major spending commitment under this paragraph; or

(5) a project involving a combination of two or more of the activities in clauses (1) to (4).

The cost of acquisition of medical equipment, and the amount of a capital expenditure, is the total cost to the provider regardless of whether the cost is distributed over time through a lease arrangement or other financing or payment mechanism.

(g) Medical equipment. "Medical equipment" means fixed and movable equipment that is used by a provider in the provision of a health care service. "Medical equipment" includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(1) an extracorporeal shock wave lithotripter;

(2) a computerized axial tomography (CAT) scanner;

(3) a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit;

(4) a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner; and

(5) emergency and nonemergency medical transportation equipment and vehicles.

(h) New specialized service. "New specialized service" means a specialized health care procedure or treatment regimen offered by a provider that was not previously offered by the provider, including, but not limited to:

(1) cardiac catheterization services involving high-risk patients as defined in the Guidelines for Coronary Angiography established by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology;

(2) heart, heart-lung, liver, kidney, bowel, or pancreas transplantation service, or any other service for transplantation of any other organ;

(3) megavoltage radiation therapy;

(4) open heart surgery;

(5) neonatal intensive care services; and

(6) any new medical technology for which premarket approval has been granted by the United States Food and Drug Administration, excluding implantable and wearable devices.

Subd. 3. Hospital and nursing home moratoria preserved; nursing homes exempt. Nothing in this section supersedes or limits the applicability of section 144.551 or 144A.071. This section does not apply to major spending commitments made by nursing homes or intermediate care facilities that are related to the provision of long-term care services to residents.

Subd. 4. Repealed, 1993 c 345 art 6 s 26

Subd. 4a. Expenditure reporting. (a) General requirement. A provider making a major spending commitment after April 1, 1992, shall submit notification of the expenditure to the commissioner and provide the commissioner with any relevant background information.

(b) Report. Notification must include a report, submitted within 60 days after the date of the major spending commitment, using terms conforming to the definitions in section 62J.03 and this section. Each report is subject to retrospective review and must contain:

(1) a detailed description of the major spending commitment, including the specific dollar amount of each expenditure, and its purpose;

(2) the date of the major spending commitment;

(3) a statement of the expected impact that the major spending commitment will have on charges by the provider to patients and third party payers;

(4) a statement of the expected impact on the clinical effectiveness or quality of care received by the patients that the provider expects to serve;

(5) a statement of the extent to which equivalent services or technology are already available to the provider's actual and potential patient population;

(6) a statement of the distance from which the nearest equivalent services or technology are already available to the provider's actual and potential population;

(7) a statement describing the pursuit of any lawful collaborative arrangements; and

(8) a statement of assurance that the provider will not use, purchase, or perform health care technologies and procedures that are not clinically effective and cost-effective, unless the technology is used for experimental or research purposes to determine whether a technology or procedure is clinically effective and cost-effective.

The provider may submit any additional information that it deems relevant.

(c) Additional information. The commissioner may request additional information from a provider for the purpose of review of a report submitted by that provider, and may consider relevant information from other sources. A provider shall provide any information requested by the commissioner within the time period stated in the request, or within 30 days after the date of the request if the request does not state a time.

(d) Failure to comply. If the provider fails to submit a complete and timely expenditure report, including any additional information requested by the commissioner, the commissioner may make the provider's subsequent major spending commitments subject to the procedures of prospective review and approval under subdivision 6a.

Subd. 5. Repealed, 1993 c 345 art 6 s 26

Subd. 5a. Retrospective review. (a) The commissioner shall retrospectively review each major spending commitment and notify the provider of the results of the review. The commissioner shall determine whether the major spending commitment was appropriate. In making the determination, the commissioner may consider the following criteria: the major spending commitment's impact on the cost, access, and quality of health care; the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the major spending commitment; and the alternatives available to the provider.

(b) The commissioner may not prevent or prohibit a major spending commitment subject to retrospective review. However, if the provider fails the retrospective review, any major spending commitments by that provider for the five-year period following the commissioner's decision are subject to prospective review under subdivision 6a.

Subd. 6. Repealed, 1993 c 345 art 6 s 26

Subd. 6a. Prospective review and approval. (a) Requirement. No health care provider subject to prospective review under this subdivision shall make a major spending commitment unless:

(1) the provider has filed an application with the commissioner to proceed with the major spending commitment and has provided all supporting documentation and evidence requested by the commissioner; and

(2) the commissioner determines, based upon this documentation and evidence, that the major spending commitment is appropriate under the criteria provided in subdivision 5a in light of the alternatives available to the provider.

(b) Application. A provider subject to prospective review and approval shall submit an application to the commissioner before proceeding with any major spending commitment. The application must address each item listed in subdivision 4a, paragraph (a), and must also include documentation to support the response to each item. The provider may submit information, with supporting documentation, regarding why the major spending commitment should be excepted from prospective review under subdivision 7. The submission may be made either in addition to or instead of the submission of information relating to the items listed in subdivision 4a, paragraph (a).

(c) Review. The commissioner shall determine, based upon the information submitted, whether the major spending commitment is appropriate under the criteria provided in subdivision 5a, or whether it should be excepted from prospective review under subdivision 7. In making this determination, the commissioner may also consider relevant information from other sources. At the request of the commissioner, the health technology advisory committee shall convene an expert review panel made up of persons with knowledge and expertise regarding medical equipment, specialized services, health care expenditures, and capital expenditures to review applications and make recommendations to the commissioner. The commissioner shall make a decision on the application within 60 days after an application is received.

(d) Penalties and remedies. The commissioner of health has the authority to issue fines, seek injunctions, and pursue other remedies as provided by law.

Subd. 7. Exceptions. (a) The retrospective review process as described in subdivision 5a and the prospective review and approval process as described in subdivision 6a do not apply to:

(1) a major spending commitment to replace existing equipment with comparable equipment used for direct patient care, upgrades of equipment beyond the current model, or comparable model must be reported;

(2) a major spending commitment made by a research and teaching institution for purposes of conducting medical education, medical research supported or sponsored by a medical school, or by a federal or foundation grant or clinical trials;

(3) a major spending commitment to repair, remodel, or replace existing buildings or fixtures if, in the judgment of the commissioner, the project does not involve a substantial expansion of service capacity or a substantial change in the nature of health care services provided;

(4) a major spending commitment for building maintenance including heating, water, electricity, and other maintenance-related expenditures;

(5) a major spending commitment for activities, not directly related to the delivery of patient care services, including food service, laundry, housekeeping, and other service-related activities; and

(6) a major spending commitment for computer equipment or data systems not directly related to the delivery of patient care services, including computer equipment or data systems related to medical record automation.

(b) In addition to the exceptions listed in paragraph (a), the prospective review and approval process described in subdivision 6a does not apply to mergers, acquisitions, and other changes in ownership or control that, in the judgment of the commissioner, do not involve a substantial expansion of service capacity or a substantial change in the nature of health care services provided.

HIST: 1992 c 549 art 1 s 8; 1993 c 345 art 6 s 9-11; 1995 c 234 art 8 s 8-10; 1997 c 225 art 2 s 21; 1998 c 254 art 1 s 12

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Revisor of Statutes