Revision: June 11, 2016, midnight
\t \t\tCHAPTER 198
SB 481-FN - FINAL VERSION
03/03/2016 0596s
20Apr2016... 1383h
11May2016... 1860h
05/19/2016 1994EBA
2016 SESSION
\t16-2834
\t01/09
SENATE BILL\t481-FN
AN ACT\trelative to a special health care service license and making an appropriation therefor.
SPONSORS:\tSen. Bradley, Dist 3; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Woodburn, Dist 1; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 21; Sen. Pierce, Dist 5; Sen. Forrester, Dist 2; Sen. Kelly, Dist 10; Sen. Feltes, Dist 15; Sen. Boutin, Dist 16; Sen. Lasky, Dist 13; Sen. Soucy, Dist 18; Rep. Kurk, Hills. 2; Rep. Rosenwald, Hills. 30; Rep. Kotowski, Merr. 24; Rep. Sherman, Rock. 24
COMMITTEE:\tCommerce
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AMENDED ANALYSIS
\tThis bill establishes procedures to acquire a special health care service license under the law governing health facility licensure. This bill also establishes certain requirements regarding accessibility to health care services. The bill makes an appropriation for purposes of paying the costs of special health care service licenses.
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Explanation:\tMatter added to current law appears in bold italics.
\t\tMatter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
\t\tMatter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03/03/2016 0596s
20Apr2016... 1383h
11May2016... 1860h
05/19/2016 1994EBA
\t16-2834
\t01/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen
AN ACT\trelative to a special health care service license and making an appropriation therefor.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
\t198:1 New Sections; Health Facility Licensure; Special Health Care Service License Required; Policies; Fees; Emergency Services. Amend RSA 151 by inserting after section 2-d the following new sections:
\t151:2-e Special Health Care Service License Required; Rules; Funding.
\t\tI. No person shall initiate any new special health care service without acquiring a special health care service license under this chapter.
\t\tII. In this chapter, “special health care service” shall include:
\t\t\t(a) Cardiac catheterization laboratory services;
\t\t\t(b) Open heart surgery or coronary artery bypass graft surgery; and
\t\t\t(c) Megavoltage radiation therapy.
\t\tIII. The commissioner shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, to specify:
\t\t\t(a) The minimum requirements for equipment, personnel, training, operating, volume, and other criteria to assure the quality and safety for patients receiving each special health care service;
\t\t\t(b) The procedure for applying for and maintaining a special health care service license including, but not limited to, the frequency of licensing inspections, submission of information and data to evaluate the performance and ongoing operation of services and enforcement under this section; and
\t\t\t(c) The fees for applying for and maintaining a special health care service license in order to fully offset the cost to the department, including consultant fees and other related expenses necessary to process the application, and for any ongoing expenses to the department for maintaining a special health care service license.
\t\tIV. The provisions of this chapter applicable to applicants and facilities licensed under RSA 151:2 shall apply equally to any person applying for or receiving a special health care service license under this section.
\t151:2-f Policies Required for Health Facilities and Special Health Care Service Licenses. Every facility licensed under RSA 151:2, I(a) or (d) and every person holding a special health care service license under RSA 151:2-e shall:
\t\tI. Adopt and enforce a written policy to assure that the facility provides its services to all persons who require the services the facility provides regardless of the source of payment for the services provided to any person;
\t\tII. Adopt, publicize, and apply an assistance plan for persons who are uninsured or who do not have the financial resources to pay for the facility’s services due to financial hardship;
\t\tIII. Provide data to the commissioner of the department of health and human services regarding the volume, cost and outcomes of services provided in the facility; and
\t\tIV. Pay fees under RSA 151:2-e, III to the commissioner of the department to cover the costs of administering the licensing of special health care services, the administration of the quality and patient safety requirements of this section, and the collection and analysis of the data collected under this section.
\t151:2-g Emergency Services. Every facility licensed as a hospital under RSA 151:2, I(a) shall operate an emergency department offering emergency services to all individuals regardless of ability to pay 24 hours every day, 7 days a week. This requirement shall not apply to any hospital licensed and operating prior to July 1, 2016, which does not operate an emergency department or to any new psychiatric or substance abuse treatment hospital.
\t198:2 Health Facility Licensure; Application for License; Special Health Care Service. Amend RSA 151:4, III(a) to read as follows:
\t\tIII.(a) The department of health and human services shall require that applications set forth the:
\t\t\t\t(1) Full name and address of the owner of the facility for which license is sought[,].
\t\t\t\t(2) Name of the persons in control thereof[,].
\t\t\t\t(3) Certification, where local licensing is required, that the facility conforms with applicable local rules, regulations and ordinances having to do with health and safety[,].
\t\t\t\t(4) Name or location, or both, of community residences together with any certification required under subparagraph (a)(3) of this paragraph, when the application is submitted by an area agency as defined under RSA 171-A:2, I-b.
\t\t\t\t(5) Certification that the applicant has notified the public of the intent to file the application with a description of the facility or special health care service to be licensed by publishing a notice in a newspaper of general circulation covering the area where the service is to be located in at least 2 separate issues of the newspaper no less than 10 business days prior to the filing of the application.
\t\t\t\t(6) Certification, if the facility or special health care service is to be located within a radius of 15 miles of a hospital certified as a critical access hospital, pursuant to 42 C.F.R. section 485.610 (b) and (c), that the applicant has given written notice of the intent to file the application with a description of the facility or special health care service to be licensed to the chief executive officer of the hospital by registered mail no less than 10 business days prior to the filing of the application.
\t\t\t\t(7) For any new facility to be licensed under RSA 151:2, I(a) or (d) to be located within a radius of 15 miles of a hospital certified as a critical access hospital, pursuant to 42 C.F.R. section 485.610 (b) and (c), a written determination by the commissioner of health and human services, after inquiry to the critical access hospital, that the proposed new facility will not have a material adverse impact on the essential health care services provided in the service area of the critical access hospital.198:198:
\t198:3 New Paragraphs; Health Facility Licensure; Application for License; Special Health Care Service. Amend RSA 151:4 by inserting after paragraph V the following new paragraphs:
\t\tVI. In addition to publication on the department's website, any application for a special health care services license, under RSA 151:2-e, shall be available for inspection and copying by any person immediately upon it being filed.
\t\tVII. Any person shall have the right, within 30 days after the filing of any application, to object in writing prior to action by the department on any license on the grounds that the application does not meet the applicable requirements of this chapter or any rule adopted under this chapter. If the license is granted by the department over a timely objection, the person who objected shall have a right to request a rehearing by the commissioner of the department of health and human services under RSA 541:3 within 30 days and to appeal under RSA 541 based on the grounds stated in the objection. If the license is denied by the department in the first instance or after rehearing, the applicant may appeal within 30 days of the date of the department's notice of decision to the supreme court.
\t198:4 Health Facility Licensure; Disposition of Fees. Amend RSA 151:18 to read as follows:
\t151:18 Disposition of Fees.
\t\tI. All fees received from licenses under the provisions of this chapter shall be kept by the state treasurer in a separate fund to be paid out to the department of health and human services for purposes of this chapter only.
\t\tII. Notwithstanding paragraph I, fees and any other funds collected for special health care service licenses pursuant to RSA 151:2-e shall be deposited in the general fund.
\t198:5 Appropriation; Department of Health and Human Services. The sum of $50,000 is hereby appropriated to the department of health and human services for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017, for purposes of paying the costs of special health care service licenses. The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sum out of any moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
\t198:6 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.
Approved: June 6, 2016
Effective Date: July 1, 2016