Revision: June 2, 2016, midnight
\t \t\tSB 496-FN - VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES
20Apr2016... 1342h
11May2016... 1679h
06/01/2016 2039CofC
2016 SESSION
\t16-2868
\t01/05
SENATE BILL\t496-FN
AN ACT\trelative to personal care attendant services.
SPONSORS:\tSen. Sanborn, Dist 9; Sen. Avard, Dist 12; Sen. Birdsell, Dist 19; Sen. Boutin, Dist 16; Sen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. Feltes, Dist 15; Sen. Kelly, Dist 10; Sen. Reagan, Dist 17
COMMITTEE:\tHealth and Human Services
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AMENDED ANALYSIS
\tThis bill clarifies the definition of a severely physically disabled person and allows access to the community for such persons under the law governing personal care for the severely physically disabled.
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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\t\tMatter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
20Apr2016... 1342h
11May2016... 1679h
06/01/2016 2039CofC\t16-2868
\t01/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen
AN ACT\trelative to personal care attendant services.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
\t1 Personal Care for the Severely Physically Disabled; Definitions. Amend RSA 161-E:1, III to read as follows:
\t\tIII. "Severely physically disabled person'' shall mean an adult individual over the age of 18 who has been approved to participate in an independent living program and who requires a minimum of 2 hours of medically [oriented] necessary personal care per day in order to maintain himself or herself in a noninstitutional setting. Such care may include [hands-on] assistance in the following areas: basic personal care and grooming, assistance with bladder and bowel care, assistance with medications, assistance with nutrition including meal preparation and essential household services.
\t2 Personal Care for the Severely Physically Disabled; Personal Care Attendant Services Program. Amend RSA 161-E:2 to read as follows:
\t161-E:2 Services Provided. The commissioner of the department of health and human services shall develop a program under which severely physically disabled persons eligible for coverage under medical assistance programs are provided with personal care attendants to provide [on a periodic basis] medically [oriented] necessary long-term maintenance and supportive care to assist them, as is required in each individual case, to maintain themselves in their homes and gain greater control over their own lives. Personal care services under this chapter may be delivered in noninstitutional locations in which normal life activities occur.
\t3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t16-2868
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAmended 4/25/16
SB 496-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT\trelative to personal care attendant services.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Health and Human Services states this bill, as amended by the House (Amendment #2016-1342h), will have an indeterminable impact on state expenditures in FY 2017 and each year thereafter. There will be no impact on county and local expenditures, or on state, county, and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Health and Human Services states this bill amends RSA 161-E:2 to provide that personal care services offered under the chapter shall be delivered in locations in which normal life activities occur. The Department states it is unable to determine the fiscal impact of expanding the settings in which personal care services may be provided. The potential exists the bill may have no fiscal impact at all, because the number of approved service hours per Medicaid recipient is based upon the recipient showing that the number of requested hours is medically necessary, and determinations of medical necessity are not based upon the location in which services are offered. State medical necessity criteria would continue to be applied uniformly to all Medicaid recipients, and hence expanding the locations in which services are provided would not necessarily result in increased expenditures. Nevertheless, the Department states the practical effect of the bill will likely be Medicaid recipients will request additional service hours, the Department and/or the Managed Care Organizations (MCO) will need to review those requests, and the Department and MCOs will need to defend the decisions made. The Department states all of these activities will result in an indeterminable increase in administrative costs.