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2000 Session

Budget Amendments - HB30 (Conference Report)

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Nursing Home-Direct Care Reimbursement

Item 319 #26c

Item 319 #26c

First Year - FY2001 Second Year - FY2002
Health And Human Resources
Medical Assistance Services, Department of FY2001 $5,500,000 FY2002 $5,500,000 GF
FY2001 $5,913,157 FY2002 $5,922,638 NGF

Language
Page 244, line 45, strike "$2,849,830,824" and insert "$2,861,243,981".
Page 244, line 45, strike "$2,896,793,218" and insert "$2,908,215,856".
Page 250, after line 8, insert:
"X.1. As a condition of this appropriation, effective July 1, 2000, the Department of Medical Assistance Services shall increase the reimbursement rates in the current nursing facility operating payment system to (i) restore funding for the negative impact of the case mix adjustment resulting from the Patient Intensity Rating System; (ii) reduce the occupancy standard to 90 percent for indirect and plant costs and remove the standard entirely from determination of direct care rates; (iii) adjust the direct care cost ceilings to 112 percent of the peer group median and subsequently every two years consistent with the following paragraph 3; and (iv) eliminate the direct care incentive payment.  In addition, the Department shall incorporate into direct care payments the amount of $21,700,000, appropriated by the 1999 General Assembly, adjusted for inflation to fiscal year 2001.  The amount shall be included by means of an equal per-day increase to both direct care ceilings and the direct care rate per day of each facility.  The Department shall adopt regulations providing for the implementation of a new reimbursement system based on a Resource Utilization Groups (RUGS) methodology to reflect resident intensity.  The amendments to the State Plan of Medical Assistance regarding the RUGS methodology shall become effective in 280 days or fewer of enactment of this Act.  The Department shall submit a report to the Governor the Chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees, and the Joint Commission on Health Care by November 1, 2000, on the implementation of the revised reimbursement rates and the status of the new reimbursement system.
2.  Out of the amounts appropriated to nursing facilities, the Department may expend up to $300,000 in fiscal year 2001 for costs associated with implementing the above provisions in paragraph 1.
3.  The Department shall periodically recalculate the cost medians for both direct and indirect cost, not to exceed every two years.  In the years when ceilings are not recalculated with new cost data, the previous year's ceilings will be adjusted for inflation."
ACCOMPANYING BUDGET LANGUAGE:  “As a condition of this appropriation, beginning July 1, 2000, the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) shall increase the reimbursement rates in the current nursing facility operating payment system in order to:  (i) restore funding for the negative impact of the case mix adjustment resulting from the Patient Intensity Rating System (PIRS); (ii) reduce the occupancy standard to 90 percent for indirect and plant costs and remove the standard entirely from determination of direct care rates; and (iii) adjust the direct care cost ceilings to 125 percent of the peer group median.

The Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) shall design and implement by January 1, 2001 a new nursing facility reimbursement system which shall incorporate the recommendations contained in the 1999 JLARC report on Virginia’s Medicaid Reimbursement to Nursing Facilities.  In designing and implementing the new reimbursement system, DMAS shall:  (i) continue the applicable changes to the current system as provided above; (ii) develop a price-based approach for the indirect care cost; (iii) utilize the federal case mix system, known as RUGS-III, for linking payment rates to the care needs of all nursing facility residents, including the specialized care residents; (iv) ensure that the methodology and calculations that use the case mix scores do not reduce the funding that is available system-wide; (v) ensure that the new reimbursement system includes peer groups based on bed size and geographic regions in determining Medicaid payment rates; (vi) develop a temporary hold-harmless provision during the phase-in period to ensure that nursing facilities do not receive less under the new system than under the old system for direct care operating costs; and (vii) develop a long-range plan to implement a totally prospective payment system which is tied directly to patient care needs, similar to the Medicare nursing facility reimbursement system.

As part of the ongoing process of administering and updating the new nursing facility reimbursement system, the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) shall: (i) review nursing facility cost data annually in order to adjust the upper payment ceilings for direct and indirect care operating costs; (ii) review the occupancy standard every two years to determine whether further reductions are needed based on statewide occupancy trends; (iii) develop a stronger validation process to help ensure that resident assessment data are not falsified in order to receive increased reimbursement; (iv) examine, in cooperation with the Department of Health and nursing facility providers, the management and operational practices of the facilities that consistently perform well on the nursing facility survey to identify best practices; (v) develop a work group with the Department of Health and the major stakeholders to develop a plan for implementing quality of care incentives; and (vi) combine its nursing facility cost and quality of care databases on a routine basis with the Department of Health to monitor the impact of Medicaid nursing facility level of reimbursement and reimbursement methodology on the provision of quality care.  The Department shall submit a report to the Governor, the Chairmen of the Senate Finance Committee, the House Appropriations Committee, and the Joint Commission on Health Care by September 15, 2000 on the implementation of the revised reimbursement rates and the status of the new reimbursement system.”


Explanation
(This amendment provides additional funds to increase Medicaid reimbursement for direct care services in nursing facilities. This amendment, plus a $16.6 million increase each year proposed in the introduced budget, and $21.7 million each year carried forward in the base budget as a result of increases provided by the 1999 General Assembly, total $49.7million in added Medicaid payments to nursing homes each year.)