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2020 Session

Budget Amendments - SB30 (Member Request)

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Chief Patron: Hanger
Restore Language and Appropriation for COMPASS Waiver

Item 313 #12s

Item 313 #12s

First Year - FY2021 Second Year - FY2022
Health and Human Resources
Department of Medical Assistance Services FY2021 $21,465,286 FY2022 $21,465,286 NGF

Language
Page 294, line 18, strike "$15,939,731,997" and insert "$15,961,197,283".
Page 294, line 18, strike "$17,038,007,934" and insert "$17,059,473,220".

Page 307, after line 17, insert:

"c. The Department of Medical Assistance Services shall include provisions to make referrals to job training, education and job placement assistance for all unemployed, able-bodied adult enrollees as allowed under current federal law or regulations through the State Plan amendments, contracts, or other policy changes. DMAS shall also include provisions to foster personal responsibility and prepare newly eligible enrollees for participation in commercial health insurance plans to include use of private health plans, premium support for employer-sponsored insurance, health and wellness accounts, appropriate utilization of hospital emergency room services, healthy behavior incentives, and enhanced fraud prevention efforts, among others through the State Plan amendments, contracts, or other policy changes.

d. The demonstration project shall be designed to empower individuals to improve their health and well-being and gain employer sponsored coverage or other commercial health insurance coverage, while simultaneously ensuring the program's long-term fiscal sustainability. The demonstration project shall include the following elements in the design:

(i) two pathways for eligible individuals with incomes between 100 percent and 138 percent of the federal poverty level, including income disregards, to obtain health care coverage: enrollment in an existing Medicaid managed care plan, or premium assistance for the purchase of employer-sponsored health insurance coverage if cost effective. The plans will provide a comprehensive benefit package consistent with private market plans, compliant with all mandated essential health benefits, and inclusive of current Medicaid covered mental health and addiction recovery and treatment services. The demonstration shall include (1) the development of a health and wellness account for eligible individuals, comprised of participant contributions and state funds to be used to fund the health insurance premiums and to ensure funds are available for the enrollee to cover out-of-pocket expenses for the deductible, with the ability to roll over the funds from the account into succeeding years if not fully used. The monthly premium amount for the enrollee shall be set on a sliding scale based on monthly income, not to exceed two percent of monthly income, nor be less than $1 per month; (2) provisions for demonstration coverage to begin on the first day of the month following receipt of the premium payment or enrollment due to treatment of an acute illness; (3) provisions for institution of a grace period for premium payment, followed by a waiting period before re-enrollment if the premium is not paid by the participant or if the participant does not maintain continuous coverage; and (4) provisions to recover premium payments owed to the Commonwealth through debt set-off collections;

(ii) provisions to enroll newly eligible individuals with incomes between 0 and 100 percent of the federal poverty level, including income disregards, in existing Medicaid managed care plans with existing Medicaid benefits or in employer-sponsored health insurance plans, if cost effective. Such newly eligible enrollees shall be subject to existing Medicaid cost sharing provisions;

(iii) cost-sharing for eligible enrollees with incomes between 100 percent and 138 percent of the federal poverty level, including income disregards, designed to promote healthy behaviors such as the avoidance of tobacco use, and to encourage personal responsibility and accountability related to the utilization of health care services such as the appropriate use of emergency room services. However, such individuals who also meet the exemptions listed in (iv) shall not be subject to premium and copayment requirements more stringent than existing Medicaid law or regulations. Enrollees who comply with provisions of the demonstration program, including healthy behavior provisions, may receive a decrease in their monthly premiums and copayments, not to exceed 50 percent.

(iv) the establishment of the Training, Education, Employment and Opportunity Program (TEEOP) for every able-bodied, working-age adult enrolled in the Medicaid program to enable enrollees to increase their health and well-being through community engagement leading to self-sufficiency. The TEEOP program shall not apply to: (1) children under the age of 18 or individuals under the age of 19 who are participating in secondary education; (2) individuals age 65 years and older; (3) individuals who qualify for medical assistance services due to blindness or disability, including individuals who receive services pursuant to a § 1915 waiver; (4) individuals residing in institutions; (5) individuals determined to be medically frail; (6) individuals diagnosed with serious mental illness; (7) pregnant and postpartum women; (8) former foster children under the age of 26; (9) individuals who are the primary caregiver for a dependent, including a dependent child or adult dependent with a disability; and (10) individuals who already meet the work requirements of the TANF or SNAP programs. The TEEOP shall comply with guidance from CMS regarding such programs and may include other exemptions that may be necessary to achieve the TEEOP's goals of community engagement and improved health outcomes that are approved by CMS.

The TEEOP shall include provisions for gradually escalating participation in training, education, employment and community engagement opportunities through the program as follows:

a. beginning three months after enrollment, at least 20 hours per month;

b. beginning six months after enrollment, at least 40 hours per month;

c. beginning nine months after enrollment, at least 60 hours per month; and

d. beginning 12 months after enrollment, at least 80 hours per month;

The TEEOP shall also include provisions for satisfaction of the requirement for participation in training, education, employment and community engagement opportunities through participation in job skills training; job search activities in conformity with Virginia Employment and Commission guidelines; education related to employment; general education, including participation in a program of preparation for the General Education Development (GED) certification examination or community college courses leading to industry certifications or a STEM-H related degree or credential; vocational education and training; subsidized or unsubsidized employment; community work experience programs, community service or public service, excluding political activities, that can reasonably improve work readiness; or caregiving services for a non-dependent relative or other person with a chronic, disabling health condition. The department may waive the requirement for participation in employment in areas of the Commonwealth with unemployment rates equal to or greater than 150 percent of the statewide average; however, requirements related to training, education and other community engagement opportunities shall not be waived in any area of the Commonwealth.

The TEEOP shall work with Virginia Workforce Centers or One-Stops to provide services to Medicaid enrollees. Such services shall include career services for program enrollees, services to link enrollees with industry certification and credentialing programs, including the New Economy Workforce Credential Grant Program, and individualized case management services.

The TEEOP shall, to the extent allowed under federal law, utilize federal and state funding available through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and other state and federal workforce development programs to support program enrollees.

Unless exempt, enrollees shall be ineligible to receive Medicaid benefits if, during any three months of the 12-month period beginning on the first day of enrollment, they fail to meet the TEEOP requirements and they will not be permitted to re-enroll until the end of such 12-month period, unless the failure to comply or report compliance was the result of a catastrophic event or circumstances beyond the beneficiary's control. However, enrollees shall be eligible to re-enroll in the program within such 12-month period upon demonstration of compliance with the TEEOP requirements.

(v) monitoring and oversight of the use of health care services to ensure appropriate utilization;

(vi) The Department of Medical Assistance Services shall develop a supportive employment and housing benefit targeted to high risk Medicaid beneficiaries with mental illness, substance use disorder, or other complex, chronic conditions who need intensive, ongoing support to obtain and maintain employment and stable housing.

e. The State Plan amendment and the demonstration waiver program shall include (i) systems for determining eligibility for participation in the program, (ii) provisions for disenrollment if federal funding is reduced or terminated, and (iii) provisions for monitoring, evaluating, and assessing the effectiveness of the waiver program in improving the health and wellness of program participants and furthering the objectives of the Medicaid program.

f. The department shall have the authority to promulgate emergency regulations to implement these changes within 280 days or less from the enactment date of House Bill 5001. The department shall have the authority to implement these changes prior to the completion of any regulatory process undertake in order to effect such changes.

Strike lines 18 through 24.



Explanation

(This amendment restores $21.5 million from nongeneral funds each year, and budget language, that was added in the 2018 Special Session I, for implementation of the Section 1115 COMPASS waiver. The Department of Medical Assistance Services was directed to pursue a Section 1115 federal waiver in Medicaid to allow for community engagement activities, greater personal responsibility provisions, and enhanced employment and housing supports in the Medicaid program. The introduced budget removed all the funding and language related to the community engagement and personal responsibility provisions.)