2023 Montana Legislature

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House bill NO. 649

INTRODUCED BY M. Caferro, M. Weatherwax, C. Keogh, J. Hamilton, J. Cohenour, J. Windy Boy, D. Hawk, E. Kerr-Carpenter, A. Buckley, M. Marler, L. Bishop, D. Fern, K. Sullivan, K. Kortum, T. France, E. Stafman, M. Thane, F. Smith, S. Webber, M. Fox, W. Curdy, C. Pope, J. Ellis, M. Dunwell, E. McClafferty, J. Lynch, K. Abbott, P. Tuss, D. Harvey, S. Stewart Peregoy, J. Karlen, B. Carter, Z. Zephyr, M. Romano, D. Baum, E. Matthews, S. Howell

By Request of the ****

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT establishing reimbursement rates for providers covered by the rate study authorized under chapter 401, laws of 2021; providing an appropriation; requiring implementation of recommended rate increases; providing for inflationary increases; AMENDING SECTIONS 53-6-113 AND 53-6-402, MCA; and PROVIDING AN a delayed EFFECTIVE DATE."

 

WHEREAS, the 2021 Legislature appropriated $2.75 million in House Bill 632 for a study of the reimbursement rates paid by the Department of Public Health and Human Services to providers of health care, behavioral health care, developmental disabilities, and senior and long-term care services, including nursing homes; and

WHEREAS, the Governor and the Department of Public Health and Human Services used the appropriation to contract with the consulting firm of Guidehouse; and

WHEREAS, Guidehouse produced two reports in 2022 identifying the rates necessary to cover the costs of providing services and detailing the extent to which the state's rates fall short of the benchmarks; and

WHEREAS, the rate levels identified in the rate study reports specify how the state can improve its provider rates to account for the true costs of operating as a health care provider in this state; and

WHEREAS, the insufficiency of reimbursement rates has resulted in the closure of 11 nursing homes and the loss of 857 skilled nursing facility beds in the state, with more nursing homes on the brink of closure; and

WHEREAS, the insufficiency of reimbursement rates has contributed, and continues to contribute, to extensive and serious shortages of health care and behavioral health care providers; and

WHEREAS, the rate shortfalls and workforce shortages have forced the closure of many providers of services to Montanans with physical and developmental disabilities, including the closure of group homes ; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes the urgent need to fully reimburse providers at the rates identified in the provider rate studies.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

 

(Refer to Introduced Bill)

Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert:

 

NEW SECTION. Section 1.Appropriation. There is appropriated $5 million from the general fund and $9,301,615 from the federal special revenue fund to the director's office of the department of public health and human services for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024. The appropriation must be used to increase reimbursement rates for medicaid and nonmedicaid providers and services included in the provider rate studies authorized under Chapter 401, Laws of 2021, and completed in 2022.

 

NEW SECTION. Section 2.Effective date. [This act] is effective July 1, 2024.

 


Latest Version of HB 649 (HB0649.003)
Processed for the Web on March 31, 2023 (2:08PM)

New language in a bill appears underlined, deleted material appears stricken.

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