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SPONSOR: |
Cordova |
DATE TYPED: |
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HB |
723 |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Redundancy in Health Facility Regulation |
SB |
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ANALYST: |
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APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
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Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
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Indeterminate See Narrative |
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(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Responses
Received From
Department
of Health (DOH)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
House Bill 723 amends the Public Health Act § 24-1-5.2 NMSA
1978, deleting paragraph c. of section 24-1-5.2. The sole purpose of HB 723 is
to eliminate the exemption from intermediate sanctions for violations of state
law and regulations that currently is enjoyed by nursing homes that participate
in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Significant Issues
The bill will afford the DOH
a wider range of sanction imposition and the ability to act on state
licensure requirements independently from
CMS’s primary function is to impose remedies for federal
regulations that permit nursing homes to participate in the receipt of federal
Medicaid and Medicare funding. The state has separate statutory and regulatory
authority to issue licenses for health facilities such as nursing homes. The
state needs an array of intermediate sanction options for its licensure
requirements, separate from federal CMS regulations. Currently, the only remedy
the state has is revocation of licensure and a slow protracted process of
seeking sanctions through the federal regulatory scheme, with no guarantee of
federal CMS approval. The amendment also allows the state to impose sanctions
in addition to CMS sanctions, particularly in matters where the state does not
agree with CMS enforcement actions.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
There may be possible
small increases in revenue from civil monetary penalties. On the other hand, costs to the Department of
Health would increase when Medicaid nursing homes become subject to
intermediate sanctions and are able to request administrative appeals from the
imposition of sanctions.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
This
bill would provide a greater range of options against Medicaid nursing homes
than currently exists.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The current law exempts the state from imposing intermediate
sanctions on federally certified nursing homes other than those available
through federal regulations. There is no other facility type that is licensed
by HFL&C that receives this exemption, including other federally certified
facilities. Unless approved by slow and
unwieldy federal processes, HFL&C has no ability to impose intermediate sanctions—it
only has the option of licensure revocation.
In one example, HFL&C state regulations require minimum
staffing for nursing homes. Federal CMS does not have such requirements. To
impose any sanctions on a nursing home for failure to meet these staffing
minimums, such sanctions must be cited under a generic federal regulation, then
receive approval by CMS. The State HFL&C needs the ability to act
independently from CMS and have a range of sanctions for nursing home
non-compliance with state regulations without having to rely on the federal
scheme. Such sanctions include: directed
plan of correction, facility monitor, and denial of payment for admissions,
temporary management and restricted admissions
BD/yr:njw