General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 899
January Session, 2015		LCO No. 3518
		*03518_______HS_*
Referred to Committee on HUMAN SERVICES
Introduced by:
(HS)

AN ACT CONCERNING VOLUNTARY BED REDUCTIONS AT NURSING HOME FACILITIES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2015) (a) As used in this section, "nursing home facility" has the same meaning as provided in section 19a-521 of the general statutes. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 17b-352 of the general statutes, a nursing home facility may voluntarily decrease its total licensed bed capacity by way of a temporary reduction of licensed beds for a period of not less than six months while maintaining its right to place such beds back into service. The facility shall report such voluntary bed reduction to the Department of Social Services not later than thirty days after the reduction. The Commissioner of Social Services shall approve the reinstatement of beds upon the request of the nursing home facility provided the commissioner determines a demonstrated need for the reinstatement of beds exists within a fifteen-mile radius of the facility. A nursing home facility shall not be eligible for approval of the reinstatement of the beds unless the facility has maintained ninety-five per cent occupancy for a period of ninety days prior to the date of the request for reinstatement.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (4) of subsection (f) of section 17b-340 of the general statutes, whenever a nursing home facility voluntarily reduces licensed beds under subsection (a) of this section, the Commissioner of Social Services shall increase the Medicaid rate to the facility in an amount derived from the recalculation of the facility's fixed costs allocated to the new reduced licensed bed capacity.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	July 1, 2015	New section

Statement of Purpose:

To accelerate state efforts to deinstitutionalize nursing home residents who are capable of living in community settings by allowing nursing home facilities to voluntarily reduce beds without financial penalty.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]