§ 5-112 — Bed reduction payments

The Department of Healthcare and Family Services shall make payments to facilities licensed under this Act for the purpose of reducing bed capacity and room occupancy. Facilities desiring to participate in these payments shall submit a proposal to the Department for review. In the proposal the facility shall detail the number of beds that are seeking to eliminate and the price they are requesting to eliminate those beds. The facility shall also detail in their proposal if the affected beds would reduce room occupancy from 3 or 4 beds to double occupancy or if the bed elimination would create single occupancy. Priority will be given to proposals that eliminate the use of three-person or four-person occupancy rooms. Proposals shall be collected by the Department within a specific time period and the Department will negotiate all payments before making final awards to ensure that the funding appropriated is sufficient to fund the awards. Payments shall not be less than $25,000 per bed and proposals to eliminate beds that lead to single occupancy rooms shall receive an additional $10,000 per bed over and above any other negotiated bed elimination payment. Before a facility can receive payment under this Section, the facility must receive approval from the Department of Public Health for the permanent removal of the beds for which they are receiving payment. Payment for the elimination of the beds shall be made within 15 days of the facility notifying the Department of Public Health about the bed license elimination. Under no circumstances shall a facility be allowed to increase the capacity of a facility once payment has been received for the elimination of beds.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 102-16, eff. 6-17-21; 102-687, eff. 12-17-21.)