§ 42-6-106 — Home and community based waiver program expanded; requirements

(a) Repealed By Laws 2013, Ch. 117, § 2.
(b) The department is authorized to increase the provider
reimbursement levels by an amount up to three dollars ($3.00)
per hour for hourly services or seventeen and six-tenths percent
(17.6%) above the prevailing rate for nonhourly services as of
December 1, 2006. The department shall report to the joint
labor, health and social services interim committee by November
1, 2007 the extent to which reimbursement improvements and any
other changes made have improved the availability of home health
care services and any additional remedies that may be needed.
The length of the report shall not exceed one thousand (1,000)
words plus any appropriate charts and graphs. Additional
reports may be made from time to time as the need arises.
(c) The department shall set goals for expanding the
number of Medicaid home and community based clients in self
directed budget options and shall report progress toward those
goals to the joint labor, health and social services interim
committee no later than November 1, 2007, November 1, 2008 and
November 1, 2009. The department shall allow these options to
be managed by persons designated to do so in advanced health
care directives.
(d) Consistent with approved budgets, the department shall
make available a pool of state funds to meet transitional needs
of clients moving from a more restrictive to a less restrictive
environment in circumstances where Medicaid funds are not
available due to federal restrictions. If sufficient funds are
available, these state funds may also be used to meet short term
needs of clients seeking to avoid placements in more restrictive
environments. The department shall govern the expenditure of
these funds though contracts, policies and rules and regulations
as needed.