Bill Text: CT SB00116 | 2016 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

Connecticut Senate Bill 116 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: An Act Concerning Caregiver Agreement Requirements For Medicaid Applicants Or Recipients.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-05-03 - Senate Recommitted to Human Services [SB00116 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2016-SB00116-Comm_Sub.html

General Assembly		*Substitute Bill No. 116*
*February Session, 2016*		_____SB00116HS____031816____

AN ACT CONCERNING CAREGIVER AGREEMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR MEDICAID APPLICANTS OR RECIPIENTS.

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

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) For purposes of this section, "caregiver agreement" means a written agreement between a Medicaid applicant or recipient and a family member of such applicant or recipient in which the Medicaid applicant or recipient agrees to pay the family member for providing services to the applicant or recipient. The Department of Social Services shall not impose a penalty for improper transfer of assets on a Medicaid applicant or recipient for payments made to a family member pursuant to a caregiver agreement, provided the agreement satisfies the provisions of this section and the applicant or recipient establishes that the services avoid or delay the applicant's or recipient's (1) placement in a nursing home facility, or (2) need for home and community-based services provided under a Medicaid waiver. An applicant or recipient may satisfy the requirements of subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection by providing a signed statement from a health care professional licensed pursuant to section 20-94a, 20-12b or 20-13 of the general statutes. The statement shall identify the health needs of the applicant or recipient and how the care provided by a family member avoided or delayed placement of the applicant or recipient in a nursing home facility or a Medicaid waiver program for home and community-based services.

(b) For purposes of determining eligibility for Medicaid payment for long-term services, caregiver agreements executed on and after the effective date of this section shall:

(1) Be executed prior to the delivery of services;

(2) Be signed and dated by the applicant or recipient and the family member who provides the services with at least one signature acknowledged before a notary public;

(3) Include the frequency, location and duration of services that will be provided;

(4) Provide for payment to the provider of services on a daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly basis for services received and prohibit prepayment for the provision of such services;

(5) Provide for payment for services at rates (A) not more than the average private pay rates for home and community-based services determined and published annually by Connecticut's Partnership for Long-Term Care through the Office of Policy and Management, and (B) for those services for which no rate is so published and posted, not more than twice the state minimum wage at the time the services are provided;

(6) Allow for modification of the agreement only by mutual written agreement of the parties;

(7) Allow for termination of the agreement by either party at any time and only in writing;

(8) Include only those services that are not duplicative of services provided by others, including, but not limited to, services provided by a paid family member during the same time period services are provided by a paid employee of an agency or a volunteer; and

(9) Not provide payment for (A) social activities or companionship, (B) services provided while the applicant or recipient is in a nursing home or other health care facility, or (C) travel by the provider of services to or from the residence of the applicant or recipient, provided travel from an applicant's or recipient's home to medical and other appointments may be reimbursed at standard mileage rates for business travel pursuant to federal tax law.

(c) In determining eligibility for Medicaid, the department may require an applicant or recipient to provide, in addition to other documentation, documentation establishing that the applicant or recipient of services has complied with state and federal tax requirements governing payments made to a provider of services pursuant to a caregiver agreement.