Bill Text: GA HB994 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Community Health, Department of; regulatory authority; revise provisions
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 5-0)
Status: (Passed) 2010-07-01 - Effective Date [HB994 Detail]
Download: Georgia-2009-HB994-Comm_Sub.html
10
LC 33 3636S
House
Bill 994 (COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE)
By:
Representatives Houston of the
170th,
Sims of the
119th,
Cooper of the
41st,
and Meadows of the
5th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to health, so
as to revise the regulatory authority of the Department of Community Health with
respect to various facilities and entities; to authorize the department to
establish a schedule of fees for licensure activities for institutions and other
health care related entities required to be licensed, permitted, registered, or
commissioned by the department; to provide for related matters; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Title
31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to health, is amended in
Code Section 31-2-4, relating to the powers, duties, functions, and
responsibilities of the Department of Community Health, by revising subsection
(d) as follows:
"(d)
In addition to its other powers, duties, and functions, the
department:
(1)
Shall be the lead agency in coordinating and purchasing health care benefit
plans for state and public employees, dependents, and retirees and may also
coordinate with the board of regents for the purchase and administration of such
health care benefit plans for its members, employees, dependents, and
retirees;
(2)
Is authorized to plan and coordinate medical education and physician work force
issues;
(3)
Shall investigate the lack of availability of health insurance coverage and the
issues associated with the uninsured population of this state. In particular,
the department is authorized to investigate the feasibility of creating and
administering insurance programs for small businesses and political subdivisions
of the state and to propose cost-effective solutions to reducing the numbers of
uninsured in this state;
(4)
Is authorized to appoint a health care work force policy advisory committee to
oversee and coordinate work force planning activities;
(5)
Is authorized to solicit and accept donations, contributions, and gifts and
receive, hold, and use grants, devises, and bequests of real, personal, and
mixed property on behalf of the state to enable the department to carry out its
functions and purposes;
(6)
Is authorized to award grants, as funds are available, to hospital authorities
and hospitals for public health purposes, pursuant to Code Sections 31-7-94 and
31-7-94.1;
(7)
Shall make provision for meeting the cost of hospital care of persons eligible
for public assistance to the extent that federal matching funds are available
for such expenditures for hospital care. To accomplish this purpose, the
department is authorized to pay from funds appropriated for such purposes the
amount required under this paragraph into a trust fund account which shall be
available for disbursement for the cost of hospital care of public assistance
recipients. The commissioner, subject to the approval of the Office of Planning
and Budget, on the basis of the funds appropriated in any year, shall estimate
the scope of hospital care available to public assistance recipients and the
approximate per capita cost of such care. Monthly payments into the trust fund
for hospital care shall be made on behalf of each public assistance recipient
and such payments shall be deemed encumbered for assistance payable. Ledger
accounts reflecting payments into and out of the hospital care fund shall be
maintained for each of the categories of public assistance established under
Code Section 49-4-3. The balance of state funds in such trust fund for the
payment of hospital costs in an amount not to exceed the amount of federal funds
held in the trust fund by the department available for expenditure under this
paragraph shall be deemed encumbered and held in trust for the payment of the
costs of hospital care and shall be rebudgeted for this purpose on each
quarterly budget required under the laws governing the expenditure of state
funds. The state auditor shall audit the funds in the trust fund established
under this paragraph in the same manner that any other funds disbursed by the
department are audited;
and
(8)
Shall classify and license community living arrangements in accordance with the
rules and regulations promulgated by the department for the licensing and
enforcement of licensing requirements for persons whose services are financially
supported, in whole or in part, by funds authorized through the Department of
Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. To be eligible for licensing
as a community living arrangement, the residence and services provided must be
integrated within the local community. All community living arrangements
licensed by the department shall be subject to the provisions of Code Sections
31-2-11 and 31-7-2.2. No person, business entity, corporation, or association,
whether operated for profit or not for profit, may operate a community living
arrangement without first obtaining a license or provisional license from the
department. A license issued pursuant to this paragraph is not assignable or
transferable. As used in this paragraph, the term 'community living
arrangement' means any residence, whether operated for profit or not, which
undertakes through its ownership or management to provide or arrange for the
provision of housing, food, one or more personal services,
supports
support,
care, or treatment exclusively for two or more persons who are not related to
the owner or administrator of the residence by blood or
marriage;
(9)
Shall establish, by rule adopted pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 50, the
'Georgia Administrative Procedure Act,' a schedule of fees for licensure
activities for institutions and other health care related entities required to
be licensed, permitted, registered, or commissioned by the department pursuant
to Chapter 7, 13, 23, or 44 of this title, Chapter 5 of Title 26, paragraph (8)
of this subsection, or Article 7 of Chapter 6 of Title 49. Such schedules shall
be determined in a manner so as to help defray the costs incurred by the
department, but in no event to exceed such costs, both direct and indirect, in
providing such licensure activities. Such fees may be annually adjusted by the
department but shall not be increased by more than the annual rate of inflation
as measured by the Consumer Price Index, as reported by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the United States Department of Labor. All fees paid thereunder
shall be paid into the general funds of the State of Georgia. It is the intent
of the General Assembly that the proceeds from all fees imposed pursuant to this
paragraph be used to support and improve the quality of licensing services
provided by the department; and
(10)(A)
The department may accept the certification or accreditation of an entity or
program by a certification or accreditation body, in accordance with specific
standards, as evidence of compliance by the entity or program with the
substantially equivalent departmental requirements for issuance or renewal of a
permit or provisional permit, provided that such certification or accreditation
is established prior to the issuance or renewal of such permits. The department
may not require an additional departmental inspection of any entity or program
whose certification or accreditation has been accepted by the department, except
to the extent that such specific standards are less rigorous or less
comprehensive than departmental requirements. Nothing in this Code section
shall prohibit either departmental inspections for violations of such standards
or requirements or the revocation of or refusal to issue or renew permits, as
authorized by applicable law, or for violation of any other applicable law or
regulation pursuant thereto.
(B)
For purposes of this paragraph, the term:
(i)
'Entity or program' means an agency, center, facility, institution, community
living arrangement, drug abuse treatment and education program, or entity
subject to regulation by the department under Chapters 7, 13, 22, 23, and 44 of
this title; Chapter 5 of Title 26; paragraph (8) of this subsection; and Article
7 of Chapter 6 of Title 49.
(ii)
'Permit' means any license, permit, registration, or commission issued by the
department pursuant to the provisions of the law cited in division (i) of this
subparagraph."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.