New Bills Filed This Week:
HB 894, Borderbelt AIDS Resources Team Funds (Pierce, Graham sponsors). HB 894 seeks to appropriate $50,000 to the Borderbelt AIDS Resources Team (BART), a nonprofit organization, to enable the organization to continue to provide community based HIV/AIDS services to people living in Robeson County and surrounding areas. It was introduced in the House this week and has been referred to the House Rules committee.
HB 916, Statewide Expansion of 1915(b)/(c) Waiver (Barnhart, Burr, Insko Sponsors). HB 916 seeks to expand the waiver statewide by July 1, 2013, and sets out specific requirements for the expansion of this managed care behavioral health Medicaid waiver: accountability for the development of a local system that ensures easy access to care, availability and delivery of necessary services, and continuity of care; fidelity to the PBH model; designate entities to manage the waiver through either merged LMEs or through interlocal agreement among LMEs; use of managed care strategies to reduce escalating costs in Medicaid while ensuring medically necessary care and deploy a system for the allocation of resources based on reliable assessment of intensity of need; phase out the CAP-MR/DD waiver; and design the Innovations waiver to serve the maximum number of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities within aggregate funding. It also specifies that county governments will not be financially liable for overspending or cost overruns associated with the operation of the waiver (i.e., the risk doesn’t shift). HB 916 specifies a number of conforming statute changes regarding the size of LMEs. Section 4 also exempts the Department from rulemaking in implementing, operating, or overseeing new Medicaid waiver programs or amendments to existing Medicaid waiver programs. It was introduced in the House this week and referred to the House Health and Human Services committee, and then to Finance.
HB 923, Local Inpatient Psychiatric Bed Assessment (Insko Sponsor). HB 923 seeks to increase the assessment on hospitals to provide additional funding for local inpatient psychiatric beds. It was introduced in the House last week and has been referred to the House Health and Human Services committee, then to Finance and Appropriations.
Action on Bills Previously Filed:
HB 397, DHHS Penalties and Remedies Revision (Lewis Sponsor). HB 397 seeks to amend facility penalty provisions under 122C, 131D and 131E to split Type A violations into Type A1 (violations that result in result in death or serious physical harm, abuse, neglect, or exploitation) and Type A2 violations (violations that result in substantial risk that death or serious physical harm, abuse, neglect, or exploitation will occur). HB 397 had been referred to House Finance because of the penalties imposed by the legislation. However, the bill was withdrawn from committee this week and voted on by the full House without any changes. The vote was 115-1, with Representative Collins (R-Nash) the sole No vote. The bill will now proceed in the Senate.
HB 423, Enact First Evaluation Program (Hurley Sponsor) (Senate version: SB 437 (Hartsell Sponsor)). HB 423 seeks to codify a practice that has been piloted that allows the Secretary to waive the requirements for a physician or eligible psychologist to perform the initial examination for involuntary commitment and substitute a licensed clinical social worker, a master's level psychiatric nurse, or a master's level certified clinical addictions specialist at the request of an LME. HB 423 is scheduled to be heard in the House Health and Human Services subcommittee on Mental Health next week on Tuesday, May 10.
HB 474, Protect Adult Care Home Residents (Weiss, Hollo, Farmer-Butterfield, Earle Sponsors). HB 474 proposes changes to Chapter 131D governing adult care homes to increase minimum continuing education, training, competency evaluation and inspection requirements for Adult Care Home medication aides, related to Infection Control Requirements. After receiving approval from the House, HB 474 has been received in the Senate and referred to the Senate Health care committee.
HB 509, Exclusions from Licensure: Home Services (Hurley Sponsor). HB 509 seeks to allow people with disabilities who receive MH/DD/SA services to live together as roommates without their home being considered a facility for licensing purposes. Specifically, it excludes from licensure: “A home in which up to three adults, two or more having a disability, co own or co rent a home in which the persons with disabilities are receiving three or more hours of day services in the home or up to 24 hours of residential services in the home. The individuals who have disabilities cannot be required to move if the individuals change services, change service providers, or discontinue services.” After receiving approval from the House, HB 509 has been received in the Senate and referred to the Senate Health Care committee.
HB 808, Revise Laws on Adult Care Homes (Burr). HB 808 seeks to waive annual inspections of Adult Care Homes that achieve the highest rating, and to develop an informal dispute resolution procedure that allows Adult Care Homes to dispute cited inspection deficiencies. The intent of the department is to focus more time on the homes with more problems. After receiving approval from the House, HB 808 has been received in the Senate and referred to the Senate Health Care committee.
SB 401, ACH Pilot on Crisis Intervention Training (Sponsors). SB 401 directs the Division of MH/DD/SAS to coordinate a pilot program in 10 adult care homes identified as having a significant percentage of residents with a primary diagnosis of mental health problems and where crisis management has been a concern in the past to evaluate the effectiveness of crisis intervention training. It also directs the Division to consider modification of the current North Carolina Interventions (NCI) Prevention training to a one-day training program appropriate for adult care home staff, including personal care aides, medication aides, and supervisors employed by the participants in the pilot program. After receiving approval from the Senate, SB 401 has been received in the House and referred to the House Health and Human Services committee.
SB 421, GAST Training Pilot (Bingham Sponsor). SB 421 directs the DHHS Division of MH/DD/SAS to establish a pilot training program using Geriatric/Adult Mental Health Specialty Teams to conduct training in Adult Care Homes on preventing the escalation of behaviors leading to crisis, based on a recommendation of the NC Institute of Medicine Task Force on the Co-Location of Different Populations in Adult Care Homes. After receiving approval from the Senate, SB 421 has been received in the House and referred to the House Health and Human Services committee.
SB 498, Modify Law re: Corporal Punishment (Pate, Purcell Sponsors). SB 498 seeks to amend the law related to corporal punishment of children in public schools to restrict corporal punishment only to students whose parent or guardian has stated in writing that corporal punishment may be administered on that student (an Opt-in). The bill received a favorable report from the Senate Education committee several weeks ago, but ran into some opposition from the NC Family Policy Council when it was set to be heard in the full Senate. The Family Policy Council, which is dedicated to the preservation of the family and traditional family values, objected to the opt-in procedure of the bill, which, oddly enough, gives parents the absolute right to decide whether their child will be subjected to corporal punishment. The bill was heard again in Senate Education this week where the opt-in procedure was changed to an opt-out. While this is disappointing, after the bill was passed last year allowing parents of children with disabilitis to opt-out, several more school districts banned corporal punishment, so this wider opt-out may lead to even more school districts abandoning the practice and certainly to less children being subjected to corporal punishment. The bill is scheduled to be voted upon in the full Senate next Tuesday, May 10.
SB 524, Strengthening Residential Placement (Tucker, Hartsell Sponsors) (HB 377 (Brisson Sponsor) was approved earlier in the session by the House Health and Human Services committee). SB 524 seeks changes to the budget special provision regarding the restructuring of Level III and IV mental health residential placements to add that an assessment shall be completed to ensure the appropriateness of placement before admission to such a placement; to extend the length of stay to 180 from 120 days (180 is the average length of stay); and to specify that the authorization approval is not conditional upon all signatures and that LMEs shall designate appropriate individuals who can sign the discharge plan within 24 hours of receipt. SB 524 received a favorable report from the Senate Mental Health committee this week and has been referred to the Senate Finance committee.
SB 607, Conform Medical Record Laws (Stein). SB 607 seeks to amend various sections in the General Statutes to make it easier to share currently protected health information, including information regarding mental health (See the April 18 and 25 bill update for more details about the bill and the changes made in the Senate). The bill was approved by the full Senate on Thursday, with an amendment providing that confidential information shared by a 122C facility shall not be used or disclosed for discriminatory purposes including, without limitation, employment discrimination, medical insurance coverage or rate discrimination, or discrimination by law enforcement officers.
SB 648, Amend Law Re: School Discipline (Preston; Tillman; Hartsell). SB 648 seeks to make a number of changes to Chapter 115C regarding school discipline with the goal of keeping students in school. It is a consensus bill supported by Disability Rights NC that numerous entities representing schools and students contributed to. It was approved by the Senate Education committee this week and will be voted on by the full Senate on Tuesday.
SB 669, Dix Property Mental Health Trust Fund (Atwater) SB 669 seeks to require that proceeds from any sale of the Dorothea Dix Hospital Property be placed in the State’s Trust Fund for Mental Health to be used for people with mental illness. The bill was approved by the Senate Committee on Mental Health & Youth Services on Wednesday, and will be voted on by the full Senate on Tuesday.
HB 894, Borderbelt AIDS Resources Team Funds (Pierce, Graham sponsors). HB 894 seeks to appropriate $50,000 to the Borderbelt AIDS Resources Team (BART), a nonprofit organization, to enable the organization to continue to provide community based HIV/AIDS services to people living in Robeson County and surrounding areas. It was introduced in the House this week and has been referred to the House Rules committee.
HB 916, Statewide Expansion of 1915(b)/(c) Waiver (Barnhart, Burr, Insko Sponsors). HB 916 seeks to expand the waiver statewide by July 1, 2013, and sets out specific requirements for the expansion of this managed care behavioral health Medicaid waiver: accountability for the development of a local system that ensures easy access to care, availability and delivery of necessary services, and continuity of care; fidelity to the PBH model; designate entities to manage the waiver through either merged LMEs or through interlocal agreement among LMEs; use of managed care strategies to reduce escalating costs in Medicaid while ensuring medically necessary care and deploy a system for the allocation of resources based on reliable assessment of intensity of need; phase out the CAP-MR/DD waiver; and design the Innovations waiver to serve the maximum number of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities within aggregate funding. It also specifies that county governments will not be financially liable for overspending or cost overruns associated with the operation of the waiver (i.e., the risk doesn’t shift). HB 916 specifies a number of conforming statute changes regarding the size of LMEs. Section 4 also exempts the Department from rulemaking in implementing, operating, or overseeing new Medicaid waiver programs or amendments to existing Medicaid waiver programs. It was introduced in the House this week and referred to the House Health and Human Services committee, and then to Finance.
HB 923, Local Inpatient Psychiatric Bed Assessment (Insko Sponsor). HB 923 seeks to increase the assessment on hospitals to provide additional funding for local inpatient psychiatric beds. It was introduced in the House last week and has been referred to the House Health and Human Services committee, then to Finance and Appropriations.
Action on Bills Previously Filed:
HB 397, DHHS Penalties and Remedies Revision (Lewis Sponsor). HB 397 seeks to amend facility penalty provisions under 122C, 131D and 131E to split Type A violations into Type A1 (violations that result in result in death or serious physical harm, abuse, neglect, or exploitation) and Type A2 violations (violations that result in substantial risk that death or serious physical harm, abuse, neglect, or exploitation will occur). HB 397 had been referred to House Finance because of the penalties imposed by the legislation. However, the bill was withdrawn from committee this week and voted on by the full House without any changes. The vote was 115-1, with Representative Collins (R-Nash) the sole No vote. The bill will now proceed in the Senate.
HB 423, Enact First Evaluation Program (Hurley Sponsor) (Senate version: SB 437 (Hartsell Sponsor)). HB 423 seeks to codify a practice that has been piloted that allows the Secretary to waive the requirements for a physician or eligible psychologist to perform the initial examination for involuntary commitment and substitute a licensed clinical social worker, a master's level psychiatric nurse, or a master's level certified clinical addictions specialist at the request of an LME. HB 423 is scheduled to be heard in the House Health and Human Services subcommittee on Mental Health next week on Tuesday, May 10.
HB 474, Protect Adult Care Home Residents (Weiss, Hollo, Farmer-Butterfield, Earle Sponsors). HB 474 proposes changes to Chapter 131D governing adult care homes to increase minimum continuing education, training, competency evaluation and inspection requirements for Adult Care Home medication aides, related to Infection Control Requirements. After receiving approval from the House, HB 474 has been received in the Senate and referred to the Senate Health care committee.
HB 509, Exclusions from Licensure: Home Services (Hurley Sponsor). HB 509 seeks to allow people with disabilities who receive MH/DD/SA services to live together as roommates without their home being considered a facility for licensing purposes. Specifically, it excludes from licensure: “A home in which up to three adults, two or more having a disability, co own or co rent a home in which the persons with disabilities are receiving three or more hours of day services in the home or up to 24 hours of residential services in the home. The individuals who have disabilities cannot be required to move if the individuals change services, change service providers, or discontinue services.” After receiving approval from the House, HB 509 has been received in the Senate and referred to the Senate Health Care committee.
HB 808, Revise Laws on Adult Care Homes (Burr). HB 808 seeks to waive annual inspections of Adult Care Homes that achieve the highest rating, and to develop an informal dispute resolution procedure that allows Adult Care Homes to dispute cited inspection deficiencies. The intent of the department is to focus more time on the homes with more problems. After receiving approval from the House, HB 808 has been received in the Senate and referred to the Senate Health Care committee.
SB 401, ACH Pilot on Crisis Intervention Training (Sponsors). SB 401 directs the Division of MH/DD/SAS to coordinate a pilot program in 10 adult care homes identified as having a significant percentage of residents with a primary diagnosis of mental health problems and where crisis management has been a concern in the past to evaluate the effectiveness of crisis intervention training. It also directs the Division to consider modification of the current North Carolina Interventions (NCI) Prevention training to a one-day training program appropriate for adult care home staff, including personal care aides, medication aides, and supervisors employed by the participants in the pilot program. After receiving approval from the Senate, SB 401 has been received in the House and referred to the House Health and Human Services committee.
SB 421, GAST Training Pilot (Bingham Sponsor). SB 421 directs the DHHS Division of MH/DD/SAS to establish a pilot training program using Geriatric/Adult Mental Health Specialty Teams to conduct training in Adult Care Homes on preventing the escalation of behaviors leading to crisis, based on a recommendation of the NC Institute of Medicine Task Force on the Co-Location of Different Populations in Adult Care Homes. After receiving approval from the Senate, SB 421 has been received in the House and referred to the House Health and Human Services committee.
SB 498, Modify Law re: Corporal Punishment (Pate, Purcell Sponsors). SB 498 seeks to amend the law related to corporal punishment of children in public schools to restrict corporal punishment only to students whose parent or guardian has stated in writing that corporal punishment may be administered on that student (an Opt-in). The bill received a favorable report from the Senate Education committee several weeks ago, but ran into some opposition from the NC Family Policy Council when it was set to be heard in the full Senate. The Family Policy Council, which is dedicated to the preservation of the family and traditional family values, objected to the opt-in procedure of the bill, which, oddly enough, gives parents the absolute right to decide whether their child will be subjected to corporal punishment. The bill was heard again in Senate Education this week where the opt-in procedure was changed to an opt-out. While this is disappointing, after the bill was passed last year allowing parents of children with disabilitis to opt-out, several more school districts banned corporal punishment, so this wider opt-out may lead to even more school districts abandoning the practice and certainly to less children being subjected to corporal punishment. The bill is scheduled to be voted upon in the full Senate next Tuesday, May 10.
SB 524, Strengthening Residential Placement (Tucker, Hartsell Sponsors) (HB 377 (Brisson Sponsor) was approved earlier in the session by the House Health and Human Services committee). SB 524 seeks changes to the budget special provision regarding the restructuring of Level III and IV mental health residential placements to add that an assessment shall be completed to ensure the appropriateness of placement before admission to such a placement; to extend the length of stay to 180 from 120 days (180 is the average length of stay); and to specify that the authorization approval is not conditional upon all signatures and that LMEs shall designate appropriate individuals who can sign the discharge plan within 24 hours of receipt. SB 524 received a favorable report from the Senate Mental Health committee this week and has been referred to the Senate Finance committee.
SB 607, Conform Medical Record Laws (Stein). SB 607 seeks to amend various sections in the General Statutes to make it easier to share currently protected health information, including information regarding mental health (See the April 18 and 25 bill update for more details about the bill and the changes made in the Senate). The bill was approved by the full Senate on Thursday, with an amendment providing that confidential information shared by a 122C facility shall not be used or disclosed for discriminatory purposes including, without limitation, employment discrimination, medical insurance coverage or rate discrimination, or discrimination by law enforcement officers.
SB 648, Amend Law Re: School Discipline (Preston; Tillman; Hartsell). SB 648 seeks to make a number of changes to Chapter 115C regarding school discipline with the goal of keeping students in school. It is a consensus bill supported by Disability Rights NC that numerous entities representing schools and students contributed to. It was approved by the Senate Education committee this week and will be voted on by the full Senate on Tuesday.
SB 669, Dix Property Mental Health Trust Fund (Atwater) SB 669 seeks to require that proceeds from any sale of the Dorothea Dix Hospital Property be placed in the State’s Trust Fund for Mental Health to be used for people with mental illness. The bill was approved by the Senate Committee on Mental Health & Youth Services on Wednesday, and will be voted on by the full Senate on Tuesday.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We are eager to hear your feedback on our policy blog posts! However, we would like to ask that conversation remain civil. Avoid offensive, vulgar or hateful language and please be respectful of all viewpoints and opinions, even if they may differ from your own. We do not monitor each and every posting, but we reserve the right to delete comments that violate our policy.