§ 40-18-1 - Purpose.
SECTION 40-18-1
§ 40-18-1 Purpose. – (a) The director of the department of human services, in addition to themedical assistance benefits provided in chapter 8 of this title, shall maintainand coordinate a program of long term home health care. The purpose of theprogram of long term home health care is to provide in-hospital eligiblepatients, who would be discharged to a skilled nursing facility and/or anintermediate care facility, with a viable alternative to placement in a skillednursing facility and/or intermediate care facility. The director shall utilizea federally approved home and community based service waiver to provide aviable alternative. The hereinafter listed services shall be an integral partof the viable alternative.
(b) In addition, the director of the department of humanservices shall utilize any and all other available departmental resources andcommunity resources to enhance and expand the provision of long term homehealth care as the viable alternative to placement in a skilled nursingfacility and/or an intermediate care facility. These resources shall be used tostrengthen and expand home and community-based long-term care services, whichwill help people stay at home for care when this is an appropriate alternativeto nursing facility care.
(c) In furtherance of subsections (a) and (b) above, thedepartment of human services is authorized and directed to seek any waiver(s)required by the United States Department of Health and Human Services inaccordance with otherwise applicable requirements of Title XIX of the FederalSocial Security Act to establish an enhancement of the program for theprovision of adult day care services and home-based services. The department ofhuman services is directed to seek the waiver(s) in order to claim federalfinancial participation for the services that shall be provided to residents ofthe state who are deemed to be in need of adult day care services and/orhome-based services and whose incomes are no greater than two hundred fiftypercent (250%) of the federal poverty level.
(d) Upon receipt of the waiver approval(s) referred to insubsection (c) above from the United States Department of Health and HumanServices, the department of human services shall file with the house and senatefinance committees a report of the terms and conditions of these approvedwaiver(s) together with a detailed plan for the implementation of them withinthe aggregate general revenue appropriations for adult day care and home-basedservices benefits and administrative costs provided for in the enacted budgetfor state fiscal year 2003; and, provided further, that any reallocations ofthese general revenue appropriations between or among departments and/orappropriation line items necessary to implement the approved waiver(s), and/oradjustments to federal revenue appropriations consistent with these waiverapproval(s), shall be submitted to the general assembly by the governor in thesupplemental appropriations act for state fiscal year 2003 in accordance with§ 35-3-8.