HB5159 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB093 15236 DRJ 40832 b

93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB5159

Introduced 02/05/04, by Joseph M. Lyons

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

New Act

Creates the Long-Term Care Planning Strategy Act. Provides that the purpose of the Act is to achieve an awareness and use of alternatives to nursing homes. Provides for a long-term care planning committee, to be established by the Director of Aging, to consist of representatives of (i) the Department on Aging and the departments of Public Aid, Public Health, Human Services, Insurance, and Commerce and Economic Opportunity and (ii) consumers of long-term care services and others. Requires the committee to identify long-term care issues, refine State long-term goals, make recommendations, and perform other functions. Requires reports from the committee, beginning January 1, 2005. Requires the Director of Aging, with the assistance and advice of others, to contract for a public awareness campaign concerning the aging process, the long-term care system, and alternatives available. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT in relation to long-term care planning.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Long-Term Care Planning Strategy Act.

Section 5. Purpose. This Act is created to achieve a broad awareness and use of the alternatives to nursing homes to serve the increased number of people needing long-term care.

Section 10. Long-term care planning committee. The Director of Aging shall establish, by September 1, 2004, a committee of individuals who are knowledgeable and employed in the areas of long-term care, geriatric care, community services for the elderly, long-term care facility inspection, or quality-of-care assurance. The number of committee members shall not exceed 15, including (i) one member each to represent the Department of Public Aid, the Department of Public Health, the Department on Aging, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Insurance, and the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and (ii) up to 9 members representing consumers of long-term care services, advocates, trade associations, facility administrators, public and private service agencies, and other interested persons knowledgeable about long-term care needs and services. The committee may utilize the expertise and time of other individuals employed by each department as needed.

The committee may recommend that the chair contract for services as needed. The committee shall meet as often as necessary to accomplish its duties, but at least quarterly. The committee shall conduct research, including public hearings, and carry out the duties indicated in Section 15 of this Act.

Section 15. Committee duties. The committee shall identify long-term care issues requiring new or revised State policies and shall conduct analyses, coordinate policy development, and make recommendations for effective implementation of these policies. The committee shall refine State long-term goals, establish performance indicators, and develop other methods or measures to evaluate program performance, including client outcomes. The committee shall review the effectiveness of programs in meeting their objectives.

The committee shall also do the following:

(1) Facilitate the development of regional and local bodies to plan and coordinate regional and local services.

(2) Recommend a single point of access for persons seeking information on long-term care services.

(3) Recommend changes in State funding and administrative policies that are necessary to maximize the use of home and community-based care and that promote the use of the least costly alternative without sacrificing quality of care.

(4) Develop methods of identifying and serving seniors who need minimal services to remain independent but who are likely to develop a need for more extensive services in the absence of these minimal services.

(5) Develop and implement strategies for advocating, promoting, and developing long-term care insurance; and encourage insurance companies to offer long-term care insurance policies that are affordable and offer a wide range of benefits.

Section 20. Committee goals. The long-term goals of the committee include the following:

(1) Achieve a broad awareness and use of low-cost home care and other residential alternatives to nursing homes.

(2) Develop a statewide system of information and assistance to enable easy access to long-term care services.

(3) Develop sufficient alternatives to nursing homes to serve the increased number of people needing long-term care.

(4) Monitor the moratorium on new construction of nursing home beds and lower the percentage of elderly served in institutional settings.

These goals are designed to create a new community-based care paradigm for long-term care in order to maximize independence of the older adult population and ensure the cost-effective use of financial and human resources.

Section 25. Recommendations. The committee shall develop and recommend for implementation effective methods of enforcing quality-of-care standards. The committee shall develop a resident relocation plan that ensures that the needs of residents in nursing homes or other care homes that are about to be closed are met. The relocation plan may also stipulate policies and procedures that would apply when residents are to be discharged from a nursing home or other care home as a result of a change in certification, closure, or loss or termination of the facility's medical assistance provider agreement. A resident relocation plan developed under this Section may apply to the voluntary or involuntary closure, or reduction in services or size of, an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded. The committee may recommend the waiving of a portion of existing rules that it determines do not apply to persons with mental retardation or related conditions. The county shall ensure appropriate placement of residents in licensed and certified facilities or other alternative care, including home health care and foster care placement. In preparing a relocation plan, the committee shall ensure that residents and their families or guardians are involved in planning the relocation.

Section 30. Reports. The committee shall prepare a report every 2 years, and the chair shall deliver this report to the legislature beginning January 1, 2005. The report shall list progress, achievements, and current goals and objectives. The chair shall recommend changes in, or additions to, legislation necessary or desirable to fulfill the committee's responsibilities.

Section 35. Data. The committee shall have access to data from the Department of Public Aid, the Department of Public Health, the Department on Aging, the Department of Human Services, and the Department of Insurance for carrying out its duties under this Act. The committee may have access to data on persons, including data on vendors of services, to carry out the purposes of this Act. If the committee receives data that is collected, maintained, used, or disseminated in an investigation, authorized by statute, and relating to enforcement of rules or law, the committee or the chair shall not disclose that information except under statute or valid court order, or to a party named in a civil or criminal proceeding, administrative or judicial, for preparation of a defense.

Data described in this Section is classified as public data upon its submission to an administrative law judge or court in an administrative or judicial proceeding.

Section 40. Long-term care research and database. The committee shall collect and analyze State and national long-term care data and research, including relevant health data, information, and research relating to long-term care and social needs, service utilization, costs, and client outcomes. The committee shall make recommendations to State agencies and other public and private agencies for methods of improving coordination of existing data, develop data needed for long-term care research, and promote new research activities. Research and data activities shall be designed to accomplish the following:

(1) Improve the validity and reliability of existing data and research information.

(2) Identify sources of funding and potential uses of funding sources.

(3) Evaluate the effectiveness and client outcomes of existing programs.

(4) Identify and plan for future changes in the number, level, and type of services needed by seniors.

Section 45. Public awareness campaign. The Director of Aging, with assistance from the directors of the Department of Public Health and the Department of Public Aid, and with the advice of the long-term care planning committee established under Section 10, shall contract for a public awareness campaign to educate the general public, seniors, consumers, caregivers, and professionals about the aging process, the long-term care system, and alternatives available, including alternative care and residential alternatives. Particular emphasis will be given to informing consumers on how to access the alternatives and obtain information on the long-term care system. The Director of Aging shall pursue the development of new names for preadmission screening, alternative care, foster care, and other services as deemed necessary for the public awareness campaign.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.