SCS CSHB 528(RLS): "An Act relating to applications for certificates of need and licensing of nursing homes; establishing a moratorium with respect to acceptance of new applications for a certificate of need or for a license for additional nursing home capacity in the state until May 1, 1998; establishing a working group to study and issue a report about long-term care; and providing for an effective date."
00SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 528(RLS) 01 "An Act relating to applications for certificates of need and licensing of nursing 02 homes; establishing a moratorium with respect to acceptance of new applications 03 for a certificate of need or for a license for additional nursing home capacity 04 in the state until May 1, 1998; establishing a working group to study and issue 05 a report about long-term care; and providing for an effective date." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. FINDINGS. The legislature finds that 08 (1) many nursing home residents would benefit from care that is less intensive 09 and less costly than nursing home care through assisted living facilities or through home care 10 agencies; 11 (2) this state has only recently begun to develop a system for providing long- 12 term care for seniors needing care through home care or assisted living facilities so that the 13 long-term care system is not in balance at the present time; 14 (3) with the unnecessary focus on nursing homes, the long-term care system
01 will remain out of balance until community-based services can be developed; 02 (4) a moratorium on the addition of nursing home beds will encourage the 03 development of home and community-based services, and direct the state's resources toward 04 the services that can best meet the needs of the recipients; and 05 (5) a moratorium on the addition of nursing home beds will facilitate actions 06 to provide a more balanced system of care, more appropriate placement of seniors, and 07 additional client choice, and to avoid new long-term care costs. 08 * Sec. 2. MORATORIUM FOR CERTIFICATE OF NEED. (a) Notwithstanding 09 AS 18.07, the Department of Health and Social Services may not accept an application for a 10 certificate of need under AS 18.07, and the department may not grant a certificate of need 11 based on an application filed before the effective date of this Act, except as provided in (b) 12 and (c) of this section, for 13 (1) construction of a health care facility that includes nursing home beds 14 requiring licensure under AS 18.20.020; or 15 (2) conversion of a building or part of a building to include nursing home beds. 16 (b) The Department of Health and Social Services shall consider the findings in sec. 1 17 of this Act when reviewing an application under AS 18.07 that was pending on the effective 18 date of this Act for the addition of nursing home beds or the conversion of existing beds to 19 nursing home beds. The department may grant a pending application only when granting it 20 would be consistent with the policy underlying the findings in sec. 1 of this Act. 21 (c) The Department of Health and Social Services may accept and review an 22 application for a certificate of need for construction of a health care facility that includes 23 nursing home beds requiring licensure under AS 18.20.020 if the construction would 24 commence during the 1998 construction season and the application is submitted after the 25 effective date of this Act or September 1, 1997, whichever is later. The findings in sec. 1 of 26 this Act do not apply to a review of an application for a certificate of need reviewed under 27 this subsection. If a certificate of need is granted for an application reviewed under this 28 subsection, the applicant shall be notified but the certificate of need may not be issued before 29 April 30, 1998. 30 (d) Notwithstanding AS 18.20, the department may not issue a license for 31 (1) construction of a health care facility that includes new nursing home beds;
01 or 02 (2) additional new nursing home beds in a health care facility. 03 (e) In this section, "nursing home bed" means a bed not used for acute care in which 04 nursing care and related medical services are provided over a period of 24 hours each day to 05 individuals admitted because of illness, disease, or physical infirmity; the term "nursing home 06 bed" does not include acute care beds converted to skilled nursing home beds used for 07 transitional short-term care needs. 08 * Sec. 3. WORKING GROUP; REPORT. (a) There is established a six-member working 09 group to analyze issues regarding long-term care services in the state. The members of the 10 group are 11 (1) two individuals appointed by the governor who are involved in providing 12 long-term care services, one of whom is a licensed nursing home administrator who operates 13 a community nursing home in this state; 14 (2) two individuals appointed by the governor who are receiving long-term care 15 services, at least one of whom must be at least 60 years of age; 16 (3) the commissioner of administration, or the commissioner's designee; and 17 (4) the commissioner of health and social services, or the commissioner's 18 designee. 19 (b) The working group established under this section may select a presiding officer 20 from among its members. 21 (c) After gathering information through methods considered appropriate by the group, 22 the working group established under this section shall prepare a report that includes the 23 following: 24 (1) a description of the current status and costs of the state's system for long- 25 term care services; 26 (2) the projected number of state residents who will be needing long-term care 27 services through the year 2000, the year 2005, the year 2010, and the year 2015; 28 (3) the projected costs to the state, based on the projection of needs under (2) 29 of this subsection, if no changes are made to the state's present system of long-term care 30 services; 31 (4) an estimated number of state residents who are currently receiving care in
01 nursing facilities that could more appropriately be receiving home- and community-based care 02 outside of nursing facilities; 03 (5) a description of the alternative methods available to provide nursing care 04 for state residents and the relative cost to the state for these methods; and 05 (6) recommendations for principles that should be used to guide the 06 development of the state's long-term care system, including principles that should guide the 07 certificate-of-need process under AS 18.07. 08 (d) The working group shall deliver its report to the governor by the first day of the 09 First Regular Session of the Twentieth Alaska State Legislature and notify the legislature that 10 the report is available. 11 * Sec. 4. Section 3 of this Act is repealed on the first day of the First Regular Session of 12 the Twentieth Alaska State Legislature. 13 * Sec. 5. Sections 1 and 2 of this Act are repealed May 1, 1998. 14 * Sec. 6. This Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).