FINAL BILL REPORT

                            SB 6604

                           C 68 L 94

                      SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

Brief Description:  Changing provisions regarding incapacitated persons who are medicaid recipients.

SPONSORS: Senator Rinehart; by request of Department of Social and Health Services

SENATE COMMITTEE ON WAYS & MEANS

BACKGROUND:

Guardians and limited guardians may charge incapacitated persons to manage their affairs.  The amount of this charge is fixed by the court at the time guardianship is established.

The fees charged by private guardians to state-supported nursing home residents have increased substantially in recent years.  In 1989, such fees totalled $125,000.  By 1993, this had grown to $1.6 million, or an average of $274 per month for each of the 486 Medicaid nursing home residents known to have had a fee-charging guardian last year.

When private guardianship fees are increased, state costs also grow, because state-assisted residents have less disposable income available to contribute to the cost of their care.  The state has also been notified by the federal government that it is out of compliance with federal Medicaid requirements because it does not have specific standards defining which guardianship charges will be recognized as reasonable and which will not.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) shall establish in rule the maximum amount which guardians may charge DSHS-assisted residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.  Guardians may not charge DSHS residents for services which the resident is already receiving as part of their state-funded service.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

Senate    45   2

House     92   2

EFFECTIVE:June 9, 1994