SB 5967-S - DIGEST

(DIGEST AS ENACTED)

     Provides that, in determining the need for nursing home beds on a state-wide basis and a planning area specific basis, the department shall calculate the need for nursing home beds based on the bed-to-population ratio of forty beds per one thousand persons age sixty-five and older.  The department shall find no need for additional nursing home beds if the state is at or above the state-wide estimated bed need, unless the department finds that additional beds are needed in order to be located reasonably close to the people they serve, and the department explains such approval in writing.

     Provides that nursing home beds may be redistributed from areas which are over the forty per thousand standard to those which are below it.

     Provides funding and establishes a mechanism to insure that the rate paid to a nursing home in the 1999-2001 biennium, adjusted for case mix changes, will not be less than their April 1999 rate.