[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to improving the funding and quality of care in the state's long-term care system; amending RCW 74.39A.005; creating a new section; and making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 74.39A.005 and 2000 c 121 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:

The legislature finds that the aging of the population and advanced medical technology have resulted in a growing number of persons who require assistance. The primary resource for long-term care continues to be family and friends. However, these traditional caregivers are increasingly employed outside the home. There is a growing demand for improvement and expansion of home and community-based long-term care services to support and complement the services provided by these informal caregivers.

The legislature further finds that the public interest would best be served by a broad array of long-term care services that support persons who need such services at home or in the community whenever practicable and that promote individual autonomy, dignity, and choice.

The legislature finds that as other long-term care options become more available, the relative need for nursing home beds is likely to decline. The legislature recognizes, however, that nursing home care will continue to be a critical part of the state's long-term care options, and that such services should promote individual dignity, autonomy, and a homelike environment.

The legislature finds that many recipients of in-home services are vulnerable and their health and well-being are dependent on their caregivers. The quality, skills, and knowledge of their caregivers are often the key to good care. The legislature finds that the need for well-trained caregivers is growing as the state's population ages and clients' needs increase. The legislature intends that current training standards be enhanced.

The demands on the state's long-term care system are projected to increase dramatically over the next several years. Unless the legislature takes immediate steps to address the increasing demand for services and the financing of such services, it will be impossible to meet the long-term care needs of older persons and adults with disabilities in the future. It is extremely important that all Washingtonians in need of long-term care services have access to a quality service system that provides users of the system and their families with viable options for a variety of needed services that provides the most dignity and independence possible. Solutions for addressing this issue must first prioritize the needs of consumers of long-term care, their families, and their caregivers.

All Washingtonians receiving long‑term care should receive quality care regardless of care setting, and the state's policy should not reflect a bias toward any particular care setting. Rather, consumer choice should shape the options available to seniors and adults with disabilities because support of an array of long‑term care options in the continuum of care is the best way to meet consumer expectations and provide services most cost effectively.

Adults needing long‑term care services should receive the same quality of care regardless of their age, ability to pay, or source of payment. For clients whose services are paid for by the state, reimbursement to providers of service must reflect the cost of providing quality care to those in need of service. Regardless of the care setting, providers of long‑term care services should be reimbursed at a rate proportional to the level of client care needs, and caregivers in all long‑term care settings should be adequately compensated for their work.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The long-term care steering committee is created to study options for providing a stable and consistent funding stream to meet the growing needs of longBterm care consumers and make recommendations to the legislature on the study findings. The study shall examine all options for continuing to fund a long-term care system that will meet consumer need for choice, access, quality, dignity, and independence, reimburse service providers for the actual and necessary costs of providing care, and provide adequate compensation to caregivers in the system. Among the topics to be studied are increased incentives for consumers to purchase long-term care insurance, ways to increase federal funding for long-term care services, and ways to increase state revenues to adequately fund long-term care services.

(2) The steering committee shall be made up of the following thirteen members:

(a) Four legislators, one appointed by each caucus in the legislature;

(b) One person appointed by the governor to represent the governor's office;

(c) Four individuals from organizations who represent the interests of consumers of long-term care services, to be appointed by the governor;

(d) Three persons from organizations that represent the interests of providers of long-term care services, to be appointed by the governor; and

(e) One person from an organization representing the interests of caregivers of long-term care services, to be appointed by the governor.

(3) The office of financial management shall contract under chapter 39.29 RCW to provide staff to conduct the study under the direction of the steering committee.

(4) The steering committee shall submit a report on the study findings and its recommendations to the chairs of the house health care committee, house appropriations committee, senate health and long-term care committee, and senate ways and means committee by December 1, 2002.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The sum of seventy-five thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2003, from the general fund to the office of financial management for the purposes of section 2 of this act.