Read first time 01/25/11.   Referred to Committee on Health & Human Services Appropriations & Oversight.

     AN ACT Relating to restricting the eligibility for the basic health plan to the basic health transition eligibles population under the medicaid waiver; reenacting and amending RCW 70.47.020; creating a new section; and declaring an emergency.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 70.47.020 and 2009 c 568 s 2 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     As used in this chapter:
     (1) "Administrator" means the Washington basic health plan administrator, who also holds the position of administrator of the Washington state health care authority.
     (2) "Health coverage tax credit eligible enrollee" means individual workers and their qualified family members who lose their jobs due to the effects of international trade and are eligible for certain trade adjustment assistance benefits; or are eligible for benefits under the alternative trade adjustment assistance program; or are people who receive benefits from the pension benefit guaranty corporation and are at least fifty-five years old.
     (3) "Health coverage tax credit program" means the program created by the Trade Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-210) that provides a federal tax credit that subsidizes private health insurance coverage for displaced workers certified to receive certain trade adjustment assistance benefits and for individuals receiving benefits from the pension benefit guaranty corporation.
     (4) "Managed health care system" means: (a) Any health care organization, including health care providers, insurers, health care service contractors, health maintenance organizations, or any combination thereof, that provides directly or by contract basic health care services, as defined by the administrator and rendered by duly licensed providers, to a defined patient population enrolled in the plan and in the managed health care system; or (b) a self-funded or self-insured method of providing insurance coverage to subsidized enrollees provided under RCW 41.05.140 and subject to the limitations under RCW 70.47.100(7).
     (5) "Nonsubsidized enrollee" means an individual, or an individual plus the individual's spouse or dependent children: (a) Who is not eligible for medicare; (b) who is not confined or residing in a government-operated institution, unless he or she meets eligibility criteria adopted by the administrator; (c) who is accepted for enrollment by the administrator as provided in RCW 48.43.018, either because the potential enrollee cannot be required to complete the standard health questionnaire under RCW 48.43.018, or, based upon the results of the standard health questionnaire, the potential enrollee would not qualify for coverage under the Washington state health insurance pool; (d) who resides in an area of the state served by a managed health care system participating in the plan; (e) who chooses to obtain basic health care coverage from a particular managed health care system; and (f) who pays or on whose behalf is paid the full costs for participation in the plan, without any subsidy from the plan.
     (6) "Premium" means a periodic payment, which an individual, their employer or another financial sponsor makes to the plan as consideration for enrollment in the plan as a subsidized enrollee, a nonsubsidized enrollee, or a health coverage tax credit eligible enrollee.
     (7) "Rate" means the amount, negotiated by the administrator withand paid to a participating managed health care system, that is based upon the enrollment of subsidized, nonsubsidized, and health coverage tax credit eligible enrollees in the plan and in that system.
     (8) "Subsidy" means the difference between the amount of periodic payment the administrator makes to a managed health care system on behalf of a subsidized enrollee plus the administrative cost to the plan of providing the plan to that subsidized enrollee, and the amount determined to be the subsidized enrollee's responsibility under RCW 70.47.060(2).
     (9) "Subsidized enrollee" means:
     (a) An individual, or an individual plus the individual's spouse or dependent children:
     (i) Who is not eligible for medicare;
     (ii) Who is not confined or residing in a government-operated institution, unless he or she meets eligibility criteria adopted by the administrator;
     (iii) Who is not a full-time student who has received a temporary visa to study in the United States;
     (iv) Who resides in an area of the state served by a managed health care system participating in the plan;
     (v) Until March 1, 2011, whose gross family income at the time of enrollment does not exceed two hundred percent of the federal poverty level as adjusted for family size and determined annually by the federal department of health and human services;
     (vi) Who chooses to obtain basic health care coverage from a particular managed health care system in return for periodic payments to the plan; ((and))
     (vii) Who is not receiving medical assistance administered by the department of social and health services; and
     (viii) After February 28, 2011, who is in the basic health transition eligibles population under 1115 medicaid demonstration project number 11-W-00254/10;
     (b) An individual who meets the requirements in (a)(i) through (iv), (vi), and (vii) of this subsection and who is a foster parent licensed under chapter 74.15 RCW and whose gross family income at the time of enrollment does not exceed three hundred percent of the federal poverty level as adjusted for family size and determined annually by the federal department of health and human services; and
     (c) To the extent that state funds are specifically appropriated for this purpose, with a corresponding federal match, an individual, or an individual's spouse or dependent children, who meets the requirements in (a)(i) through (iv), (vi), and (vii) of this subsection and whose gross family income at the time of enrollment is more than two hundred percent, but less than two hundred fifty-one percent, of the federal poverty level as adjusted for family size and determined annually by the federal department of health and human services.
     (10) "Washington basic health plan" or "plan" means the system of enrollment and payment for basic health care services, administered by the plan administrator through participating managed health care systems, created by this chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   The legislature intends to define eligibility for the basic health plan for periods subsequent to expiration of the 1115 medicaid demonstration project based upon recommendations from its joint select committee on health reform regarding whether the basic health plan should be offered as an enrollment option for persons who qualify for federal premium subsidies under the federal patient protection and affordable care act of 2010.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.