H-2246.1

HOUSE BILL 1941

ByRepresentatives Couture, Schmidt, Reed, Graham, Barnard, Kloba, Cheney, Riccelli, Pollet, Griffey, and Jacobsen

AN ACT Relating to providing for health home services for medicaid-eligible children with medically complex conditions; adding a new section to chapter 74.09 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

(a) Children with medical complexity deserve coordinated and effective care delivered in a high quality setting. Families should be able to focus solely on their child's needs and not waste precious time fighting a fragmented care system or the complexities of medicaid;

(b) In 2019, the federal government adopted the advancing care for exceptional kids act to address these concerns. This law created a new health home model that will coordinate prompt care for children with medically complex conditions, develop an individualized, comprehensive, pediatric, family-centered care plan, coordinate access to subspecialized care, and coordinate appropriate care with out-of-state providers; and

(c) The federal law provides health homes with a higher federal matching rate, making this proposal beneficial to Washington's children with medical complexities while also being financially prudent.

(2) The legislature, therefore, intends to actively support these medically complex children by taking the steps necessary to implement health homes in Washington.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 74.09 RCW to read as follows:

(1) By October 1, 2024, the authority shall submit a state plan amendment to the federal centers for medicare and medicaid services to allow medicaid-eligible children with medically complex conditions to voluntarily enroll in a health home as provided in section 3 of the medicaid services investment and accountability act of 2019 (P.L. 116-16).

(2) By December 1, 2024, the authority shall submit a status report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the legislature with respect to the approval of the state plan amendment identified in subsection (1) of this section. The status report must include:

(a) A summary of the authority's state plan amendment proposal, including the proposed payment methodology and the expected timeline for approval;

(b) Financial modeling information for the implementation of the state plan amendment, including estimates of state costs, expected federal matching funds, and anticipated state planning grants from the federal government; and

(c) Information regarding expected utilization for the program and whether anticipated availability of health home providers meeting federal minimum requirements will be sufficient to meet the needs of patients statewide.

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