H-4803.2

HOUSE BILL 2944

ByRepresentatives Stonier, Tharinger, Davis, and Ortiz-Self

AN ACT Relating to reviewing state-funded services procured from certain contracted service providers; reenacting and amending RCW 44.48.150; adding new sections to chapter 43.88 RCW; and creating new sections.

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

The legislature intends to focus this process on providers for which vendor rate increases are established by the legislature. For this reason, this process does not include providers for which rates are set pursuant to collective bargaining, or through statutory formulae. For state-funded services where the state contracts with a risk-bearing financial intermediary who then establishes the rates paid to service providers, the legislature establishes a separate one-time review process.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.88 RCW to read as follows:

(1) By August 1st of each even-numbered year, contracting agencies must provide to the office of financial management an inventory of services delivered by contracted service providers. The office of financial management must prescribe the format and level of detail required in the submittal.

(2) At a minimum, the submittal must include for each service delivered by one or more contracted service providers:

(a) A brief description of the service provided;

(b) A summary of the payment methodology, current base rate, any available rate enhancements, and any additional support funding provided by the state;

(c) Any planned changes to the rate or support funding effective before the end of the current biennium;

(d) The number of clients anticipated to be served in the current and ensuing biennium;

(e) The estimated total cost of serving those clients;

(f) The number of service providers currently contracted to provide the service;

(g) Any available information about a shortage or excess of qualified service providers contracting with the state; and

(h) Any available information about the cost incurred by contracted service providers in delivering the services compared to the rate paid by the state.

(3) The definitions in this subsection apply to this section and sections 3 and 4 of this act unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(a) "Contracting agencies" means the department of children, youth, and families; the department of corrections; the department of social and health services; and the health care authority.

(b) "Services delivered by contracted service providers" means state-funded services delivered by providers who are not state employees, and excludes services for which:

(i) The state is an employer solely for the purposes of collective bargaining under chapter 41.56 RCW, including but not limited to providers such as adult family homes and family child care providers;

(ii) The state contracts with a risk-bearing fiscal intermediary, such as a managed care entity; or

(iii) The rate paid to contracted service providers is calculated pursuant to an explicit statutory formula, including but not limited to nursing homes under chapter 74.46 RCW and home care agencies under RCW 74.39A.310.

(2) The report must be provided to the legislature no later than September 1, 2020, and must include:

(a) A description of the types of payment methods currently used by risk-bearing fiscal intermediaries to establish provider payments. The report must identify, and, to the extent practicable, quantify, instances of case payment rates, broad encounter rates, value-based purchasing, subcapitation, or similar methodologies;

(b) Options available to the legislature and the governor to ensure that risk-bearing fiscal intermediaries meet standards for quality and access to care; and

(c) Options available to the legislature and the governor to modify payment rates to providers that offer services under medicaid managed care. To the extent practicable, for each option the report must:

(i) Discuss the potential implications to federal funding and client access to care for both state-funded and private pay patients; and

(ii) Identify whether the option could be restricted to particular types of service, provider specializations, client characteristics, care settings, or geographic area.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 43.88 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The office of financial management shall establish and regularly convene a vendor rate advisory group regarding rates paid by contracting agencies to contracted service providers. Members of the group are selected by the director of the office of financial management and must include, but are not limited to, agency representatives, service providers, clients receiving paid services, and subject matter experts. In addition to members selected by the director of the office of financial management, the two largest caucuses in the senate and the two largest caucuses in the house of representatives shall each appoint two nonvoting members to serve on the advisory group.

(2) By October 1, 2022, and each even-numbered year thereafter, the vendor rate advisory group shall recommend changes under this section to vendor rates paid to contracted service providers.

(a) The advisory group may recommend changes to vendor rates paid to contracted service providers if:

(i) There has been demonstrated difficulty finding qualified service providers willing to contract with the state;

(ii) The costs of providing services greatly exceed the rates paid by the state; or

(iii) The rates paid by the state greatly exceed the costs of providing services.

(b) The advisory group may recommend vendor rate changes needed to address ordinary inflationary adjustments including, but not limited to, the impact of increases to the state minimum wage.

(c) To the maximum extent practicable, the vendor rate advisory group must submit any recommended rate changes in priority order based on the criteria in (a) of this subsection.

(3) In developing and making recommendations, the vendor rate advisory committee must also consider:

(a) A goal of improving health equity; and

(b) Financial feasibility.

(4) Staff and administrative support for the vendor rate advisory group must be provided by the office of financial management. The office of financial management must make the recommendations of the vendor rate advisory group available on its web site.

(5) Rates subject to review by the vendor rate advisory group are limited to payments for services delivered by contracted service providers as defined in section 2 of this act.

Sec. 5. RCW 44.48.150 and 2013 c 327 s 2 and 2013 c 63 s 2 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(1) By January 1, 2009, in collaboration with the office of financial management, using existing databases and structures currently shared, the office of the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee shall establish and make available to the public a searchable state expenditure information web site. The state expenditure information web site shall provide access to current budget data, access to current accounting data for budgeted expenditures and staff, and access to historical data. At a minimum, the web site will provide access or links to the following information as data are available:

(a) State expenditures by fund or account;

(b) State expenditures by agency, program, and subprogram;

(c) State revenues by major source;

(d) State expenditures by object and subobject;

(e) State agency workloads, caseloads, and performance measures, and recent performance audits;

(f) State agency budget data by activity; and

(g) The inventory of state agency fees required by RCW 43.88.585.

(2) "State agency," as used in this section, includes every state agency, office, board, commission, or institution of the executive, legislative, or judicial branches, including institutions of higher education.

(3) The state expenditure information web site shall be updated periodically as subsequent fiscal year data become available, and the prior year expenditure data shall be maintained by the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee as part of its ten-year historical budget data.

(4) By January 1, 2014, current and future capital project and transportation project investments must be coded with the geographic information sufficient to permit the public to search and identify appropriation and expenditure data at the parent and subproject level to the extent available by:

(a) State legislative district;

(b) County; and

(c) Agency project identifier.

(5) The office of the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee must, within existing resources, update the state expenditure information web site to allow the public to search for capital budget and transportation projects by selecting from an online geographical map. The map must allow an in-depth examination of financial and other data associated with such projects. Data elements must include:

(a) Project title;

(b) Total appropriation;

(c) Project description;

(d) Expenditure data; and

(e) Administering agency.

(6) By January 1, 2021, the office of the legislative evaluation and accountability program committee must begin regularly updating the state expenditure information web site to include the information provided under section 2 of this act.

(7) The web site must be easy to use, contain current and readily available data, and allow for review and analysis by the public. The legislative evaluation and accountability program committee must test the web site with potential users to ensure that it is easy to navigate and comprehend.

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