Bill Text: MS HB449 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

Mississippi House Bill 449 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Medicaid; create Medicaid Commission to administer and abolish Division of Medicaid.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2011-02-01 - Died In Committee [HB449 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2011-HB449-Introduced.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2011 Regular Session

To: Medicaid

By: Representative Holland

House Bill 449

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 43-13-107, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI MEDICAID COMMISSION TO ADMINISTER THE MEDICAID PROGRAM; TO PROVIDE FOR THE MEMBERSHIP AND APPOINTMENT OF THE COMMISSION; TO PROVIDE THAT THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE COMMISSION SHALL BE APPOINTED BY THE COMMISSION; TO ABOLISH THE DIVISION OF MEDICAID AND TRANSFER THE POWERS, DUTIES, PROPERTY AND EMPLOYEES OF THE DIVISION TO THE MEDICAID COMMISSION; TO AMEND SECTIONS 43-13-103, 43-13-105, 43-13-109, 43-13-111, 43-13-113, 43-13-115, 43-13-116, 43-13-117, 43-13-117.1, 43-13-117.2, 43-13-117.3, 43-13-118, 43-13-119, 43-13-120, 43-13-121, 43-13-122, 43-13-123, 43-13-125, 43-13-126, 43-13-127, 43-13-137, 43-13-139, 43-13-143, 43-13-145, 43-13-301, 43-13-303, 43-13-305, 43-13-307, 43-13-309, 43-13-311, 43-13-313, 43-13-315, 43-13-317 AND 43-13-507, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING PROVISIONS; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 43-13-101, 43-13-129, 43-13-131, 43-13-133, 43-13-147, 43-13-201, 43-13-203, 43-13-205, 43-13-207, 43-13-209, 43-13-211, 43-13-213, 43-13-215, 43-13-217, 43-13-219, 43-13-221, 43-13-223, 43-13-225, 43-13-227, 43-13-229, 43-13-231 AND 43-13-233, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, OF THE MISSISSIPPI MEDICAID LAW, FOR THE PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 43-13-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-107. (1) (a) The Mississippi Medicaid Commission is created * * * to administer this article and perform such other duties as are prescribed by law. The commission shall consist of seven (7) members appointed by the Governor. All initial and later appointments to the commission shall be with the advice and consent of the Senate.

(b) All members of the commission shall be persons who have some knowledge or practical experience in matters under the jurisdiction of the commission. Three (3) members of the commission shall be persons who are not providers or representative of any provider of Medicaid services or have any financial or other interest in any provider of Medicaid services. No commission member shall be an elected official of the State of Mississippi or a political subdivision of the state.

(c) One (1) member of the commission shall be appointed from each congressional district as constituted on July 1, 2011, and one (1) member of the commission shall be appointed from each Supreme Court district. The initial members of the commission shall be appointed for staggered terms, as follows: Two (2) members shall be appointed for terms that end on June 30, 2013; three (3) members shall be appointed for terms that end on June 30, 2015; and two (2) members shall be appointed for terms that end on June 30, 2017. All later appointments to the commission shall be for terms of six (6) years from the expiration date of the previous term. No person shall be appointed to the commission for more than two (2) consecutive terms.

(d) Any vacancy on the commission before the expiration of a term shall be filled by appointment of the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The person appointed to fill the vacancy shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term. (e) The members of the commission shall select one (1) member to serve as chairman of the commission. The commission shall select a chairman once every two (2) years, and any person who has previously served as chairman may be reelected as chairman.

(f) Four (4) members of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business of the commission. The commission shall hold regular monthly meetings, and other meetings as may be necessary for the purpose of conducting any business as may be required. All meetings shall be called by the chairman or by a majority of the members of the commission, except the first meeting, which shall be called by the Governor. Any member who does not attend three (3) consecutive regular meetings of the commission, except for illness, shall be subject to removal by a majority vote of the members of the commission.

(g) Members of the commission shall receive the per diem authorized under Section 25-3-69 for each day spent actually discharging their official duties, and shall receive reimbursement for mileage and necessary travel expenses incurred as provided in Section 25-3-41.

(2) (a) The commission shall appoint a full-time executive director * * * who shall be either (i) a physician with administrative experience in a medical care or health program, or (ii) a person holding a graduate degree in medical care administration, public health, hospital administration, or the equivalent, or (iii) a person holding a bachelor's degree in business administration or hospital administration, with at least ten (10) years' experience in management-level administration of Medicaid programs, and who shall serve at the will and pleasure of the commission. The executive director shall be the official secretary and legal custodian of the records of the commission; shall be the agent of the commission for the purpose of receiving all service of process, summons and notices directed to the commission; shall perform such other duties as the commission may prescribe from time to time; and shall perform all other duties that are now or may be imposed upon him or her by law.

* * *

(b) The executive director, with the approval of the commission and subject to the rules and regulations of the State Personnel Board, shall employ any professional, administrative, stenographic, secretarial, clerical and technical assistance as may be necessary to perform the duties required by the commission in administering this article and fix the compensation for those persons, all in accordance with a state merit system meeting federal requirements. When the salary of the executive director is not set by law, that salary shall be set by the State Personnel Board. The provisions of Section 25-9-107(c)(xv) shall apply to the executive director and other administrative heads of the commission.

(c) The provision of paragraph (a) of this subsection providing that the executive director shall be appointed by the commission shall not be applicable until the executive director who holds the office on July 1, 2011, has vacated the office, or January 1, 2012, whichever is earlier.

(3) (a) There is established a Medical Care Advisory Committee, which shall be the committee that is required by federal regulation to advise the commission about health and medical care services.

(b) The advisory committee shall consist of not less than eleven (11) members, as follows:

(i) The Governor shall appoint five (5) members, one (1) from each congressional district and one (1) from the state at large;

(ii) The Lieutenant Governor shall appoint three (3) members, one (1) from each Supreme Court district;

(iii) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint three (3) members, one (1) from each Supreme Court district.

All members appointed under this paragraph shall either be health care providers or consumers of health care services. One (1) member appointed by each of the appointing authorities shall be a board certified physician.

(c) The respective Chairmen of the House Medicaid Committee, the House Public Health and Human Services Committee, the House Appropriations Committee, the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee, or their designees, two (2) members of the State Senate appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and one (1) member of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House, shall serve as ex officio nonvoting members of the advisory committee.

(d) In addition to the committee members required by paragraph (b), the advisory committee shall consist of such other members as are necessary to meet the requirements of the federal regulation applicable to the advisory committee, who shall be appointed as provided in the federal regulation.

(e) The chairmanship of the advisory committee shall be elected by the voting members of the committee annually and shall not serve more than two (2) consecutive years as chairman.

(f) The members of the advisory committee specified in paragraph (b) shall serve for terms that are concurrent with the terms of members of the Legislature, and any member appointed under paragraph (b) may be reappointed to the advisory committee. The members of the advisory committee specified in paragraph (b) shall serve without compensation, but shall receive reimbursement to defray actual expenses incurred in the performance of committee business as authorized by law. Legislators shall receive per diem and expenses, which may be paid from the contingent expense funds of their respective houses in the same amounts as provided for committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session.

(g) The advisory committee shall meet not less than quarterly, and advisory committee members shall be furnished written notice of the meetings at least ten (10) days before the date of the meeting.

(h) The executive director shall submit to the advisory committee all amendments, modifications and changes to the state plan for the operation of the Medicaid program, for review by the advisory committee before the amendments, modifications or changes may be implemented by the commission.

(i) The advisory committee, among its duties and responsibilities, shall:

(i) Advise the commission with respect to amendments, modifications and changes to the state plan for the operation of the Medicaid program;

(ii) Advise the commission with respect to issues concerning receipt and disbursement of funds and eligibility for Medicaid;

(iii) Advise the commission with respect to determining the quantity, quality and extent of medical care provided under this article;

(iv) Communicate the views of the medical care professions to the commission and communicate the views of the commission to the medical care professions;

(v) Gather information on reasons that medical care providers do not participate in the Medicaid program and changes that could be made in the program to encourage more providers to participate in the Medicaid program, and advise the commission with respect to encouraging physicians and other medical care providers to participate in the Medicaid program;

(vi) Provide a written report on or before November 30 of each year to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(4) (a) There is established a Drug Use Review Board, which shall be the board that is required by federal law to:

(i) Review and initiate retrospective drug use, review including ongoing periodic examination of claims data and other records in order to identify patterns of fraud, abuse, gross overuse, or inappropriate or medically unnecessary care, among physicians, pharmacists and individuals receiving Medicaid benefits or associated with specific drugs or groups of drugs.

(ii) Review and initiate ongoing interventions for physicians and pharmacists, targeted toward therapy problems or individuals identified in the course of retrospective drug use reviews.

(iii) On an ongoing basis, assess data on drug use against explicit predetermined standards using the compendia and literature set forth in federal law and regulations.

(b) The board shall consist of not less than twelve (12) members appointed by the commission.

(c) The board shall meet at least quarterly, and board members shall be furnished written notice of the meetings at least ten (10) days before the date of the meeting.

(d) The board meetings shall be open to the public, members of the press, legislators and consumers. Additionally, all documents provided to board members shall be available to members of the Legislature in the same manner, and shall be made available to others for a reasonable fee for copying. However, patient confidentiality and provider confidentiality shall be protected by blinding patient names and provider names with numerical or other anonymous identifiers. The board meetings shall be subject to the Open Meetings Act (Sections 25-41-1 through 25-41-17). Board meetings conducted in violation of this section shall be deemed unlawful.

(5) (a) There is established a Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, which shall be appointed by the commission.

(b) The committee shall meet at least quarterly, and committee members shall be furnished written notice of the meetings at least ten (10) days before the date of the meeting.

(c) The committee meetings shall be open to the public, members of the press, legislators and consumers. Additionally, all documents provided to committee members shall be available to members of the Legislature in the same manner, and shall be made available to others for a reasonable fee for copying. However, patient confidentiality and provider confidentiality shall be protected by blinding patient names and provider names with numerical or other anonymous identifiers. The committee meetings shall be subject to the Open Meetings Act (Sections 25-41-1 through 25-41-17). Committee meetings conducted in violation of this section shall be deemed unlawful.

(d) After a thirty-day public notice, the executive director, or his or her designee, shall present the commission's recommendation regarding prior approval for a therapeutic class of drugs to the committee. However, in circumstances where the commission deems it necessary for the health and safety of Medicaid beneficiaries, the commission may present to the committee its recommendations regarding a particular drug without a thirty-day public notice. In making that presentation, the commission shall state to the committee the circumstances that precipitate the need for the committee to review the status of a particular drug without a thirty-day public notice. The committee may determine whether or not to review the particular drug under the circumstances stated by the commission without a thirty-day public notice. If the committee determines to review the status of the particular drug, it shall make its recommendations to the commission, after which the commission shall file those recommendations for a thirty-day public comment under Section 25-43-7(1).

(e) Upon reviewing the information and recommendations, the committee shall forward a written recommendation approved by a majority of the committee to the executive director or his or her designee. The decisions of the committee regarding any limitations to be imposed on any drug or its use for a specified indication shall be based on sound clinical evidence found in labeling, drug compendia, and peer reviewed clinical literature pertaining to use of the drug in the relevant population.

(f) Upon reviewing and considering all recommendations including recommendation of the committee, comments, and data, the executive director shall make a final determination whether to require prior approval of a therapeutic class of drugs, or modify existing prior approval requirements for a therapeutic class of drugs.

(g) At least thirty (30) days before the executive director implements new or amended prior authorization decisions, written notice of the executive director's decision shall be provided to all prescribing Medicaid providers, all Medicaid enrolled pharmacies, and any other party who has requested the notification. However, notice given under Section 25-43-7(1) will substitute for and meet the requirement for notice under this subsection.

(h) Members of the committee shall dispose of matters before the committee in an unbiased and professional manner. If a matter being considered by the committee presents a real or apparent conflict of interest for any member of the committee, that member shall disclose the conflict in writing to the committee chair and recuse himself or herself from any discussions and/or actions on the matter.

* * *

SECTION 2. (1) The Division of Medicaid in the Office of the Governor is abolished, and all powers, duties and functions of the Division of Medicaid shall be transferred to the Mississippi Medicaid Commission. All records, property and contractual rights and obligations of, and unexpended balances of appropriations or other allocations to, the Division of Medicaid shall be transferred to the Mississippi Medicaid Commission on July 1, 2011. All employees of the Division of Medicaid on June 30, 2011, shall become employees of the Mississippi Medicaid Commission on July 1, 2011. The Division of Medicaid shall assist and cooperate with the Mississippi Medicaid Commission in order to accomplish an orderly transition under this act.

(2) Whenever the term "Division of Medicaid" or "division," when referring to the Division of Medicaid, is used in any statute, rule, regulation or document, it shall mean the Mississippi Medicaid Commission.

SECTION 3. Section 43-13-101, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-101. This article shall be entitled and cited as the "Mississippi Medicaid Law."

SECTION 4. Section 43-13-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-103. For the purpose of affording health care and remedial and institutional services in accordance with the requirements for federal grants and other assistance under Titles XVIII, XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act, as amended, a statewide system of medical assistance is established and shall be in effect in all political subdivisions of the state, to be financed by state appropriations and federal matching funds therefor, and to be administered by the Mississippi Medicaid Commission as hereinafter provided.

SECTION 5. Section 43-13-105, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-105. When used in this article, the following definitions shall apply, unless the context requires otherwise:

(a) "Administering agency" means the Mississippi Medicaid Commission as created by this article.

(b) "Commission" or "Medicaid Commission" means the Mississippi Medicaid Commission.

(d) "Medical assistance" means payment of part or all of the costs of medical and remedial care provided under the terms of this article and in accordance with provisions of Titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act, as amended.

(e) "Applicant" means a person who applies for assistance under Titles IV, XVI, XIX or XXI of the Social Security Act, as amended, and under the terms of this article.

(f) "Recipient" means a person who is eligible for assistance under Title XIX or XXI of the Social Security Act, as amended and under the terms of this article.

(g) "State health agency" means any agency, department, institution, board or commission of the State of Mississippi, except the University of Mississippi Medical School, which is supported in whole or in part by any public funds, including funds directly appropriated from the State Treasury, funds derived by taxes, fees levied or collected by statutory authority, or any other funds used by "state health agencies" derived from federal sources, when any funds available to the agency are expended either directly or indirectly in connection with, or in support of, any public health, hospital, hospitalization or other public programs for the preventive treatment or actual medical treatment of persons with a physical disability, mental illness or an intellectual disability.

(h) "Executive director" or "director" means the Executive Director of the Mississippi Medicaid Commission.

* * *

SECTION 6. Section 43-13-109, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-109. The commission, under the rules and regulations of the State Personnel Board, may adopt reasonable rules and regulations to provide for an open, competitive or qualifying examination for all employees of the commission other than the executive director, part-time consultants and professional staff members.

SECTION 7. Section 43-13-111, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-111. Every state health agency, as defined in Section 43-13-105, shall obtain an appropriation of state funds from the State Legislature for all medical assistance programs rendered by the agency and shall organize its programs and budgets in * * * a manner as to secure maximum federal funding through the commission under Title XIX or Title XXI of the federal Social Security Act, as amended.

SECTION 8. Section 43-13-113, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-113. (1) The State Treasurer shall receive on behalf of the state, and execute all instruments incidental thereto, federal and other funds to be used for financing the medical assistance plan or program adopted under this article, and place all those funds in a special account to the credit of the Mississippi Medicaid Commission, which funds shall be expended by the commission for the purposes and under the provisions of this article, and shall be paid out by the State Treasurer as funds appropriated to carry out the provisions of this article are paid out by him.

The commission shall issue all checks or electronic transfers for administrative expenses, and for medical assistance under the provisions of this article. All those checks or electronic transfers shall be drawn upon funds made available to the commission by the State Fiscal Officer, upon requisition of the executive director. It is the purpose of this section to provide that the State Fiscal Officer shall transfer, in lump sums, amounts to the commission for disbursement under the regulations which shall be made by the commission. However, the commission, or its fiscal agent in behalf of the commission, shall be authorized in maintaining separate accounts with a Mississippi bank to handle claim payments, refund recoveries and related Medicaid program financial transactions, to aggressively manage the float in these accounts while awaiting clearance of checks or electronic transfers and/or other disposition so as to accrue maximum interest advantage of the funds in the account, and to retain all earned interest on these funds to be applied to match federal funds for Medicaid program operations.

(2) The commission is authorized to obtain a line of credit through the State Treasurer from the Working Cash-Stabilization Fund or any other special source funds maintained in the State Treasury in an amount not exceeding One Hundred Fifty Million Dollars ($150,000,000.00) to fund shortfalls which, from time to time, may occur due to decreases in state matching fund cash flow. The length of indebtedness under this provision shall not carry past the end of the quarter following the loan origination. Loan proceeds shall be received by the State Treasurer and shall be placed in a Medicaid designated special fund account. Loan proceeds shall be expended only for health care services provided under the Medicaid program. The commission may pledge as security for that interim financing future funds that will be received by the commission. Any of those loans shall be repaid from the first available funds received by the commission in the manner of and subject to the same terms provided in this section.

If the State Treasurer makes a determination that special source funds are not sufficient to cover a line of credit for the commission, the commission is authorized to obtain a line of credit, in an amount not exceeding One Hundred Fifty Million Dollars ($150,000,000.00), from a commercial lender or a consortium of lenders. The length of indebtedness under this provision shall not carry past the end of the quarter following the loan origination. The commission shall obtain a minimum of two (2) written quotes that shall be presented to the State Fiscal Officer and State Treasurer, who shall jointly select a lender. Loan proceeds shall be received by the State Treasurer and shall be placed in a Medicaid designated special fund account. Loan proceeds shall be expended only for health care services provided under the Medicaid program. The commission may pledge as security for that interim financing future funds that will be received by the commission. Any of those loans shall be repaid from the first available funds received by the commission in the manner of and subject to the same terms provided in this section.

(3) Disbursement of funds to providers shall be made as follows:

(a) All providers must submit all claims to the commission's fiscal agent no later than twelve (12) months from the date of service.

(b) The commission's fiscal agent must pay ninety percent (90%) of all clean claims within thirty (30) days of the date of receipt.

(c) The commission's fiscal agent must pay ninety-nine percent (99%) of all clean claims within ninety (90) days of the date of receipt.

(d) The commission's fiscal agent must pay all other claims within twelve (12) months of the date of receipt.

(e) If a claim is neither paid nor denied for valid and proper reasons by the end of the time periods as specified above, the commission's fiscal agent must pay the provider interest on the claim at the rate of one and one-half percent (1-1/2%) per month on the amount of that claim until it is finally settled or adjudicated.

(4) The date of receipt is the date the fiscal agent receives the claim as indicated by its date stamp on the claim or, for those claims filed electronically, the date of receipt is the date of transmission.

(5) The date of payment is the date of the check or, for those claims paid by electronic funds transfer, the date of the transfer.

(6) The above specified time limitations do not apply in the following circumstances:

(a) Retroactive adjustments paid to providers reimbursed under a retrospective payment system;

(b) If a claim for payment under Medicare has been filed in a timely manner, the fiscal agent may pay a Medicaid claim relating to the same services within six (6) months after it, or the provider, receives notice of the disposition of the Medicare claim;

(d) The commission and/or its fiscal agent may make payments at any time in accordance with a court order, to carry out hearing decisions or corrective actions taken to resolve a dispute, or to extend the benefits of a hearing decision, corrective action, or court order to others in the same situation as those directly affected by it.

* * *

SECTION 9. Section 43-13-115, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-115. Recipients of Medicaid shall be the following persons only:

(1) Those who are qualified for public assistance grants under provisions of Title IV-A and E of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, including those statutorily deemed to be IV-A and low-income families and children under Section 1931 of the federal Social Security Act. For the purposes of this paragraph (1) and paragraphs (8), (17) and (18) of this section, any reference to Title IV-A or to Part A of Title IV of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, or the state plan under Title IV-A or Part A of Title IV, shall be considered as a reference to Title IV-A of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, and the state plan under Title IV-A, including the income and resource standards and methodologies under Title IV-A and the state plan, as they existed on July 16, 1996. The Department of Human Services shall determine Medicaid eligibility for children receiving public assistance grants under Title IV-E. The commission shall determine eligibility for low-income families under Section 1931 of the federal Social Security Act and shall redetermine eligibility for those continuing under Title IV-A grants.

(2) Those qualified for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits under Title XVI of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, and those who are deemed SSI eligible as contained in federal statute. The eligibility of individuals covered in this paragraph shall be determined by the Social Security Administration and certified to the commission.

(3) Qualified pregnant women who would be eligible for Medicaid as a low-income family member under Section 1931 of the federal Social Security Act if her child were born. The eligibility of the individuals covered under this paragraph shall be determined by the commission.

(4) [Deleted]

(5) A child born on or after October 1, 1984, to a woman eligible for and receiving Medicaid under the state plan on the date of the child's birth shall be deemed to have applied for Medicaid and to have been found eligible for Medicaid under the plan on the date of that birth, and will remain eligible for Medicaid for a period of one (1) year so long as the child is a member of the woman's household and the woman remains eligible for Medicaid or would be eligible for Medicaid if pregnant. The eligibility of individuals covered in this paragraph shall be determined by the commission.

(6) Children certified by the State Department of Human Services to the commission of whom the state and county departments of human services have custody and financial responsibility, and children who are in adoptions subsidized in full or part by the Department of Human Services, including special needs children in non-Title IV-E adoption assistance, who are approvable under Title XIX of the Medicaid program. The eligibility of the children covered under this paragraph shall be determined by the State Department of Human Services.

(7) Persons certified by the commission who are patients in a medical facility (nursing home, hospital, tuberculosis sanatorium or institution for treatment of mental diseases), and who, except for the fact that they are patients in that medical facility, would qualify for grants under Title IV, Supplementary Security Income (SSI) benefits under Title XVI or state supplements, and those aged, blind and disabled persons who would not be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits under Title XVI or state supplements if they were not institutionalized in a medical facility but whose income is below the maximum standard set by the commission, which standard shall not exceed that prescribed by federal regulation.

(8) Children under eighteen (18) years of age and pregnant women (including those in intact families) who meet the financial standards of the state plan approved under Title IV-A of the federal Social Security Act, as amended. The eligibility of children covered under this paragraph shall be determined by the commission.

(9) Individuals who are:

(a) Children born after September 30, 1983, who have not attained the age of nineteen (19), with family income that does not exceed one hundred percent (100%) of the nonfarm official poverty level;

(b) Pregnant women, infants and children who have not attained the age of six (6), with family income that does not exceed one hundred thirty-three percent (133%) of the federal poverty level; and

(c) Pregnant women and infants who have not attained the age of one (1), with family income that does not exceed one hundred eighty-five percent (185%) of the federal poverty level.

The eligibility of individuals covered in (a), (b) and (c) of this paragraph shall be determined by the commission.

(10) Certain disabled children age eighteen (18) or under who are living at home, who would be eligible, if in a medical institution, for SSI or a state supplemental payment under Title XVI of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, and therefore for Medicaid under the plan, and for whom the state has made a determination as required under Section 1902(e)(3)(b) of the federal Social Security Act, as amended. The eligibility of individuals under this paragraph shall be determined by the commission.

(11) Until the end of the day on December 31, 2005, individuals who are sixty-five (65) years of age or older or are disabled as determined under Section 1614(a)(3) of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, and whose income does not exceed one hundred thirty-five percent (135%) of the nonfarm official poverty level as defined by the Office of Management and Budget and revised annually, and whose resources do not exceed those established by the commission. The eligibility of individuals covered under this paragraph shall be determined by the commission. After December 31, 2005, only those individuals covered under the 1115(c) Healthier Mississippi waiver will be covered under this category.

Any individual who applied for Medicaid during the period from July 1, 2004, through March 31, 2005, who otherwise would have been eligible for coverage under this paragraph (11) if it had been in effect at the time the individual submitted his or her application and is still eligible for coverage under this paragraph (11) on March 31, 2005, shall be eligible for Medicaid coverage under this paragraph (11) from March 31, 2005, through December 31, 2005. The commission shall give priority in processing the applications for those individuals to determine their eligibility under this paragraph (11).

(12) Individuals who are qualified Medicare beneficiaries (QMB) entitled to Part A Medicare as defined under Section 301, Public Law 100-360, known as the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988, and whose income does not exceed one hundred percent (100%) of the nonfarm official poverty level as defined by the Office of Management and Budget and revised annually.

The eligibility of individuals covered under this paragraph shall be determined by the commission, and those individuals determined eligible shall receive Medicare cost-sharing expenses only as more fully defined by the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act of 1988 and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.

(13) (a) Individuals who are entitled to Medicare Part A as defined in Section 4501 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, and whose income does not exceed one hundred twenty percent (120%) of the nonfarm official poverty level as defined by the Office of Management and Budget and revised annually. Eligibility for Medicaid benefits is limited to full payment of Medicare Part B premiums.

(b) Individuals entitled to Part A of Medicare, with income above one hundred twenty percent (120%), but less than one hundred thirty-five percent (135%) of the federal poverty level, and not otherwise eligible for * * * Medicaid benefits, are limited to full payment of Medicare Part B premiums. The number of eligible individuals is limited by the availability of the federal capped allocation at one hundred percent (100%) of federal matching funds, as more fully defined in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.

The eligibility of individuals covered under this paragraph shall be determined by the commission.

(14) [Deleted]

(15) Disabled workers who are eligible to enroll in Part A Medicare as required by Public Law 101-239, known as the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989, and whose income does not exceed two hundred percent (200%) of the federal poverty level as determined in accordance with the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. The eligibility of individuals covered under this paragraph shall be determined by the commission and those individuals shall be entitled to buy-in coverage of Medicare Part A premiums only under the provisions of this paragraph (15).

(16) In accordance with the terms and conditions of approved Title XIX waiver from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, persons provided home- and community-based services who are physically disabled and certified by the commission as eligible due to applying the income and deeming requirements as if they were institutionalized.

(17) In accordance with the terms of the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-193), persons who become ineligible for assistance under Title IV-A of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, because of increased income from or hours of employment of the caretaker relative or because of the expiration of the applicable earned income disregards, who were eligible for Medicaid for at least three (3) of the six (6) months preceding the month in which the ineligibility begins, shall be eligible for Medicaid for up to twelve (12) months. The eligibility of the individuals covered under this paragraph shall be determined by the commission.

(18) Persons who become ineligible for assistance under Title IV-A of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, as a result, in whole or in part, of the collection or increased collection of child or spousal support under Title IV-D of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, who were eligible for Medicaid for at least three (3) of the six (6) months immediately preceding the month in which the ineligibility begins, shall be eligible for Medicaid for an additional four (4) months beginning with the month in which the ineligibility begins. The eligibility of the individuals covered under this paragraph shall be determined by the commission.

(19) Disabled workers, whose incomes are above the Medicaid eligibility limits, but below two hundred fifty percent (250%) of the federal poverty level, shall be allowed to purchase Medicaid coverage on a sliding fee scale developed by the commission.

(20) Medicaid eligible children under age eighteen (18) shall remain eligible for Medicaid benefits until the end of a period of twelve (12) months following an eligibility determination, or until the time that the individual exceeds age eighteen (18).

(21) Women of childbearing age whose family income does not exceed one hundred eighty-five percent (185%) of the federal poverty level. The eligibility of individuals covered under this paragraph (21) shall be determined by the commission, and those individuals determined eligible shall only receive family planning services covered under Section 43-13-117(13) and not any other services covered under Medicaid. However, any individual eligible under this paragraph (21) who is also eligible under any other provision of this section shall receive the benefits to which he or she is entitled under that other provision, in addition to family planning services covered under Section 43-13-117(13).

The commission shall apply to the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services for a federal waiver of the applicable provisions of Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, and any other applicable provisions of federal law as necessary to allow for the implementation of this paragraph (21). The provisions of this paragraph (21) shall be implemented from and after the date that the commission receives the federal waiver.

(22) Persons who are workers with a potentially severe disability, as determined by the commission, shall be allowed to purchase Medicaid coverage. The term "worker with a potentially severe disability" means a person who is at least sixteen (16) years of age but under sixty-five (65) years of age, who has a physical or mental impairment that is reasonably expected to cause the person to become blind or disabled as defined under Section 1614(a) of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, if the person does not receive items and services provided under Medicaid.

The eligibility of persons under this paragraph (22) shall be conducted as a demonstration project that is consistent with Section 204 of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, Public Law 106-170, for a certain number of persons as specified by the commission. The eligibility of individuals covered under this paragraph (22) shall be determined by the commission.

(23) Children certified by the Mississippi Department of Human Services for whom the state and county departments of human services have custody and financial responsibility who are in foster care on their eighteenth birthday as reported by the Mississippi Department of Human Services shall be certified Medicaid eligible by the commission until their twenty-first birthday.

(24) Individuals who have not attained age sixty-five (65), are not otherwise covered by creditable coverage as defined in the Public Health Services Act, and have been screened for breast and cervical cancer under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program established under Title XV of the Public Health Service Act in accordance with the requirements of that act and who need treatment for breast or cervical cancer. Eligibility of individuals under this paragraph (24) shall be determined by the commission.

(25) The commission shall apply to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for any necessary waivers to provide services to individuals who are sixty-five (65) years of age or older or are disabled as determined under Section 1614(a)(3) of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, and whose income does not exceed one hundred thirty-five percent (135%) of the nonfarm official poverty level as defined by the Office of Management and Budget and revised annually, and whose resources do not exceed those established by the commission, and who are not otherwise covered by Medicare. Nothing contained in this paragraph (25) shall entitle an individual to benefits. The eligibility of individuals covered under this paragraph shall be determined by the commission.

(26) The commission shall apply to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for any necessary waivers to provide services to individuals who are sixty-five (65) years of age or older or are disabled as determined under Section 1614(a)(3) of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, who are end stage renal disease patients on dialysis, cancer patients on chemotherapy or organ transplant recipients on anti-rejection drugs, whose income does not exceed one hundred thirty-five percent (135%) of the nonfarm official poverty level as defined by the Office of Management and Budget and revised annually, and whose resources do not exceed those established by the commission. Nothing contained in this paragraph (26) shall entitle an individual to benefits. The eligibility of individuals covered under this paragraph shall be determined by the commission.

(27) Individuals who are entitled to Medicare Part D and whose income does not exceed one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the nonfarm official poverty level as defined by the Office of Management and Budget and revised annually. Eligibility for payment of the Medicare Part D subsidy under this paragraph shall be determined by the commission.

The commission shall redetermine eligibility for all categories of recipients described in each paragraph of this section not less frequently than required by federal law.

SECTION 10. Section 43-13-116, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-116. (1) It shall be the duty of the commission to fully implement and carry out the administrative functions of determining the eligibility of those persons who qualify for medical assistance under Section 43-13-115.

(2) In determining Medicaid eligibility, the commission is authorized to enter into an agreement with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services for the purpose of securing the transfer of eligibility information from the Social Security Administration on those individuals receiving supplemental security income benefits under the federal Social Security Act and any other information necessary in determining Medicaid eligibility. The commission is further empowered to enter into contractual arrangements with its fiscal agent or with the State Department of Human Services in securing electronic data processing support as may be necessary.

(3) Administrative hearings shall be available to any applicant who requests it because his or her claim of eligibility for services is denied or is not acted upon with reasonable promptness or by any recipient who requests it because he or she believes the agency has erroneously taken action to deny, reduce, or terminate benefits. The agency need not grant a hearing if the sole issue is a federal or state law requiring an automatic change adversely affecting some or all recipients. Eligibility determinations that are made by other agencies and certified to the commission under Section 43-13-115 are not subject to the administrative hearing procedures of the commission but are subject to the administrative hearing procedures of the agency that determined eligibility.

(a) A request may be made either for a local regional office hearing or a state office hearing when the local regional office has made the initial decision that the claimant seeks to appeal or when the regional office has not acted with reasonable promptness in making a decision on a claim for eligibility or services. The only exception to requesting a local hearing is when the issue under appeal involves either (i) a disability or blindness denial, or termination, or (ii) a level of care denial or termination for a disabled child living at home. An appeal involving disability, blindness or level of care must be handled as a state level hearing. The decision from the local hearing may be appealed to the state office for a state hearing. A decision to deny, reduce or terminate benefits that is initially made at the state office may be appealed by requesting a state hearing.

(b) A request for a hearing, either state or local, must be made in writing by the claimant or claimant's legal representative. "Legal representative" includes the claimant's authorized representative, an attorney retained by the claimant or claimant's family to represent the claimant, a paralegal representative with a legal aid services, a parent of a minor child if the claimant is a child, a legal guardian or conservator or an individual with power of attorney for the claimant. The claimant may also be represented by anyone that he or she so designates but must give the designation to the Medicaid regional office or state office in writing, if the person is not the legal representative, legal guardian, or authorized representative.

(c) The claimant may make a request for a hearing in person at the regional office but an oral request must be put into written form. Regional office staff will determine from the claimant if a local or state hearing is requested and assist the claimant in completing and signing the appropriate form. Regional office staff may forward a state hearing request to the appropriate division in the state office or the claimant may mail the form to the address listed on the form. The claimant may make a written request for a hearing by letter. A simple statement requesting a hearing that is signed by the claimant or legal representative is sufficient; however, if possible, the claimant should state the reason for the request. The letter may be mailed to the regional office or it may be mailed to the state office. If the letter does not specify the type of hearing desired, local or state, Medicaid staff will attempt to contact the claimant to determine the level of hearing desired. If contact cannot be made within three (3) days of receipt of the request, the request will be assumed to be for a local hearing and scheduled accordingly. A hearing will not be scheduled until either a letter or the appropriate form is received by the regional or state office.

(d) When both members of a couple wish to appeal an action or inaction by the agency that affects both applications or cases similarly and arose from the same issue, one or both may file the request for hearing, both may present evidence at the hearing, and the agency's decision will be applicable to both. If both file a request for hearing, two (2) hearings will be registered but they will be conducted on the same day and in the same place, either consecutively or jointly, as the couple wishes. If they so desire, only one of the couple need attend the hearing.

(e) The procedure for administrative hearings shall be as follows:

(i) The claimant has thirty (30) days from the date the agency mails the appropriate notice to the claimant of its decision regarding eligibility, services, or benefits to request either a state or local hearing. This time period may be extended if the claimant can show good cause for not filing within thirty (30) days. Good cause includes, but may not be limited to, illness, failure to receive the notice, being out of state, or some other reasonable explanation. If good cause can be shown, a late request may be accepted provided the facts in the case remain the same. If a claimant's circumstances have changed or if good cause for filing a request beyond thirty (30) days is not shown, a hearing request will not be accepted. If the claimant wishes to have eligibility reconsidered, he or she may reapply.

(ii) If a claimant or representative requests a hearing in writing during the advance notice period before benefits are reduced or terminated, benefits must be continued or reinstated to the benefit level in effect before the effective date of the adverse action. Benefits will continue at the original level until the final hearing decision is rendered. Any hearing requested after the advance notice period will not be accepted as a timely request in order for continuation of benefits to apply.

(iii) Upon receipt of a written request for a hearing, the request will be acknowledged in writing within twenty (20) days and a hearing scheduled. The claimant or representative will be given at least five (5) days' advance notice of the hearing date. The local and/or state level hearings will be held by telephone unless, at the hearing officer's discretion, it is determined that an in-person hearing is necessary. If a local hearing is requested, the regional office will notify the claimant or representative in writing of the time of the local hearing. If a state hearing is requested, the state office will notify the claimant or representative in writing of the time of the state hearing. If an in-person hearing is necessary, local hearings will be held at the regional office and state hearings will be held at the state office unless other arrangements are necessitated by the claimant's inability to travel.

(iv) All persons attending a hearing will attend for the purpose of giving information on behalf of the claimant or rendering the claimant assistance in some other way, or for the purpose of representing the commission.

(v) A state or local hearing request may be withdrawn at any time before the scheduled hearing, or after the hearing is held but before a decision is rendered. The withdrawal must be in writing and signed by the claimant or representative. A hearing request will be considered abandoned if the claimant or representative fails to appear at a scheduled hearing without good cause. If no one appears for a hearing, the appropriate office will notify the claimant in writing that the hearing is dismissed unless good cause is shown for not attending. The proposed agency action will be taken on the case following failure to appear for a hearing if the action has not already been effected.

(vi) The claimant or his representative has the following rights in connection with a local or state hearing:

(A) The right to examine at a reasonable time before the date of the hearing and during the hearing the content of the claimant's case record;

(B) The right to have legal representation at the hearing and to bring witnesses;

(C) The right to produce documentary evidence and establish all facts and circumstances concerning eligibility, services, or benefits;

(D) The right to present an argument without undue interference;

(E) The right to question or refute any testimony or evidence including an opportunity to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses.

(vii) When a request for a local hearing is received by the regional office or if the regional office is notified by the state office that a local hearing has been requested, the Medicaid specialist supervisor in the regional office will review the case record, reexamine the action taken on the case, and determine if policy and procedures have been followed. If any adjustments or corrections should be made, the Medicaid specialist supervisor will ensure that corrective action is taken. If the request for hearing was timely made such that continuation of benefits applies, the Medicaid specialist supervisor will ensure that benefits continue at the level before the proposed adverse action that is the subject of the appeal. The Medicaid specialist supervisor will also ensure that all needed information, verification, and evidence is in the case record for the hearing.

(viii) When a state hearing is requested that appeals the action or inaction of a regional office, the regional office will prepare copies of the case record and forward it to the appropriate division in the state office no later than five (5) days after receipt of the request for a state hearing. The original case record will remain in the regional office. Either the original case record in the regional office or the copy forwarded to the state office will be available for inspection by the claimant or claimant's representative a reasonable time before the date of the hearing.

(ix) The Medicaid specialist supervisor will serve as the hearing officer for a local hearing unless the Medicaid specialist supervisor actually participated in the eligibility, benefits, or services decision under appeal, in which case the Medicaid specialist supervisor must appoint a Medicaid specialist in the regional office who did not actually participate in the decision under appeal to serve as hearing officer. The local hearing will be an informal proceeding in which the claimant or representative may present new or additional information, may question the action taken on the client's case, and will hear an explanation from agency staff as to the regulations and requirements that were applied to claimant's case in making the decision.

(x) After the hearing, the hearing officer will prepare a written summary of the hearing procedure and file it with the case record. The hearing officer will consider the facts presented at the local hearing in reaching a decision. The claimant will be notified of the local hearing decision on the appropriate form that will state clearly the reason for the decision, the policy that governs the decision, the claimant's right to appeal the decision to the state office, and, if the original adverse action is upheld, the new effective date of the reduction or termination of benefits or services if continuation of benefits applied during the hearing process. The new effective date of the reduction or termination of benefits or services must be at the end of the fifteen-day advance notice period from the mailing date of the notice of hearing decision. The notice to claimant will be made part of the case record.

(xi) The claimant has the right to appeal a local hearing decision by requesting a state hearing in writing within fifteen (15) days of the mailing date of the notice of local hearing decision. The state hearing request should be made to the regional office. If benefits have been continued pending the local hearing process, then benefits will continue throughout the fifteen-day advance notice period for an adverse local hearing decision. If a state hearing is timely requested within the fifteen-day period, then benefits will continue pending the state hearing process. State hearings requested after the fifteen-day local hearing advance notice period will not be accepted unless the initial thirty-day period for filing a hearing request has not expired because the local hearing was held early, in which case a state hearing request will be accepted as timely within the number of days remaining of the unexpired initial thirty-day period in addition to the fifteen-day time period. Continuation of benefits during the state hearing process, however, will only apply if the state hearing request is received within the fifteen-day advance notice period.

(xii) When a request for a state hearing is received in the regional office, the request will be made part of the case record and the regional office will prepare the case record and forward it to the appropriate division in the state office within five (5) days of receipt of the state hearing request. A request for a state hearing received in the state office will be forwarded to the regional office for inclusion in the case record and the regional office will prepare the case record and forward it to the appropriate division in the state office within five (5) days of receipt of the state hearing request.

(xiii) Upon receipt of the hearing record, an impartial hearing officer will be assigned to hear the case either by the executive director or his or her designee. Hearing officers will be individuals with appropriate expertise employed by the commission and who have not been involved in any way with the action or decision on appeal in the case. The hearing officer will review the case record and if the review shows that an error was made in the action of the agency or in the interpretation of policy, or that a change of policy has been made, the hearing officer will discuss these matters with the appropriate agency personnel and request that an appropriate adjustment be made. Appropriate agency personnel will discuss the matter with the claimant and if the claimant is agreeable to the adjustment of the claim, then agency personnel will request in writing dismissal of the hearing and the reason therefor, to be placed in the case record. If the hearing is to go forward, it shall be scheduled by the hearing officer in the manner set forth in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph (e).

(xiv) In conducting the hearing, the state hearing officer will inform those present of the following:

(A) That the hearing will be recorded on tape and that a transcript of the proceedings will be typed for the record;

(B) The action taken by the agency which prompted the appeal;

(D) That the purpose of the hearing is for the claimant to express dissatisfaction and present additional information or evidence;

(E) That the case record is available for review by the claimant or representative during the hearing;

(F) That the final hearing decision will be rendered by the executive director on the basis of facts presented at the hearing and the case record and that the claimant will be notified by letter of the final decision.

(xv) During the hearing, the claimant and/or representative will be allowed an opportunity to make a full statement concerning the appeal and will be assisted, if necessary, in disclosing all information on which the claim is based. All persons representing the claimant and those representing the commission will have the opportunity to state all facts pertinent to the appeal. The hearing officer may recess or continue the hearing for a reasonable time should additional information or facts be required or if some change in the claimant's circumstances occurs during the hearing process which impacts the appeal. When all information has been presented, the hearing officer will close the hearing and stop the recorder.

(xvi) Immediately following the hearing the hearing tape will be transcribed and a copy of the transcription forwarded to the regional office for filing in the case record. As soon as possible, the hearing officer shall review the evidence and record of the proceedings, testimony, exhibits, and other supporting documents, prepare a written summary of the facts as the hearing officer finds them, and prepare a written recommendation of action to be taken by the agency, citing appropriate policy and regulations that govern the recommendation. The decision cannot be based on any material, oral or written, not available to the claimant before or during the hearing. The hearing officer's recommendation will become part of the case record which will be submitted to the executive director for further review and decision.

(xvii) The executive director, upon review of the recommendation, proceedings and the record, may sustain the recommendation of the hearing officer, reject the same, or remand the matter to the hearing officer to take additional testimony and evidence, in which case, the hearing officer thereafter shall submit to the executive director a new recommendation. The executive director shall prepare a written decision summarizing the facts and identifying policies and regulations that support the decision, which shall be mailed to the claimant and the representative, with a copy to the regional office if appropriate, as soon as possible after submission of a recommendation by the hearing officer. The decision notice will specify any action to be taken by the agency, specify any revised eligibility dates or, if continuation of benefits applies, will notify the claimant of the new effective date of reduction or termination of benefits or services, which will be fifteen (15) days from the mailing date of the notice of decision. The decision rendered by the executive director is final and binding. The claimant is entitled to seek judicial review in a court of proper jurisdiction.

(xviii) The commission must take final administrative action on a hearing, whether state or local, within ninety (90) days from the date of the initial request for a hearing.

(xix) A group hearing may be held for a number of claimants under the following circumstances:

(A) The commission may consolidate the cases and conduct a single group hearing when the only issue involved is one (1) of a single law or agency policy;

(B) The claimants may request a group hearing when there is one (1) issue of agency policy common to all of them.

In all group hearings, whether initiated by the commission or by the claimants, the policies governing fair hearings must be followed. Each claimant in a group hearing must be permitted to present his or her own case and be represented by his or her own representative, or to withdraw from the group hearing and have his or her appeal heard individually. As in individual hearings, the hearing will be conducted only on the issue being appealed, and each claimant will be expected to keep individual testimony within a reasonable time frame as a matter of consideration to the other claimants involved.

(xx) Any specific matter necessitating an administrative hearing not otherwise provided under this article or agency policy shall be afforded under the hearing procedures as outlined above. If the specific time frames of such a unique matter relating to requesting, granting, and concluding of the hearing is contrary to the time frames as set out in the hearing procedures above, the specific time frames will govern over the time frames as set out within these procedures.

(4) The executive director shall be authorized to employ eligibility, technical, clerical and supportive staff as may be required in carrying out and fully implementing the determination of Medicaid eligibility, including conducting quality control reviews and the investigation of the improper receipt of medical assistance. Staffing needs will be set forth in the annual appropriation act for the commission. Additional office space as needed in performing eligibility, quality control and investigative functions shall be obtained by the commission.

SECTION 11. Section 43-13-117, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-117. (A) Medicaid as authorized by this article shall include payment of part or all of the costs, at the discretion of the commission, of the following types of care and services rendered to eligible applicants who have been determined to be eligible for that care and services, within the limits of state appropriations and federal matching funds:

(1) Inpatient hospital services.

(a) The commission shall allow thirty (30) days of inpatient hospital care annually for all Medicaid recipients. Medicaid recipients requiring transplants shall not have those days included in the transplant hospital stay count against the thirty-day limit for inpatient hospital care. Precertification of inpatient days must be obtained as required by the commission.

(b) From and after July 1, 1994, the executive director * * * shall amend the Mississippi Title XIX Inpatient Hospital Reimbursement Plan to remove the occupancy rate penalty from the calculation of the Medicaid Capital Cost Component utilized to determine total hospital costs allocated to the Medicaid program.

(c) Hospitals will receive an additional payment for the implantable programmable baclofen drug pump used to treat spasticity that is implanted on an inpatient basis. The payment pursuant to written invoice will be in addition to the facility's per diem reimbursement and will represent a reduction of costs on the facility's annual cost report, and shall not exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) per year per recipient.

(2) Outpatient hospital services.

(a) Emergency services. The commission shall allow six (6) medically necessary emergency room visits per beneficiary per fiscal year.

(b) Other outpatient hospital services. The commission shall allow benefits for other medically necessary outpatient hospital services (such as chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and therapy), including outpatient services in a clinic or other facility that is not located inside the hospital, but that has been designated as an outpatient facility by the hospital, and that was in operation or under construction on July 1, 2009, provided that the costs and charges associated with the operation of the hospital clinic are included in the hospital's cost report. In addition, the Medicare thirty-five-mile rule will apply to those hospital clinics not located inside the hospital that are constructed after July 1, 2009. Where the same services are reimbursed as clinic services, the commission may revise the rate or methodology of outpatient reimbursement to maintain consistency, efficiency, economy and quality of care.

(3) Laboratory and x-ray services.

(4) Nursing facility services.

(a) The commission shall make full payment to nursing facilities for each day, not exceeding fifty-two (52) days per year, that a patient is absent from the facility on home leave. Payment may be made for the following home leave days in addition to the fifty-two-day limitation: Christmas, the day before Christmas, the day after Christmas, Thanksgiving, the day before Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving.

(b) From and after July 1, 1997, the commission shall implement the integrated case-mix payment and quality monitoring system, which includes the fair rental system for property costs and in which recapture of depreciation is eliminated. The commission may reduce the payment for hospital leave and therapeutic home leave days to the lower of the case-mix category as computed for the resident on leave using the assessment being utilized for payment at that point in time, or a case-mix score of 1.000 for nursing facilities, and shall compute case-mix scores of residents so that only services provided at the nursing facility are considered in calculating a facility's per diem.

(d) When a facility of a category that does not require a certificate of need for construction and that could not be eligible for Medicaid reimbursement is constructed to nursing facility specifications for licensure and certification, and the facility is subsequently converted to a nursing facility under a certificate of need that authorizes conversion only and the applicant for the certificate of need was assessed an application review fee based on capital expenditures incurred in constructing the facility, the commission shall allow reimbursement for capital expenditures necessary for construction of the facility that were incurred within the twenty-four (24) consecutive calendar months immediately preceding the date that the certificate of need authorizing the conversion was issued, to the same extent that reimbursement would be allowed for construction of a new nursing facility under a certificate of need that authorizes that construction. The reimbursement authorized in this subparagraph (d) may be made only to facilities the construction of which was completed after June 30, 1989. Before the commission shall be authorized to make the reimbursement authorized in this subparagraph (d), the commission first must have received approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) of the change in the state Medicaid plan providing for the reimbursement.

(e) The commission shall develop and implement, not later than January 1, 2001, a case-mix payment add-on determined by time studies and other valid statistical data that will reimburse a nursing facility for the additional cost of caring for a resident who has a diagnosis of Alzheimer's or other related dementia and exhibits symptoms that require special care. Any such case-mix add-on payment shall be supported by a determination of additional cost. The commission shall also develop and implement as part of the fair rental reimbursement system for nursing facility beds, an Alzheimer's resident bed depreciation enhanced reimbursement system that will provide an incentive to encourage nursing facilities to convert or construct beds for residents with Alzheimer's or other related dementia.

(f) The commission shall develop and implement an assessment process for long-term care services. The commission may provide the assessment and related functions directly or through contract with the area agencies on aging.

The commission shall apply for necessary federal waivers to assure that additional services providing alternatives to nursing facility care are made available to applicants for nursing facility care.

(5) Periodic screening and diagnostic services for individuals under age twenty-one (21) years as are needed to identify physical and mental defects and to provide health care treatment and other measures designed to correct or ameliorate defects and physical and mental illness and conditions discovered by the screening services, regardless of whether these services are included in the state plan. The commission may include in its periodic screening and diagnostic program those discretionary services authorized under the federal regulations adopted to implement Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act, as amended. The commission, in obtaining physical therapy services, occupational therapy services, and services for individuals with speech, hearing and language disorders, may enter into a cooperative agreement with the State Department of Education for the provision of those services to handicapped students by public school districts using state funds that are provided from the appropriation to the Department of Education to obtain federal matching funds through the commission. The commission, in obtaining medical and mental health assessments, treatment, care and services for children who are in, or at risk of being put in, the custody of the Mississippi Department of Human Services may enter into a cooperative agreement with the Mississippi Department of Human Services for the provision of those services using state funds that are provided from the appropriation to the Department of Human Services to obtain federal matching funds through the commission.

(6) Physician's services. The commission shall allow twelve (12) physician visits annually. All fees for physicians' services that are covered only by Medicaid shall be reimbursed at ninety percent (90%) of the rate established on January 1, 1999, and as may be adjusted each July thereafter, under Medicare (Title XVIII of the federal Social Security Act, as amended). The commission may develop and implement a different reimbursement model or schedule for physician's services provided by physicians based at an academic health care center and by physicians at rural health centers that are associated with an academic health care center. From and after January 1, 2010, all fees for physicians' services that are covered only by Medicaid shall be increased to ninety percent (90%) of the rate established on January 1, 2010, and as may be adjusted each July thereafter, under Medicare.

(7) (a) Home health services for eligible persons, not to exceed in cost the prevailing cost of nursing facility services, not to exceed twenty-five (25) visits per year. All home health visits must be precertified as required by the commission.

(b) [Repealed]

(8) Emergency medical transportation services. On January 1, 1994, emergency medical transportation services shall be reimbursed at seventy percent (70%) of the rate established under Medicare (Title XVIII of the federal Social Security Act, as amended). "Emergency medical transportation services" shall mean, but shall not be limited to, the following services by a properly permitted ambulance operated by a properly licensed provider in accordance with the Emergency Medical Services Act of 1974 (Section 41-59-1 et seq.): (i) basic life support, (ii) advanced life support, (iii) mileage, (iv) oxygen, (v) intravenous fluids, (vi) disposable supplies, (vii) similar services.

(9) (a) Legend and other drugs as may be determined by the commission.

The commission shall establish a mandatory preferred drug list. Drugs not on the mandatory preferred drug list shall be made available by utilizing prior authorization procedures established by the commission.

The commission may seek to establish relationships with other states in order to lower acquisition costs of prescription drugs to include single source and innovator multiple source drugs or generic drugs. In addition, if allowed by federal law or regulation, the commission may seek to establish relationships with and negotiate with other countries to facilitate the acquisition of prescription drugs to include single source and innovator multiple source drugs or generic drugs, if that will lower the acquisition costs of those prescription drugs.

The commission shall allow for a combination of prescriptions for single source and innovator multiple source drugs and generic drugs to meet the needs of the beneficiaries, not to exceed five (5) prescriptions per month for each noninstitutionalized Medicaid beneficiary, with not more than two (2) of those prescriptions being for single source or innovator multiple source drugs.

The executive director may approve specific maintenance drugs for beneficiaries with certain medical conditions, which may be prescribed and dispensed in three-month supply increments.

Drugs prescribed for a resident of a psychiatric residential treatment facility must be provided in true unit doses when available. The commission may require that drugs not covered by Medicare Part D for a resident of a long-term care facility be provided in true unit doses when available. Those drugs that were originally billed to the commission but are not used by a resident in any of those facilities shall be returned to the billing pharmacy for credit to the commission, in accordance with the guidelines of the State Board of Pharmacy and any requirements of federal law and regulation. Drugs shall be dispensed to a recipient and only one (1) dispensing fee per month may be charged. The commission shall develop a methodology for reimbursing for restocked drugs, which shall include a restock fee as determined by the commission not exceeding Seven Dollars and Eighty-two Cents ($7.82).

The voluntary preferred drug list shall be expanded to function in the interim in order to have a manageable prior authorization system, thereby minimizing disruption of service to beneficiaries.

Except for those specific maintenance drugs approved by the executive director, the commission shall not reimburse for any portion of a prescription that exceeds a thirty-one-day supply of the drug based on the daily dosage.

The commission shall develop and implement a program of payment for additional pharmacist services, with payment to be based on demonstrated savings, but in no case shall the total payment exceed twice the amount of the dispensing fee.

All claims for drugs for dually eligible Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries that are paid for by Medicare must be submitted to Medicare for payment before they may be processed by the commission's online payment system.

The commission shall develop a pharmacy policy in which drugs in tamper-resistant packaging that are prescribed for a resident of a nursing facility but are not dispensed to the resident shall be returned to the pharmacy and not billed to Medicaid, in accordance with guidelines of the State Board of Pharmacy.

The commission shall develop and implement a method or methods by which the commission will provide on a regular basis to Medicaid providers who are authorized to prescribe drugs, information about the costs to the Medicaid program of single source drugs and innovator multiple source drugs, and information about other drugs that may be prescribed as alternatives to those single source drugs and innovator multiple source drugs and the costs to the Medicaid program of those alternative drugs.

Notwithstanding any law or regulation, information obtained or maintained by the commission regarding the prescription drug program, including trade secrets and manufacturer or labeler pricing, is confidential and not subject to disclosure except to other state agencies.

(b) Payment by the commission for covered multisource drugs shall be limited to the lower of the upper limits established and published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) plus a dispensing fee, or the estimated acquisition cost (EAC) as determined by the commission, plus a dispensing fee, or the providers' usual and customary charge to the general public.

Payment for other covered drugs, other than multisource drugs with CMS upper limits, shall not exceed the lower of the estimated acquisition cost as determined by the commission, plus a dispensing fee or the providers' usual and customary charge to the general public.

Payment for nonlegend or over-the-counter drugs covered by the commission shall be reimbursed at the lower of the commission's estimated shelf price or the providers' usual and customary charge to the general public.

The dispensing fee for each new or refill prescription, including nonlegend or over-the-counter drugs covered by the commission, shall be not less than Three Dollars and Ninety-one Cents ($3.91), as determined by the commission.

The commission shall not reimburse for single source or innovator multiple source drugs if there are equally effective generic equivalents available and if the generic equivalents are the least expensive.

It is the intent of the Legislature that the pharmacists providers be reimbursed for the reasonable costs of filling and dispensing prescriptions for Medicaid beneficiaries.

(10) (a) Dental care that is an adjunct to treatment of an acute medical or surgical condition; services of oral surgeons and dentists in connection with surgery related to the jaw or any structure contiguous to the jaw or the reduction of any fracture of the jaw or any facial bone; and emergency dental extractions and treatment related thereto. On July 1, 2007, fees for dental care and surgery under authority of this paragraph (10) shall be reimbursed as provided in subparagraph (b). It is the intent of the Legislature that this rate revision for dental services will be an incentive designed to increase the number of dentists who actively provide Medicaid services. This dental services rate revision shall be known as the "James Russell Dumas Medicaid Dental Incentive Program."

The commission shall annually determine the effect of this incentive by evaluating the number of dentists who are Medicaid providers, the number who and the degree to which they are actively billing Medicaid, the geographic trends of where dentists are offering what types of Medicaid services and other statistics pertinent to the goals of this legislative intent. This data shall be presented to the Chair of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee and the Chair of the House Medicaid Committee.

(b) The commission shall establish a fee schedule, to be effective from and after July 1, 2007, for dental services. The schedule shall provide for a fee for each dental service that is equal to a percentile of normal and customary private provider fees, as defined by the Ingenix Customized Fee Analyzer Report, which percentile shall be determined by the commission. The schedule shall be reviewed annually by the commission and dental fees shall be adjusted to reflect the percentile determined by the commission.

(c) For fiscal year 2008, the amount of state funds appropriated for reimbursement for dental care and surgery shall be increased by ten percent (10%) of the amount of state fund expenditures for that purpose for fiscal year 2007. For each of fiscal years 2009 and 2010, the amount of state funds appropriated for reimbursement for dental care and surgery shall be increased by ten percent (10%) of the amount of state fund expenditures for that purpose for the preceding fiscal year.

(d) The commission shall establish an annual benefit limit of Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00) in dental expenditures per Medicaid-eligible recipient; however, a recipient may exceed the annual limit on dental expenditures provided in this paragraph with prior approval of the commission.

(e) The commission shall include dental services as a necessary component of overall health services provided to children who are eligible for services.

(f) This paragraph (10) shall stand repealed on July 1, 2012.

(11) Eyeglasses for all Medicaid beneficiaries who have (a) had surgery on the eyeball or ocular muscle that results in a vision change for which eyeglasses or a change in eyeglasses is medically indicated within six (6) months of the surgery and is in accordance with policies established by the commission, or (b) one (1) pair every five (5) years and in accordance with policies established by the commission. In either instance, the eyeglasses must be prescribed by a physician skilled in diseases of the eye or an optometrist, whichever the beneficiary may select.

(12) Intermediate care facility services.

(a) The commission shall make full payment to all intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded for each day, not exceeding eighty-four (84) days per year, that a patient is absent from the facility on home leave. Payment may be made for the following home leave days in addition to the eighty-four-day limitation: Christmas, the day before Christmas, the day after Christmas, Thanksgiving, the day before Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving.

(b) All state-owned intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded shall be reimbursed on a full reasonable cost basis.

(13) Family planning services, including drugs, supplies and devices, when those services are under the supervision of a physician or nurse practitioner.

(14) Clinic services. Any diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, rehabilitative or palliative services furnished to an outpatient by or under the supervision of a physician or dentist in a facility that is not a part of a hospital but that is organized and operated to provide medical care to outpatients. Clinic services shall include any services reimbursed as outpatient hospital services that may be rendered in that type of facility, including those that become so after July 1, 1991. On July 1, 1999, all fees for physicians' services reimbursed under authority of this paragraph (14) shall be reimbursed at ninety percent (90%) of the rate established on January 1, 1999, and as may be adjusted each July thereafter, under Medicare (Title XVIII of the federal Social Security Act, as amended). The commission may develop and implement a different reimbursement model or schedule for physician's services provided by physicians based at an academic health care center and by physicians at rural health centers that are associated with an academic health care center.

(15) Home- and community-based services for the elderly and disabled, as provided under Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, under waivers, subject to the availability of funds specifically appropriated for that purpose by the Legislature.

(16) Mental health services. Approved therapeutic and case management services (a) provided by an approved regional mental health/intellectual disability center established under Sections 41-19-31 through 41-19-39, or by another community mental health service provider meeting the requirements of the Department of Mental Health to be an approved mental health/intellectual disability center if determined necessary by the Department of Mental Health, using state funds that are provided from the appropriation to the State Department of Mental Health and/or funds transferred to the department by a political subdivision or instrumentality of the state and used to match federal funds under a cooperative agreement between the commission and the department, or (b) provided by a facility that is certified by the State Department of Mental Health to provide therapeutic and case management services, to be reimbursed on a fee for service basis, or (c) provided in the community by a facility or program operated by the Department of Mental Health. Any of those services provided by a facility described in subparagraph (b) must have the prior approval of the commission to be reimbursable under this section. After June 30, 1997, mental health services provided by regional mental health/intellectual disability centers established under Sections 41-19-31 through 41-19-39, or by hospitals as defined in Section 41-9-3(a) and/or their subsidiaries and divisions, or by psychiatric residential treatment facilities as defined in Section 43-11-1, or by another community mental health service provider meeting the requirements of the Department of Mental Health to be an approved mental health/intellectual disability center if determined necessary by the Department of Mental Health, shall not be included in or provided under any capitated managed care pilot program provided for under paragraph (24) of this section.

(17) Durable medical equipment services and medical supplies. Precertification of durable medical equipment and medical supplies must be obtained as required by the commission. The commission may require durable medical equipment providers to obtain a surety bond in the amount and to the specifications as established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.

(18) (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section to the contrary, as provided in the Medicaid state plan amendment or amendments as defined in Section 43-13-145(10), the commission shall make additional reimbursement to hospitals that serve a disproportionate share of low-income patients and that meet the federal requirements for those payments as provided in Section 1923 of the federal Social Security Act and any applicable regulations. It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission shall draw down all available federal funds allotted to the state for disproportionate share hospitals. However, from and after January 1, 1999, public hospitals participating in the Medicaid disproportionate share program may be required to participate in an intergovernmental transfer program as provided in Section 1903 of the federal Social Security Act and any applicable regulations.

(b) The commission shall establish a Medicare Upper Payment Limits Program, as defined in Section 1902(a)(30) of the federal Social Security Act and any applicable federal regulations, for hospitals, and may establish a Medicare Upper Payment Limits Program for nursing facilities. The commission shall assess each hospital and, if the program is established for nursing facilities, shall assess each nursing facility, for the sole purpose of financing the state portion of the Medicare Upper Payment Limits Program. The hospital assessment shall be as provided in Section 43-13-145(4)(a) and the nursing facility assessment, if established, shall be based on Medicaid utilization or other appropriate method consistent with federal regulations. The assessment will remain in effect as long as the state participates in the Medicare Upper Payment Limits Program. As provided in the Medicaid state plan amendment or amendments as defined in Section 43-13-145(10), the commission shall make additional reimbursement to hospitals and, if the program is established for nursing facilities, shall make additional reimbursement to nursing facilities, for the Medicare Upper Payment Limits, as defined in Section 1902(a)(30) of the federal Social Security Act and any applicable federal regulations.

(19) (a) Perinatal risk management services. The commission shall promulgate regulations to be effective from and after October 1, 1988, to establish a comprehensive perinatal system for risk assessment of all pregnant and infant Medicaid recipients and for management, education and follow-up for those who are determined to be at risk. Services to be performed include case management, nutrition assessment/counseling, psychosocial assessment/counseling and health education.

(b) Early intervention system services. The commission shall cooperate with the State Department of Health, acting as lead agency, in the development and implementation of a statewide system of delivery of early intervention services, under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The State Department of Health shall certify annually in writing to the executive director of the commission the dollar amount of state early intervention funds available that will be utilized as a certified match for Medicaid matching funds. Those funds then shall be used to provide expanded targeted case management services for Medicaid eligible children with special needs who are eligible for the state's early intervention system. Qualifications for persons providing service coordination shall be determined by the State Department of Health and the commission.

(20) Home- and community-based services for physically disabled approved services as allowed by a waiver from the United States Department of Health and Human Services for home- and community-based services for physically disabled people using state funds that are provided from the appropriation to the State Department of Rehabilitation Services and used to match federal funds under a cooperative agreement between the commission and the department, provided that funds for these services are specifically appropriated to the Department of Rehabilitation Services.

(21) Nurse practitioner services. Services furnished by a registered nurse who is licensed and certified by the Mississippi Board of Nursing as a nurse practitioner, including, but not limited to, nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, family nurse practitioners, family planning nurse practitioners, pediatric nurse practitioners, obstetrics-gynecology nurse practitioners and neonatal nurse practitioners, under regulations adopted by the commission. Reimbursement for those services shall not exceed ninety percent (90%) of the reimbursement rate for comparable services rendered by a physician.

(22) Ambulatory services delivered in federally qualified health centers, rural health centers and clinics of the local health departments of the State Department of Health for individuals eligible for Medicaid under this article based on reasonable costs as determined by the commission.

(23) Inpatient psychiatric services. Inpatient psychiatric services to be determined by the commission for recipients under age twenty-one (21) that are provided under the direction of a physician in an inpatient program in a licensed acute care psychiatric facility or in a licensed psychiatric residential treatment facility, before the recipient reaches age twenty-one (21) or, if the recipient was receiving the services immediately before he or she reached age twenty-one (21), before the earlier of the date he or she no longer requires the services or the date he or she reaches age twenty-two (22), as provided by federal regulations. Precertification of inpatient days and residential treatment days must be obtained as required by the commission. From and after July 1, 2009, all state-owned and state-operated facilities that provide inpatient psychiatric services to persons under age twenty-one (21) who are eligible for Medicaid reimbursement shall be reimbursed for those services on a full reasonable cost basis.

(24) [Deleted]

(25) [Deleted]

(26) Hospice care. As used in this paragraph, the term "hospice care" means a coordinated program of active professional medical attention within the home and outpatient and inpatient care that treats the terminally ill patient and family as a unit, employing a medically directed interdisciplinary team. The program provides relief of severe pain or other physical symptoms and supportive care to meet the special needs arising out of physical, psychological, spiritual, social and economic stresses that are experienced during the final stages of illness and during dying and bereavement and meets the Medicare requirements for participation as a hospice as provided in federal regulations.

(27) Group health plan premiums and cost sharing if it is cost-effective as defined by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.

(28) Other health insurance premiums that are cost-effective as defined by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. Medicare eligible must have Medicare Part B before other insurance premiums can be paid.

(29) The commission may apply for a waiver from the United States Department of Health and Human Services for home- and community-based services for developmentally disabled people using state funds that are provided from the appropriation to the State Department of Mental Health and/or funds transferred to the department by a political subdivision or instrumentality of the state and used to match federal funds under a cooperative agreement between the commission and the department, provided that funds for these services are specifically appropriated to the Department of Mental Health and/or transferred to the department by a political subdivision or instrumentality of the state.

(30) Pediatric skilled nursing services for eligible persons under twenty-one (21) years of age.

(31) Targeted case management services for children with special needs, under waivers from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, using state funds that are provided from the appropriation to the Mississippi Department of Human Services and used to match federal funds under a cooperative agreement between the commission and the department.

(32) Care and services provided in Christian Science Sanatoria listed and certified by the Commission for Accreditation of Christian Science Nursing Organizations/Facilities, Inc., rendered in connection with treatment by prayer or spiritual means to the extent that those services are subject to reimbursement under Section 1903 of the federal Social Security Act.

(33) Podiatrist services.

(34) Assisted living services as provided through home- and community-based services under Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, subject to the availability of funds specifically appropriated for that purpose by the Legislature.

(35) Services and activities authorized in Sections 43-27-101 and 43-27-103, using state funds that are provided from the appropriation to the Mississippi Department of Human Services and used to match federal funds under a cooperative agreement between the commission and the department.

(36) Nonemergency transportation services for Medicaid-eligible persons, to be provided by the commission. The commission may contract with additional entities to administer nonemergency transportation services as it deems necessary. All providers shall have a valid driver's license, vehicle inspection sticker, valid vehicle license tags and a standard liability insurance policy covering the vehicle. The commission may pay providers a flat fee based on mileage tiers, or in the alternative, may reimburse on actual miles traveled. The commission may apply to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for a waiver to draw federal matching funds for nonemergency transportation services as a covered service instead of an administrative cost. The PEER Committee shall conduct a performance evaluation of the nonemergency transportation program to evaluate the administration of the program and the providers of transportation services to determine the most cost-effective ways of providing nonemergency transportation services to the patients served under the program. The performance evaluation shall be completed and provided to the members of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee and the House Medicaid Committee not later than January 15, 2008.

(37) [Deleted]

(38) Chiropractic services. A chiropractor's manual manipulation of the spine to correct a subluxation, if x-ray demonstrates that a subluxation exists and if the subluxation has resulted in a neuromusculoskeletal condition for which manipulation is appropriate treatment, and related spinal x-rays performed to document these conditions. Reimbursement for chiropractic services shall not exceed Seven Hundred Dollars ($700.00) per year per beneficiary.

(39) Dually eligible Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries. The commission shall pay the Medicare deductible and coinsurance amounts for services available under Medicare, as determined by the commission. From and after July 1, 2009, the commission shall reimburse crossover claims for inpatient hospital services and crossover claims covered under Medicare Part B in the same manner that was in effect on January 1, 2008, unless specifically authorized by the Legislature to change this method.

(40) [Deleted]

(41) Services provided by the State Department of Rehabilitation Services for the care and rehabilitation of persons with spinal cord injuries or traumatic brain injuries, as allowed under waivers from the United States Department of Health and Human Services, using up to seventy-five percent (75%) of the funds that are appropriated to the Department of Rehabilitation Services from the Spinal Cord and Head Injury Trust Fund established under Section 37-33-261 and used to match federal funds under a cooperative agreement between the commission and the department.

(42) Notwithstanding any other provision in this article to the contrary, the commission may develop a population health management program for women and children health services through the age of one (1) year. This program is primarily for obstetrical care associated with low birth weight and preterm babies. The commission may apply to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for a Section 1115 waiver or any other waivers that may enhance the program. In order to effect cost savings, the commission may develop a revised payment methodology that may include at-risk capitated payments, and may require member participation in accordance with the terms and conditions of an approved federal waiver.

(43) The commission shall provide reimbursement, according to a payment schedule developed by the commission, for smoking cessation medications for pregnant women during their pregnancy and other Medicaid-eligible women who are of child-bearing age.

(44) Nursing facility services for the severely disabled.

(a) Severe disabilities include, but are not limited to, spinal cord injuries, closed head injuries and ventilator dependent patients.

(b) Those services must be provided in a long-term care nursing facility dedicated to the care and treatment of persons with severe disabilities, and shall be reimbursed as a separate category of nursing facilities.

(45) Physician assistant services. Services furnished by a physician assistant who is licensed by the State Board of Medical Licensure and is practicing with physician supervision under regulations adopted by the board, under regulations adopted by the commission. Reimbursement for those services shall not exceed ninety percent (90%) of the reimbursement rate for comparable services rendered by a physician.

(46) The commission shall make application to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for a waiver to develop and provide services for children with serious emotional disturbances as defined in Section 43-14-1(1), which may include home- and community-based services, case management services or managed care services through mental health providers certified by the Department of Mental Health. The commission may implement and provide services under this waivered program only if funds for these services are specifically appropriated for this purpose by the Legislature, or if funds are voluntarily provided by affected agencies.

(47) (a) Notwithstanding any other provision in this article to the contrary, the commission may develop and implement disease management programs for individuals with high-cost chronic diseases and conditions, including the use of grants, waivers, demonstrations or other projects as necessary.

(b) Participation in any disease management program implemented under this paragraph (47) is optional with the individual. An individual must affirmatively elect to participate in the disease management program in order to participate, and may elect to discontinue participation in the program at any time.

(48) Pediatric long-term acute care hospital services.

(a) Pediatric long-term acute care hospital services means services provided to eligible persons under twenty-one (21) years of age by a freestanding Medicare-certified hospital that has an average length of inpatient stay greater than twenty-five (25) days and that is primarily engaged in providing chronic or long-term medical care to persons under twenty-one (21) years of age.

(b) The services under this paragraph (48) shall be reimbursed as a separate category of hospital services.

(49) The commission shall establish copayments and/or coinsurance for all Medicaid services for which copayments and/or coinsurance are allowable under federal law or regulation, and shall set the amount of the copayment and/or coinsurance for each of those services at the maximum amount allowable under federal law or regulation.

(50) Services provided by the State Department of Rehabilitation Services for the care and rehabilitation of persons who are deaf and blind, as allowed under waivers from the United States Department of Health and Human Services to provide home- and community-based services using state funds that are provided from the appropriation to the State Department of Rehabilitation Services or if funds are voluntarily provided by another agency.

(51) Upon determination of Medicaid eligibility and in association with annual redetermination of Medicaid eligibility, beneficiaries shall be encouraged to undertake a physical examination that will establish a base-line level of health and identification of a usual and customary source of care (a medical home) to aid utilization of disease management tools. This physical examination and utilization of these disease management tools shall be consistent with current United States Preventive Services Task Force or other recognized authority recommendations.

For persons who are determined ineligible for Medicaid, the commission will provide information and direction for accessing medical care and services in the area of their residence.

(52) Notwithstanding any provisions of this article, the commission may pay enhanced reimbursement fees related to trauma care, as determined by the commission in conjunction with the State Department of Health, using funds appropriated to the State Department of Health for trauma care and services and used to match federal funds under a cooperative agreement between the commission and the State Department of Health. The commission, in conjunction with the State Department of Health, may use grants, waivers, demonstrations, or other projects as necessary in the development and implementation of this reimbursement program.

(53) Targeted case management services for high-cost beneficiaries shall be developed by the commission for all services under this section.

(54) Adult foster care services pilot program. Social and protective services on a pilot program basis in an approved foster care facility for vulnerable adults who would otherwise need care in a long-term care facility, to be implemented in an area of the state with the greatest need for that type of program, under the Medicaid Waivers for the Elderly and Disabled program or an assisted living waiver. The commission may use grants, waivers, demonstrations or other projects as necessary in the development and implementation of this adult foster care services pilot program.

(55) Therapy services. The plan of care for therapy services may be developed to cover a period of treatment for up to six (6) months, but in no event shall the plan of care exceed a six-month period of treatment. The projected period of treatment must be indicated on the initial plan of care and must be updated with each subsequent revised plan of care. Based on medical necessity, the commission shall approve certification periods for less than or up to six (6) months, but in no event shall the certification period exceed the period of treatment indicated on the plan of care. The appeal process for any reduction in therapy services shall be consistent with the appeal process in federal regulations.

(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article to the contrary, the commission shall reduce the rate of reimbursement to providers for any service provided under this section by five percent (5%) of the allowed amount for that service. However, the reduction in the reimbursement rates required by this subsection (B) shall not apply to inpatient hospital services, nursing facility services, intermediate care facility services, psychiatric residential treatment facility services, pharmacy services provided under subsection (A)(9) of this section, or any service provided by the University of Mississippi Medical Center or a state agency, a state facility or a public agency that either provides its own state match through intergovernmental transfer or certification of funds to the commission, or a service for which the federal government sets the reimbursement methodology and rate. From and after January 1, 2010, the reduction in the reimbursement rates required by this subsection (B) shall not apply to physicians' services. In addition, the reduction in the reimbursement rates required by this subsection (B) shall not apply to case management services and home-delivered meals provided under the home- and community-based services program for the elderly and disabled by a planning and development district (PDD). Planning and development districts participating in the home- and community-based services program for the elderly and disabled as case management providers shall be reimbursed for case management services at the maximum rate approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

(C) The commission may pay to those providers who participate in and accept patient referrals from the commission's emergency room redirection program a percentage, as determined by the commission, of savings achieved according to the performance measures and reduction of costs required of that program. Federally qualified health centers may participate in the emergency room redirection program, and the commission may pay those centers a percentage of any savings to the Medicaid program achieved by the centers' accepting patient referrals through the program, as provided in this subsection (C).

(D) Notwithstanding any provision of this article, except as authorized in the following subsection and in Section 43-13-139, neither (a) the limitations on quantity or frequency of use of or the fees or charges for any of the care or services available to recipients under this section, nor (b) the payments, payment methodology as provided below in this subsection (D), or rates of reimbursement to providers rendering care or services authorized under this section to recipients, may be increased, decreased or otherwise changed from the levels in effect on July 1, 1999, unless they are authorized by an amendment to this section by the Legislature. However, the restriction in this subsection shall not prevent the commission from changing the payments, payment methodology as provided below in this subsection (D), or rates of reimbursement to providers without an amendment to this section whenever those changes are required by federal law or regulation, or whenever those changes are necessary to correct administrative errors or omissions in calculating those payments or rates of reimbursement. The prohibition on any changes in payment methodology provided in this subsection (D) shall apply only to payment methodologies used for determining the rates of reimbursement for inpatient hospital services, outpatient hospital services and/or nursing facility services, except as required by federal law, and the federally mandated rebasing of rates as required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) shall not be considered payment methodology for purposes of this subsection (D).

(E) Notwithstanding any provision of this article, no new groups or categories of recipients and new types of care and services may be added without enabling legislation from the Mississippi Legislature, except that the commission may authorize those changes without enabling legislation when the addition of recipients or services is ordered by a court of proper authority.

(F) The executive director shall keep the commission advised on a timely basis of the funds available for expenditure and the projected expenditures. If current or projected expenditures of the commission are reasonably anticipated to exceed the amount of funds appropriated to the commission for any fiscal year, the commission, after consultation with the executive director, shall discontinue any or all of the payment of the types of care and services as provided in this section that are deemed to be optional services under Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, and when necessary, shall institute any other cost containment measures on any program or programs authorized under the article to the extent allowed under the federal law governing that program or programs. However, the commission shall not be authorized to discontinue or eliminate any service under this section that is mandatory under federal law, or to discontinue or eliminate, or adjust income limits or resource limits for, any eligibility category or group under Section 43-13-115. * * * Beginning in fiscal year 2010 and in fiscal years thereafter, when Medicaid expenditures are projected to exceed funds available for any quarter in the fiscal year, the commission shall submit the expected shortfall information to the PEER Committee, which shall review the computations of the commission and report its findings to the Legislative Budget Office within thirty (30) days of that notification by the commission, and not later than January 7 in any year. If expenditure reductions or cost containments are implemented, the commission may implement a maximum amount of state share expenditure reductions to providers, of which hospitals will be responsible for twenty-five percent (25%) of provider reductions as follows: in fiscal year 2010, the maximum amount shall be Twenty-four Million Dollars ($24,000,000.00); in fiscal year 2011, the maximum amount shall be Thirty-two Million Dollars ($32,000,000.00); and in fiscal year 2012 and thereafter, the maximum amount shall be Forty Million Dollars ($40,000,000.00). However, instead of implementing cuts, the hospital share shall be in the form of an additional assessment not to exceed Ten Million Dollars ($10,000,000.00) as provided in Section 43-13-145(4)(a)(ii). If Medicaid expenditures are projected to exceed the amount of funds appropriated to the commission in any fiscal year in excess of the expenditure reductions to providers, then funds shall be transferred by the State Fiscal Officer from the Health Care Trust Fund into the Health Care Expendable Fund and to the commission from the Health Care Expendable Fund, in the amount and at the time as requested by the commission to reconcile the deficit. If the cost containment measures described above have been implemented and there are insufficient funds in the Health Care Trust Fund to reconcile any remaining deficit in any fiscal year, the commission shall institute any other additional cost containment measures on any program or programs authorized under this article to the extent allowed under federal law. Hospitals shall be responsible for twenty-five percent (25%) of any additional imposed provider cuts. However, instead of implementing hospital expenditure reductions, the hospital reductions shall be in the form of an additional assessment not to exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of provider expenditure reductions as provided in Section 43-13-145(4)(a)(ii). It is the intent of the Legislature that the expenditures of the commission during any fiscal year shall not exceed the amounts appropriated to the commission for that fiscal year.

(G) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, it shall be the duty of each nursing facility, intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded, psychiatric residential treatment facility, and nursing facility for the severely disabled that is participating in the Medicaid program to keep and maintain books, documents and other records as prescribed by the commission in substantiation of its cost reports for a period of three (3) years after the date of submission to the commission of an original cost report, or three (3) years after the date of submission to the commission of an amended cost report.

(H) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the commission shall not be authorized to implement any managed care program, coordinated care program, coordinated care organization, health maintenance organization or similar program in which services are paid for on a capitated basis, beyond the level, scope or location of the program as it existed on October 1, 2008, until on or after January 1, 2010. Any managed care program or coordinated care program implemented by the commission under this section shall be limited to a maximum of fifteen percent (15%) of all Medicaid beneficiaries, and any Medicaid beneficiary who is enrolled in the program shall have an annual window of at least thirty (30) days in length during which the beneficiary may disenroll from the program. In addition, any payments made to providers by a managed care organization, coordinated care organization, health maintenance organization or other similar organization under a managed care program or coordinated care program implemented by the commission under this section shall be considered to be regular Medicaid payments for the purposes of calculating Medicare Upper Payment Limits (UPL) payments and Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments to hospitals. The commission shall apply for any federal waiver or waivers necessary to implement a managed care program or coordinated care program that meets all of the requirements in this paragraph. If the commission does not receive a federal waiver or waivers that authorizes it to implement a managed care program or coordinated care program that meets all of the requirements in this paragraph, then the commission shall not be authorized to implement a managed care program or coordinated care program.

(2) All health maintenance organizations, coordinated care organizations or other organizations paid for services on a capitated basis by the commission under any managed care program or coordinated care program implemented by the commission under this section shall reimburse all providers in those organizations at rates no lower than those provided under this section for beneficiaries who are not participating in those programs.

(3) No health maintenance organization, coordinated care organization or other organization paid for services on a capitated basis by the commission under any managed care program or coordinated care program implemented by the commission under this section shall require its providers or beneficiaries to use any pharmacy that ships, mails or delivers prescription drugs or legend drugs or devices.

(4) After a managed care program or coordinated care program is implemented by the commission under this section, the PEER Committee shall conduct a comprehensive performance evaluation of the managed care program or coordinated care program, which shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of any cost savings to the commission, quality of care to the beneficiaries, and access to care by the beneficiaries. The PEER Committee shall provide regular reports on the status of the managed care program or coordinated care program to the members of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee and the House Medicaid Committee, and shall complete the performance evaluation and provide it to the members of those committees not later than December 15, 2011. As a condition of participation in a managed care program or coordinated care program implemented by the commission under this section, a provider must agree to provide any information that the PEER Committee requests to conduct the performance evaluation of the program, and all those providers shall fully cooperate with the PEER Committee in any request to provide information to the committee.

(I) The commission shall develop and publish reimbursement rates for each APR-DRG proposed by the commission at least equal to the prevailing corresponding Medicare DRG rate or a closely related Medicare DRG rate, applying to each hospital, the applicable federal wage index being used by CMS for the hospital's geographic location, but the commission shall not implement that rate schedule or APR-DRG methodology until after July 1, 2010. The PEER Committee shall study the benefits and liabilities of implementing an APR-DRG reimbursement rate schedule, and report its findings to the members of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee and the House Medicaid Committee on or before December 15, 2009.

(J) There shall be no cuts in inpatient and outpatient hospital payments, or allowable days or volumes, as long as the hospital assessment provided in Section 43-13-145 is in effect.

(K) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2012.

SECTION 12. Section 43-13-117.1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-117.1. It is the intent of the Legislature to expand access to Medicaid-funded home- and community-based services for eligible nursing facility residents who choose those services. The executive director is authorized to transfer funds allocated for nursing facility services for eligible residents to cover the cost of services available through the Independent Living Waiver, the Traumatic Brain Injury/Spinal Cord Injury Waiver, the Elderly and Disabled Waiver, and the Assisted Living Waiver programs when eligible residents choose those community services. The amount of funding transferred by the commission shall be sufficient to cover the cost of home- and community-based waiver services for each eligible nursing facility resident who chooses those services. The number of nursing facility residents who return to the community and home- and community-based waiver services shall not count against the total number of waiver slots for which the Legislature appropriates funding each year. Any funds remaining in the program when a former nursing facility resident ceases to participate in a home- and community-based waiver program under this provision shall be returned to nursing facility funding.

SECTION 13. Section 43-13-117.2, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-117.2. The commission is authorized and directed to study the feasibility of implementing a pilot program to provide chronic disease management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using private sources of funding in an effort to reduce the financial and clinical burden of COPD illness upon the Medicaid program and the citizens of Mississippi. If a pilot program is deemed feasible, * * * a program shall be implemented and a report of findings and recommendations be prepared and provided to the Office of the Governor and the Chairmen of the House and Senate Public Health and Welfare Committees and the Chairman of the House Medicaid Committee in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program in reducing costs within the Medicaid program and in providing improved health and well-being of the affected patients.

SECTION 14. Section 43-13-117.3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-117.3. The commission, in consultation with the State Department of Health and the State Department of Rehabilitation Services, is authorized and directed to study the feasibility of implementing a pilot program to provide bariatric surgery in the morbidly obese as a treatment option in an effort to reduce the financial and clinical burden of morbid obesity upon the Medicaid program and the citizens of Mississippi. If a pilot program is deemed feasible, * * * a program shall be implemented and a report of findings and recommendations be prepared and provided to the Office of the Governor and the Chairmen of the House and Senate Public Health and Welfare Committees and the Chairman of the House Medicaid Committee in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program.

SECTION 15. Section 43-13-118, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-118. It shall be the duty of each provider participating in the medical assistance program to keep and maintain books, documents, and other records as prescribed by the commission in substantiation of its claim for services rendered Medicaid recipients, and the books, documents, and other records shall be kept and maintained for a period of five (5) years or for whatever longer period as may be required or prescribed under federal or state statutes and shall be subject to audit by the commission. The commission shall be entitled to full recoupment of the amount that the commission or the Division of Medicaid has paid any provider of medical service who has failed to keep or maintain records as required in this section.

SECTION 16. Section 43-13-119, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-119. (1) The commission shall immediately design and implement a temporary program to provide nonemergency transportation to locations for necessary dialysis services for end stage renal disease patients who are sixty-five (65) years of age or older or are disabled as determined under Section 1614(a)(3) of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, whose income did not exceed one hundred thirty-five percent (135%) of the nonfarm official poverty level as defined by the Office of Management and Budget, and whose resources did not exceed those established by the commission as of December 31, 2005, whose eligibility was covered under the former category of eligibility known as PLADs (Poverty Level Aged and Disabled).

(2) The transportation services under the program shall be provided by any reasonable provider, which may include (a) public entities or (b) private entities and individuals who are in the business of providing nonemergency transportation, including faith-based organizations, and the commission shall reimburse those entities and individuals or faith-based organizations for providing the transportation services in accordance with a mutually agreed upon reimbursement schedule.

(3) The program shall be funded from monies that are appropriated or otherwise made available to the commission. The funds shall be appropriated to the commission specifically to cover the cost of this program and shall not be a part of the commission's regular appropriation for the operation of the federal-state Medicaid program.

(4) The program is a separate program that is not part of or connected to the Medicaid program, and the relationship of the commission to the program is only as the administering agent.

(5) This section shall stand repealed on June 30, 2013.

SECTION 17. Section 43-13-120, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-120. (1) Any person who is a Medicaid recipient and is receiving medical assistance for services provided in a long-term care facility under the provisions of Section 43-13-117 from the commission, who dies intestate and leaves no known heirs, shall have deemed, through his acceptance of the medical assistance, the commission as his beneficiary to all the funds in an amount not to exceed Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) that are in his possession at the time of his death. The funds, together with any accrued interest thereon, shall be reported by the long-term care facility to the State Treasurer in the manner provided in subsection (2).

(2) The report of the funds shall be verified, shall be on a form prescribed or approved by the Treasurer, and shall include (a) the name of the deceased person and his last known address before entering the long-term care facility; (b) the name and last known address of each person who may possess an interest in the funds; and (c) any other information that the Treasurer prescribes by regulation as necessary for the administration of this section. The report shall be filed with the Treasurer before November 1 of each year in which the long-term care facility has provided services to a person or persons having funds to which this section applies.

(3) Within one hundred twenty (120) days from November 1 of each year in which a report is made under subsection (2), the Treasurer shall cause notice to be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the county of this state in which is located the last known address of the person or persons named in the report who may possess an interest in the funds, or if no * * * person with a possessory interest is named in the report, in the county in which is located the last known address of the deceased person before entering the long-term care facility. If no address is given in the report or if the address is outside of this state, the notice shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the county in which the facility is located. The notice shall contain (a) the name of the deceased person; (b) his last known address before entering the facility; (c) the name and last known address of each person named in the report who may possess an interest in the funds; and (d) a statement that any person possessing an interest in the funds must make a claim therefor to the Treasurer within ninety (90) days after the publication date or the funds will become the property of the State of Mississippi. In any year in which the Treasurer publishes a notice of abandoned property under Section 89-12-27, the Treasurer may combine the notice required by this section with the notice of abandoned property. The cost to the Treasurer of publishing the notice required by this section shall be paid by the commission.

(4) Each long-term care facility that makes a report of funds of a deceased person under this section shall pay over and deliver the funds, together with any accrued interest thereon, to the Treasurer not later than ten (10) days after notice of the funds has been published by the Treasurer as provided in subsection (3). If a claim to the funds is not made by any person having an interest therein within ninety (90) days of the published notice, the Treasurer shall place the funds in the special account in the State Treasury to the credit of the commission to be expended by the commission for the purposes provided under Mississippi Medicaid Law.

(5) This section shall not be applicable to any Medicaid patient in a long-term care facility of a state institution listed in Section 41-7-73, who has a personal deposit fund as provided for in Section 41-7-90.

SECTION 18. Section 43-13-121, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-121. (1) The commission shall administer the Medicaid program under the provisions of this article, and may do the following:

(a) Adopt and promulgate reasonable rules, regulations and standards * * * in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Law, Section 25-43-1.101 et seq.:

(i) Establishing methods and procedures as may be necessary for the proper and efficient administration of this article;

(ii) Providing Medicaid to all qualified recipients under the provisions of this article as the commission may determine and within the limits of appropriated funds;

(iii) Establishing reasonable fees, charges and rates for medical services and drugs; in doing so, the commission shall fix all of those fees, charges and rates at the minimum levels absolutely necessary to provide the medical assistance authorized by this article, and shall not change any of those fees, charges or rates except as may be authorized in Section 43-13-117;

(iv) Providing for fair and impartial hearings;

(v) Providing safeguards for preserving the confidentiality of records; and

(vi) For detecting and processing fraudulent practices and abuses of the program;

(b) Receive and expend state, federal and other funds in accordance with court judgments or settlements and agreements between the State of Mississippi and the federal government, the rules and regulations promulgated by the commission, and within the limitations and restrictions of this article and within the limits of funds available for that purpose;

(c) Subject to the limits imposed by this article, to submit a Medicaid plan to the United States Department of Health and Human Services for approval under the provisions of the federal Social Security Act, to act for the state in making negotiations relative to the submission and approval of that plan, to make any arrangements, not inconsistent with the law, as may be required by or under federal law to obtain and retain that approval and to secure for the state the benefits of the provisions of that law.

No agreements, specifically including the general plan for the operation of the Medicaid program in this state, shall be made by and between the commission and the United States Department of Health and Human Services unless the Attorney General of the State of Mississippi has reviewed the agreements, specifically including the operational plan, and has certified in writing to the commission that the agreements, including the plan of operation, have been drawn strictly in accordance with the terms and requirements of this article;

(d) In accordance with the purposes and intent of this article and in compliance with its provisions, provide for aged persons otherwise eligible for the benefits provided under Title XVIII of the federal Social Security Act by expenditure of funds available for those purposes;

(e) To make reports to the United States Department of Health and Human Services as from time to time may be required by that federal department and to the Mississippi Legislature as provided in this section;

(f) Define and determine the scope, duration and amount of Medicaid that may be provided in accordance with this article and establish priorities therefor in conformity with this article;

(g) Cooperate and contract with other state agencies for the purpose of coordinating Medicaid provided under this article and eliminating duplication and inefficiency in the Medicaid program;

(h) Adopt and use an official seal of the commission;

(i) Sue in its own name on behalf of the State of Mississippi and employ legal counsel on a contingency basis with the approval of the Attorney General;

(j) To recover any and all payments incorrectly made by the commission or the Division of Medicaid to a recipient or provider from the recipient or provider receiving the payments. To recover those payments, the commission may use the following methods, in addition to any other methods available to the commission:

(i) The commission shall report to the Department of Revenue the name of any current or former Medicaid recipient who has received medical services rendered during a period of established Medicaid ineligibility and who has not reimbursed the commission for the related medical service payment(s). The Department of Revenue shall withhold from the state tax refund of the individual, and pay to the commission, the amount of the payment(s) for medical services rendered to the ineligible individual that have not been reimbursed to the commission for the related medical service payment(s).

(ii) The commission shall report to the Department of Revenue the name of any Medicaid provider to whom payments were incorrectly made that the commission has not been able to recover by other methods available to the commission. The Department of Revenue shall withhold from the state tax refund of the provider, and pay to the commission, the amount of the payments that were incorrectly made to the provider that have not been recovered by other available methods;

(k) To recover any and all payments by the commission fraudulently obtained by a recipient or provider. Additionally, if recovery of any payments fraudulently obtained by a recipient or provider is made in any court, then, upon motion of the commission, the judge of the court may award twice the payments recovered as damages;

(l) Have full, complete and plenary power and authority to conduct any investigations as it may deem necessary and requisite of alleged or suspected violations or abuses of the provisions of this article or of the regulations adopted under this article, including, but not limited to, fraudulent or unlawful act or deed by applicants for Medicaid or other benefits, or payments made to any person, firm or corporation under the terms, conditions and authority of this article, to suspend or disqualify any provider of services, applicant or recipient for gross abuse, fraudulent or unlawful acts for those periods, including permanently, and under any conditions as the commission deems proper and just, including the imposition of a legal rate of interest on the amount improperly or incorrectly paid. Recipients who are found to have misused or abused Medicaid benefits may be locked into one (1) physician and/or one (1) pharmacy of the recipient's choice for a reasonable amount of time in order to educate and promote appropriate use of medical services, in accordance with federal regulations. If an administrative hearing becomes necessary, the commission may, if the provider does not succeed in his or her defense, tax the costs of the administrative hearing, including the costs of the court reporter or stenographer and transcript, to the provider. The convictions of a recipient or a provider in a state or federal court for abuse, fraudulent or unlawful acts under this chapter shall constitute an automatic disqualification of the recipient or automatic disqualification of the provider from participation under the Medicaid program.

A conviction, for the purposes of this chapter, shall include a judgment entered on a plea of nolo contendere or a nonadjudicated guilty plea and shall have the same force as a judgment entered under a guilty plea or a conviction following trial. A certified copy of the judgment of the court of competent jurisdiction of the conviction shall constitute prima facie evidence of the conviction for disqualification purposes;

(m) Establish and provide any methods of administration as may be necessary for the proper and efficient operation of the Medicaid program, fully utilizing computer equipment as may be necessary to oversee and control all current expenditures for purposes of this article, and to closely monitor and supervise all recipient payments and vendors rendering services under this article;

(n) To cooperate and contract with the federal government for the purpose of providing Medicaid to Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees, under the provisions of Public Law 94-23 and Public Law 94-24, including any amendments to those laws, only to the extent that the Medicaid assistance and the administrative cost related thereto are one hundred percent (100%) reimbursable by the federal government. For the purposes of Section 43-13-117, persons receiving Medicaid under Public Law 94-23 and Public Law 94-24, including any amendments to those laws, shall not be considered a new group or category of recipient; and

(o) The commission shall impose penalties upon Medicaid only, Title XIX participating long-term care facilities found to be in noncompliance with commission and certification standards in accordance with federal and state regulations, including interest at the same rate calculated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services and/or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under federal regulations.

(2) The commission also shall exercise any additional powers and perform any other duties as may be conferred upon the commission by act of the Legislature.

(3) The commission, and the State Department of Health as the agency for licensure of health care facilities and certification and inspection for the Medicaid and/or Medicare programs, shall contract for or otherwise provide for the consolidation of on-site inspections of health care facilities that are necessitated by the respective programs and functions of the commission and the department.

(4) The commission and its hearing officers shall have power to preserve and enforce order during hearings; to issue subpoenas for, to administer oaths to and to compel the attendance and testimony of witnesses, or the production of books, papers, documents and other evidence, or the taking of depositions before any designated individual competent to administer oaths; to examine witnesses; and to do all things conformable to law that may be necessary to enable them effectively to discharge the duties of their office. In compelling the attendance and testimony of witnesses, or the production of books, papers, documents and other evidence, or the taking of depositions, as authorized by this section, the commission or its hearing officers may designate an individual employed by the commission or some other suitable person to execute and return that process, whose action in executing and returning that process shall be as lawful as if done by the sheriff or some other proper officer authorized to execute and return process in the county where the witness may reside. In carrying out the investigatory powers under the provisions of this article, the executive director or other designated person or persons may examine, obtain, copy or reproduce the books, papers, documents, medical charts, prescriptions and other records relating to medical care and services furnished by the provider to a recipient or designated recipients of Medicaid services under investigation. In the absence of the voluntary submission of the books, papers, documents, medical charts, prescriptions and other records, the commission, the executive director, or other designated person may issue and serve subpoenas instantly upon the provider, his or her agent, servant or employee for the production of the books, papers, documents, medical charts, prescriptions or other records during an audit or investigation of the provider. If any provider or his or her agent, servant or employee refuses to produce the records after being duly subpoenaed, the executive director may certify those facts and institute contempt proceedings in the manner, time and place as authorized by law for administrative proceedings. As an additional remedy, the commission may recover all amounts paid to the provider covering the period of the audit or investigation, inclusive of a legal rate of interest and a reasonable attorney's fee and costs of court if suit becomes necessary. Commission staff shall have immediate access to the provider's physical location, facilities, records, documents, books, and any other records relating to medical care and services rendered to recipients during regular business hours.

(5) If any person in proceedings before the commission disobeys or resists any lawful order or process, or misbehaves during a hearing or so near the place thereof as to obstruct the hearing, or neglects to produce, after having been ordered to do so, any pertinent book, paper or document, or refuses to appear after having been subpoenaed, or upon appearing refuses to take the oath as a witness, or after having taken the oath refuses to be examined according to law, the executive director shall certify the facts to any court having jurisdiction in the place in which it is sitting, and the court shall thereupon, in a summary manner, hear the evidence as to the acts complained of, and if the evidence so warrants, punish that person in the same manner and to the same extent as for a contempt committed before the court, or commit that person upon the same condition as if the doing of the forbidden act had occurred with reference to the process of, or in the presence of, the court.

(6) In suspending or terminating any provider from participation in the Medicaid program, the commission shall preclude the provider from submitting claims for payment, either personally or through any clinic, group, corporation or other association to the commission or its fiscal agents for any services or supplies provided under the Medicaid program except for those services or supplies provided before the suspension or termination. No clinic, group, corporation or other association that is a provider of services shall submit claims for payment to the commission or its fiscal agents for any services or supplies provided by a person within that organization who has been suspended or terminated from participation in the Medicaid program except for those services or supplies provided before the suspension or termination. When this provision is violated by a provider of services that is a clinic, group, corporation or other association, the commission may suspend or terminate that organization from participation. Suspension may be applied by the commission to all known affiliates of a provider, provided that each decision to include an affiliate is made on a case-by-case basis after giving due regard to all relevant facts and circumstances. The violation, failure or inadequacy of performance may be imputed to a person with whom the provider is affiliated where that conduct was accomplished within the course of his or her official duty or was effectuated by him or her with the knowledge or approval of that person.

(7) The commission may deny or revoke enrollment in the Medicaid program to a provider if any of the following are found to be applicable to the provider, his or her agent, a managing employee or any person having an ownership interest equal to five percent (5%) or greater in the provider:

(a) Failure to truthfully or fully disclose any and all information required, or the concealment of any and all information required, on a claim, a provider application or a provider agreement, or the making of a false or misleading statement to the commission relative to the Medicaid program.

(b) Previous or current exclusion, suspension, termination from or the involuntary withdrawing from participation in the Medicaid program, any other state's Medicaid program, Medicare or any other public or private health or health insurance program. If the commission ascertains that a provider has been convicted of a felony under federal or state law for an offense that the commission determines is detrimental to the best interest of the program or of Medicaid beneficiaries, the commission may refuse to enter into an agreement with that provider, or may terminate or refuse to renew an existing agreement.

(c) Conviction under federal or state law of a criminal offense relating to the delivery of any goods, services or supplies, including the performance of management or administrative services relating to the delivery of the goods, services or supplies, under the Medicaid program, any other state's Medicaid program, Medicare or any other public or private health or health insurance program.

(d) Conviction under federal or state law of a criminal offense relating to the neglect or abuse of a patient in connection with the delivery of any goods, services or supplies.

(e) Conviction under federal or state law of a criminal offense relating to the unlawful manufacture, distribution, prescription or dispensing of a controlled substance.

(f) Conviction under federal or state law of a criminal offense relating to fraud, theft, embezzlement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other financial misconduct.

(g) Conviction under federal or state law of a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment of a year or more that involves moral turpitude, or acts against the elderly, children or infirm.

(h) Conviction under federal or state law of a criminal offense in connection with the interference or obstruction of any investigation into any criminal offense listed in paragraphs (c) through (i) of this subsection.

(i) Sanction for a violation of federal or state laws or rules relative to the Medicaid program, any other state's Medicaid program, Medicare or any other public health care or health insurance program.

(j) Revocation of license or certification.

(k) Failure to pay recovery properly assessed or under an approved repayment schedule under the Medicaid program.

(l) Failure to meet any condition of enrollment.

SECTION 19. Section 43-13-122, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-122. (1) The commission is authorized to apply to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the United States Department of Health and Human Services for waivers and research and demonstration grants.

(2) The commission is further authorized to accept and expend any grants, donations or contributions from any public or private organization together with any additional federal matching funds that may accrue and, including, but not limited to, one hundred percent (100%) federal grant funds or funds from any governmental entity or instrumentality thereof in furthering the purposes and objectives of the Mississippi Medicaid program, provided that such receipts and expenditures are reported and otherwise handled in accordance with the General Fund Stabilization Act. The Department of Finance and Administration is authorized to transfer monies to the commission from special funds in the State Treasury in amounts not exceeding the amounts authorized in the appropriation to the commission.

SECTION 20. Section 43-13-123, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-123. The determination of the method of providing payment of claims under this article shall be made by the commission, which methods may be:

(a) By contract with insurance companies licensed to do business in the State of Mississippi or with nonprofit hospital service corporations, medical or dental service corporations, authorized to do business in Mississippi to underwrite on an insured premium approach, any medical assistance benefits as may be available, and any carrier selected under the provisions of this article is expressly authorized and empowered to undertake the performance of the requirements of that contract.

(b) By contract with an insurance company licensed to do business in the State of Mississippi or with nonprofit hospital service, medical or dental service organizations, or other organizations including data processing companies, authorized to do business in Mississippi to act as fiscal agent.

The commission shall obtain services to be provided under either of the above-described provisions in accordance with the Personal Service Contract Review Board Procurement Regulations.

The authorization of the foregoing methods shall not preclude other methods of providing payment of claims through direct operation of the program by the state or its agencies.

SECTION 21. Section 43-13-125, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-125. (1) If Medicaid is provided to a recipient under this article for injuries, disease or sickness caused under circumstances creating a cause of action in favor of the recipient against any person, firm or corporation, then the commission shall be entitled to recover the proceeds that may result from the exercise of any rights of recovery that the recipient may have against the person, firm or corporation to the extent of the commission's interest on behalf of the recipient. The recipient shall execute and deliver instruments and papers to do whatever is necessary to secure those rights and shall do nothing after Medicaid is provided to prejudice the subrogation rights of the commission. Court orders or agreements for reimbursement of Medicaid's interest shall direct those payments to the commission, which shall be authorized to endorse any and all, including, but not limited to, multi-payee checks, drafts, money orders, or other negotiable instruments representing Medicaid payment recoveries that are received. In accordance with Section 43-13-305, endorsement of multi-payee checks, drafts, money orders or other negotiable instruments by the commission shall be deemed endorsed by the recipient.

The commission may compromise or settle any such claim and execute a release of any claim it has by virtue of this section.

(2) The acceptance of Medicaid under this article or the making of a claim under this article shall not affect the right of a recipient or his or her legal representative to recover Medicaid's interest as an element of damages in any action at law; however, a copy of the pleadings shall be certified to the commission at the time of the institution of suit, and proof of that notice shall be filed of record in that action. The commission may, at any time before the trial on the facts, join in that action or may intervene in that action. Any amount recovered by a recipient or his or her legal representative shall be applied as follows:

(a) The reasonable costs of the collection, including attorney's fees, as approved and allowed by the court in which that action is pending, or in case of settlement without suit, by the legal representative of the commission;

(b) The amount of Medicaid's interest on behalf of the recipient; or any pro rata amount as may be arrived at by the legal representative of the commission and the recipient's attorney, or as set by the court having jurisdiction; and

(3) No compromise of any claim by the recipient or his or her legal representative shall be binding upon or affect the rights of the commission against the third party unless the commission has entered into the compromise. Any compromise effected by the recipient or his or her legal representative with the third party in the absence of advance notification to and approved by the commission shall constitute conclusive evidence of the liability of the third party, and the commission, in litigating its claim against the third party, shall be required only to prove the amount and correctness of its claim relating to the injury, disease or sickness. If the recipient or his or her legal representative fails to notify the commission of the institution of legal proceedings against a third party for which the commission has a cause of action, the facts relating to negligence and the liability of the third party, if judgment is rendered for the recipient, shall constitute conclusive evidence of liability in a subsequent action maintained by the commission and only the amount and correctness of the commission's claim relating to injuries, disease or sickness shall be tried before the court. The commission shall be authorized in bringing that action against the third party and his or her insurer jointly or against the insurer alone.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to diminish or otherwise restrict the subrogation rights of the commission against a third party for Medicaid provided by the commission to the recipient as a result of injuries, disease or sickness caused under circumstances creating a cause of action in favor of the recipient against such a third party.

(5) Any amounts recovered by the commission under this section shall, by the commission, be placed to the credit of the funds appropriated for benefits under this article proportionate to the amounts provided by the state and federal governments respectively.

SECTION 22. Section 43-13-126, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-126. As a condition of doing business in the state, health insurers, including self-insured plans, group health plans (as defined in Section 607(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974), service benefit plans, managed care organizations, pharmacy benefit managers, or other parties that are by statute, contract, or agreement, legally responsible for payment of a claim for a health care item or service, are required to:

(a) Provide, with respect to individuals who are eligible for, or are provided, medical assistance under the state plan, upon the request of the commission, information to determine during what period the individual or their spouses or their dependents may be (or may have been) covered by a health insurer and the nature of the coverage that is or was provided by the health insurer (including the name, address and identifying number of the plan) in a manner prescribed by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services;

(b) Accept the commission's right of recovery and the assignment to the commission of any right of an individual or other entity to payment from the party for an item or service for which payment has been made under the state plan;

(c) Respond to any inquiry by the commission regarding a claim for payment for any health care item or service that is submitted not later than three (3) years after the date of the provision of that health care item or service; and

(d) Agree not to deny a claim submitted by the commission solely on the basis of the date of submission of the claim, the type or format of the claim form, or a failure to present proper documentation at the point of sale that is the basis of the claim, if:

(i) The claim is submitted by the commission within the three-year period beginning on the date on which the item or service was furnished; and

(ii) Any action by the commission to enforce its rights with respect to the claim is begun within six (6) years of the commission's submission of the claim.

SECTION 23. Section 43-13-127, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-127. (1) Within sixty (60) days after the end of each fiscal year and at each regular session of the Legislature, the commission shall make and publish a report to the Governor and to the Legislature, showing for the period of time covered the following:

(a) The total number of recipients;

(b) The total amount paid for medical assistance and care under this article;

(d) The number of applications approved;

(e) The number of applications denied;

(f) The amount expended for administration of the provisions of this article;

(g) The amount of money received from the federal government, if any;

(h) The amount of money recovered by reason of collections from third persons by reason of assignment or subrogation, and the disposition of the same;

(i) The actions and activities of the commission in detecting and investigating suspected or alleged fraudulent practices, violations and abuses of the program; and

(j) Any recommendations it may have as to expanding, enlarging, limiting or restricting the eligibility of persons covered by this article or services provided by this article, to make more effective the basic purposes of this article; to eliminate or curtail fraudulent practices and inequities in the plan or administration thereof; and to continue to participate in receiving federal funds for the furnishing of medical assistance under Title XIX of the Social Security Act or other federal law.

(2) In addition to the reports required by subsection (1) of this section, the commission shall submit a report each month to the Chairmen of the Public Health and Welfare Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives and to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee that contains the information specified in each paragraph of subsection (1) for the preceding month.

SECTION 24. Section 43-13-129, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-129. Any person making application for benefits under this article for himself or for another person, and any provider of services, who knowingly makes a false statement or false representation or fails to disclose a material fact to obtain or increase any benefit or payment under this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or imprisoned not to exceed one (1) year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each false statement or false representation or failure to disclose a material fact shall constitute a separate offense. This section shall not prohibit prosecution under any other criminal statutes of this state or the United States.

SECTION 25. Section 43-13-131, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-131. Any person who shall, through intentional misrepresentation, fraud, deceit or unlawful design, either acting individually or in concert with others, influence any recipient to elect any particular provider of services, or any particular type of services, for the purposes and with the intent to obtain or increase any benefit or payment under this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or imprisonment not exceeding one (1) year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. This section shall not prohibit prosecution under any other criminal statutes of this state or the United States.

SECTION 26. Section 43-13-133, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-133. It is the intent of the Legislature that all federal matching funds for medical assistance under Titles V, XVIII and XIX of the federal Social Security Act paid into any state health agency after the passage of this article shall be used exclusively to defray the cost of medical assistance expended under the terms of this article.

SECTION 27. Section 43-13-137, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-137. The commission is an agency as defined under Section 25-43-3 and, therefore, must comply in all respects with the Administrative Procedures Law, Section 25-43-1.101 et seq.

SECTION 28. Section 43-13-139, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-139. Nothing contained in this article shall be construed to prevent the commission, in its discretion, from discontinuing or limiting medical assistance to any individuals who are classified or deemed to be within any optional group or optional category of recipients as prescribed under Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act or the implementing federal regulations. If the Congress or the United States Department of Health and Human Services ceases to provide federal matching funds for any group or category of recipients or any type of care and services, the commission shall cease state funding for that group or category or that type of care and services, notwithstanding any provision of this article.

SECTION 29. Section 43-13-143, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-143. There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the "Medical Care Fund," which shall be comprised of monies transferred by public or private health care providers, governing bodies of counties, municipalities, public or community hospitals and other political subdivisions of the state, individuals, corporations, associations and any other entities for the purpose of providing health care services. Any transfer made to the fund shall be paid to the State Treasurer for deposit into the fund, and all those transfers shall be considered as unconditional transfers to the fund. The monies in the Medical Care Fund shall be expended only for health care services, and may be expended only upon appropriation of the Legislature. All transfers of monies to the commission by health care providers and by governing bodies of counties, municipalities, public or community hospitals and other political subdivisions of the state shall be deposited into the fund. Unexpended monies remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any interest earned on monies in the fund shall be deposited to the credit of the fund.

SECTION 30. Section 43-13-145, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-145. (1) (a) Upon each nursing facility licensed by the State of Mississippi, there is levied an assessment in an amount set by the commission, equal to the maximum rate allowed by federal law or regulation, for each licensed and occupied bed of the facility.

(b) A nursing facility is exempt from the assessment levied under this subsection if the facility is operated under the direction and control of:

(i) The United States Veterans Administration or other agency or department of the United States government;

(ii) The State Veterans Affairs Board; or

(iii) The University of Mississippi Medical Center.

(2) (a) Upon each intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded licensed by the State of Mississippi, there is levied an assessment in an amount set by the commission, equal to the maximum rate allowed by federal law or regulation, for each licensed and occupied bed of the facility.

(b) An intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded is exempt from the assessment levied under this subsection if the facility is operated under the direction and control of:

(i) The United States Veterans Administration or other agency or department of the United States government;

(ii) The State Veterans Affairs Board; or

(iii) The University of Mississippi Medical Center.

(3) (a) Upon each psychiatric residential treatment facility licensed by the State of Mississippi, there is levied an assessment in an amount set by the commission, equal to the maximum rate allowed by federal law or regulation, for each licensed and occupied bed of the facility.

(b) A psychiatric residential treatment facility is exempt from the assessment levied under this subsection if the facility is operated under the direction and control of:

(i) The United States Veterans Administration or other agency or department of the United States government;

(ii) The University of Mississippi Medical Center; or

(iii) A state agency or a state facility that either provides its own state match through intergovernmental transfer or certification of funds to the commission.

(4) Hospital assessment.

(a) (i) Subject to and upon fulfillment of the requirements and conditions of paragraph (f) below, and notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, effective for state fiscal years 2010, 2011 and 2012, an annual assessment on each hospital licensed in the state is imposed on each non-Medicare hospital inpatient day as defined below at a rate that is determined by dividing the sum prescribed in this subparagraph (i), plus the nonfederal share necessary to maximize the Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) and inpatient Medicare Upper Payment Limits (UPL) payments, by the total number of non-Medicare hospital inpatient days as defined below for all licensed Mississippi hospitals, except as provided in paragraph (d) below. If the state matching funds percentage for the Mississippi Medicaid program is sixteen percent (16%) or less, the sum used in the formula under this subparagraph (i) shall be Seventy-four Million Dollars ($74,000,000.00). If the state matching funds percentage for the Mississippi Medicaid program is twenty-four percent (24%) or higher, the sum used in the formula under this subparagraph (i) shall be One Hundred Four Million Dollars ($104,000,000.00). If the state matching funds percentage for the Mississippi Medicaid program is between sixteen percent (16%) and twenty-four percent (24%), the sum used in the formula under this subparagraph (i) shall be a pro rata amount determined as follows: the current state matching funds percentage rate minus sixteen percent (16%) divided by eight percent (8%) multiplied by Thirty Million Dollars ($30,000,000.00) and add that amount to Seventy-four Million Dollars ($74,000,000.00). However, no assessment in a quarter under this subparagraph (i) may exceed the assessment in the previous quarter by more than Three Million Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($3,750,000.00) (which would be Fifteen Million Dollars ($15,000,000.00) on an annualized basis). The commission shall publish the state matching funds percentage rate applicable to the Mississippi Medicaid program on the tenth day of the first month of each quarter and the assessment determined under the formula prescribed above shall be applicable in the quarter following any adjustment in that state matching funds percentage rate. The commission shall notify each hospital licensed in the state as to any projected increases or decreases in the assessment determined under this subparagraph (i). However, if the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) does not approve the provision in Section 43-13-117(A)(39) requiring the commission to reimburse crossover claims for inpatient hospital services and crossover claims covered under Medicare Part B for dually eligible beneficiaries in the same manner that was in effect on January 1, 2008, the sum that otherwise would have been used in the formula under this subparagraph (i) shall be reduced by Seven Million Dollars ($7,000,000.00).

(ii) In addition to the assessment provided under subparagraph (i), effective for state fiscal years 2010, 2011 and 2012 and thereafter, an additional annual assessment on each hospital licensed in the state is imposed on each non-Medicare hospital inpatient day as defined below at a rate that is determined by dividing twenty-five percent (25%) of any provider reductions in the Medicaid program as authorized in Section 43-13-117(F) for that fiscal year up to the following maximum amount, plus the nonfederal share necessary to maximize the Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) and inpatient Medicare Upper Payment Limits (UPL) payments, by the total number of non-Medicare hospital inpatient days as defined below for all licensed Mississippi hospitals: in fiscal year 2010, the maximum amount shall be Twenty-four Million Dollars ($24,000,000.00); in fiscal year 2011, the maximum amount shall be Thirty-two Million Dollars ($32,000,000.00); and in fiscal year 2012 and thereafter, the maximum amount shall be Forty Million Dollars ($40,000,000.00). Any such deficit in the Medicaid program shall be reviewed by the PEER Committee as provided in Section 43-13-117(F).

(iii) In addition to the assessments provided in subparagraphs (i) and (ii), effective for state fiscal years 2010, 2011, 2012 and thereafter, an additional annual assessment on each hospital licensed in the state is imposed under the provisions of Section 43-13-117(F) if the cost containment measures described therein have been implemented and there are insufficient funds in the Health Care Trust Fund to reconcile any remaining deficit in any fiscal year. If the commission institutes any other additional cost containment measures on any program or programs authorized under the Medicaid program under Section 43-13-117(F), hospitals shall be responsible for twenty-five percent (25%) of any such additional imposed provider cuts, which shall be in the form of an additional assessment not to exceed the twenty-five percent (25%) of provider expenditure reductions. Such additional assessment shall be imposed on each non-Medicare hospital inpatient day in the same manner as assessments are imposed under subparagraphs (i) and (ii).

(b) Payment and definitions.

(i) Payment. Upon approval of the State Plan Amendment for the commission's DSH and inpatient UPL payment methodology by CMS, the assessment shall be paid in three (3) installments due no later than ten (10) days before the payment of the DSH and UPL payments required by Section 43-13-117(A)(18), which shall be paid during the second, third and fourth quarters of the state fiscal year.

(ii) Definitions. For purposes of this subsection (4):

1. "Non-Medicare hospital inpatient day" means total hospital inpatient days including subcomponent days less Medicare inpatient days including subcomponent days from the hospital's Medicare cost report on file with CMS (for hospital fiscal year 2006) as of May 31, 2008.

a. Total hospital inpatient days shall be the sum of Worksheet S-3, Part 1, column 6 row 12, column 6 row 14.00, and column 6 row 14.01, excluding column 6 rows 3 and 4.

b. Hospital Medicare inpatient days shall be the sum of Worksheet S-3, Part 1, column 4 row 12, column 4 row 14.00, and column 4 row 14.01, excluding column 4 rows 3 and 4.

c. Inpatient days shall not include residential treatment or long-term care days.

2. "Subcomponent inpatient day" means the number of days of care charged to a beneficiary for inpatient hospital rehabilitation and psychiatric care services in units of full days. A day begins at midnight and ends twenty-four (24) hours later. A part of a day, including the day of admission and day on which a patient returns from leave of absence, counts as a full day. However, the day of discharge, death, or a day on which a patient begins a leave of absence is not counted as a day unless discharge or death occur on the day of admission. If admission and discharge or death occur on the same day, the day is considered a day of admission and counts as one (1) subcomponent inpatient day.

(c) The assessment provided in this subsection is intended to satisfy and not be in addition to the assessment and intergovernmental transfers provided in Section 43-13-117(A)(18). Nothing in Chapter 118, Laws of 2009, Second Extraordinary Session, shall be construed to authorize any state agency, division or department, or county, municipality or other local governmental unit to license for revenue, levy or impose any other tax, fee or assessment upon hospitals in this state not authorized by a specific statute.

(d) Hospitals operated by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and state-operated facilities that provide only inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services shall not be subject to the hospital assessment provided in this subsection.

(e) Multihospital systems, closure, merger and new hospitals.

(i) If a hospital conducts, operates or maintains more than one (1) hospital licensed by the State Department of Health, the provider shall pay the hospital assessment for each hospital separately.

(ii) Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, if a hospital subject to this assessment operates or conducts business only for a portion of a fiscal year, the assessment for the state fiscal year shall be adjusted by multiplying the assessment by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of days in the year during which the hospital operates, and the denominator of which is three hundred sixty-five (365). Immediately upon ceasing to operate, the hospital shall pay the assessment for the year as so adjusted (to the extent not previously paid).

(f) Applicability.

The hospital assessment imposed by this subsection shall not take effect and/or shall cease to be imposed if:

(i) The assessment is determined to be an impermissible tax under Title XIX of the Social Security Act; or,

(ii) CMS does not approve the commission's 2009 Medicaid State Plan Amendment for its methodology for DSH and inpatient UPL payments to hospitals under Section 43-13-117(A)(18).

This subsection (4) is repealed on July 1, 2012.

(5) Each health care facility that is subject to the provisions of this section shall keep and preserve any suitable books and records as may be necessary to determine the amount of assessment for which it is liable under this section. The books and records shall be kept and preserved for a period of not less than five (5) years, during which time those books and records shall be open for examination during business hours by the commission, the Department of Revenue, the Office of the Attorney General and the State Department of Health.

(6) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, the assessment levied under this section shall be collected by the commission each month beginning on March 31, 2005.

(7) All assessments collected under this section shall be deposited in the Medical Care Fund created by Section 43-13-143.

(8) The assessment levied under this section shall be in addition to any other assessments, taxes or fees levied by law, and the assessment shall constitute a debt due the State of Mississippi from the time the assessment is due until it is paid.

(9) (a) If a health care facility that is liable for payment of an assessment levied by the commission does not pay the assessment when it is due, the commission shall give written notice to the health care facility by certified or registered mail demanding payment of the assessment within ten (10) days from the date of delivery of the notice. If the health care facility fails or refuses to pay the assessment after receiving the notice and demand from the commission, the commission shall withhold from any Medicaid reimbursement payments that are due to the health care facility the amount of the unpaid assessment and a penalty of ten percent (10%) of the amount of the assessment, plus the legal rate of interest until the assessment is paid in full. If the health care facility does not participate in the Medicaid program, the commission shall turn over to the Office of the Attorney General the collection of the unpaid assessment by civil action. In any such civil action, the Office of the Attorney General shall collect the amount of the unpaid assessment and a penalty of ten percent (10%) of the amount of the assessment, plus the legal rate of interest until the assessment is paid in full.

(b) As an additional or alternative method for collecting unpaid assessments levied by the commission, if a health care facility fails or refuses to pay the assessment after receiving notice and demand from the commission, the commission may file a notice of a tax lien with the chancery clerk of the county in which the health care facility is located, for the amount of the unpaid assessment and a penalty of ten percent (10%) of the amount of the assessment, plus the legal rate of interest until the assessment is paid in full. Immediately upon receipt of notice of the tax lien for the assessment, the chancery clerk shall forward the notice to the circuit clerk who shall enter the notice of the tax lien as a judgment upon the judgment roll and show in the appropriate columns the name of the health care facility as judgment debtor, the name of the commission as judgment creditor, the amount of the unpaid assessment, and the date and time of enrollment. The judgment shall be valid as against mortgagees, pledgees, entrusters, purchasers, judgment creditors and other persons from the time of filing with the clerk. The amount of the judgment shall be a debt due the State of Mississippi and remain a lien upon the tangible property of the health care facility until the judgment is satisfied. The judgment shall be the equivalent of any enrolled judgment of a court of record and shall serve as authority for the issuance of writs of execution, writs of attachment or other remedial writs.

(10) As soon as possible after July 1, 2009, the commission shall submit to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) a state plan amendment or amendments (SPA) regarding the hospital assessment established under subsection (4) of this section. Before submission to CMS, the commission shall transmit the SPA to the Medicaid Hospital Advisory Board created by Executive Order of the Governor, which shall review and make comment on the state plan amendment or amendments submitted to CMS, and if any of the amendments are rejected, the Medicaid Hospital Advisory Board shall recommend necessary revisions to secure approval, provided that the plan is substantially intact. In addition to defining the assessment established in subsection (4) of this section, the state plan amendment or amendments shall include any amendments necessitated by Chapter 118, Laws of 2009, Second Extraordinary Session, and shall further provide for the following additional annual Medicare Upper Payment Limits (UPL) and Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments to hospitals located in Mississippi that participate in the Medicaid program:

(a) Privately operated and nonstate government operated general acute care hospitals, within the meaning of 42 CFR Section 447.272, that have fifty (50) or fewer licensed beds as of January 1, 2009, shall receive an additional inpatient UPL payment equal to sixty-five percent (65%) of their fiscal year 2010 hospital specific inpatient UPL gap, before any payments under this subsection.

(b) General acute care hospitals licensed within the class of state hospitals shall receive an additional inpatient UPL payment equal to twenty-eight percent (28%) of their fiscal year 2007 inpatient payments, excluding DSH and UPL payments.

(i) For fiscal year 2010, an additional inpatient UPL payment equal to fifty-six percent (56%) of their fiscal year 2007 inpatient payments, excluding DSH and UPL payments, and

(ii) For state fiscal year 2011 and after, an additional inpatient UPL payment determined by multiplying inpatient payments, excluding DSH and UPL, by the uniform percentage necessary to exhaust the maximum amount of inpatient UPL payments permissible under federal regulations. (For state fiscal year 2011, the state shall use 2008 inpatient payment data. For state fiscal year 2012, the state shall use 2009 inpatient payment data.)

(d) Free-standing psychiatric hospitals shall receive an additional inpatient UPL payment equal to Seven Hundred Sixty Dollars ($760.00) for fiscal years 2010 and 2011, and Seven Hundred Eighty Dollars ($780.00), for fiscal year 2012 and thereafter, less the hospital's fiscal year 2007 average Medicaid inpatient per diem rate, multiplied by the hospital's fiscal year 2007 Medicaid inpatient days. Residential treatment days and payments shall be excluded from this calculation. The base rate for private free-standing psychiatric hospitals shall be that in use January 1, 2009, which shall not be revised or recalculated so long as the hospital assessment is in effect.

(e) If for any reason the 2009 Medicaid state plan amendment or amendments are not approved by CMS, not implemented, discontinued, or otherwise not in effect, the following reimbursement methodology for inpatient psychiatric services shall immediately become effective:

(i) If the services are provided by a nonpublic licensed acute care psychiatric facility, the services shall be reimbursed by the commission using the prospective payment system used by CMS to reimburse inpatient psychiatric services, as set forth in Part 412, Subpart N of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(ii) If the services are provided by a nonpublic hospital (as defined in Section 41-9-3(a)) that has fifty (50) or more licensed psychiatric beds, the commission shall allow the hospital to elect whether to be reimbursed for these services using the prospective payment system used by CMS to reimburse psychiatric services, as set forth in Part 412, Subpart N of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations. If a hospital included in this subparagraph (ii) does not provide an affirmative election to the commission, the commission shall continue to reimburse the hospital under the principles outlined in Section 43-13-117.

(iii) If the services are provided by a provider other than those specified in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph, the commission shall continue to reimburse the provider under the principles outlined in Section 43-13-117.

(f) In addition to other payments provided above, all hospitals licensed within the class of private hospitals, other than free-standing psychiatric hospitals, shall receive:

(i) For fiscal year 2010, an additional inpatient UPL payment equal to forty-nine and forty-five one-hundredths percent (49.45%) of their fiscal year 2007 inpatient payments, excluding DSH and UPL payments, and

(ii) For state fiscal year 2011 and after, an additional inpatient UPL payment determined by multiplying inpatient payments, excluding DSH and UPL, by the uniform percentage necessary to exhaust the maximum amount of UPL inpatient payments permissible under federal regulations. (For state fiscal year 2011, the state shall use 2008 inpatient payment data. For state fiscal year 2012, the state shall use 2009 inpatient payment data.)

(g) All hospitals satisfying the minimum federal DSH eligibility requirements (Section 1923(d) of the Social Security Act) shall, subject to OBRA 1993 payment limitations, receive an additional DSH payment. This additional DSH payment shall expend the balance of the federal DSH allotment and associated state share not utilized in DSH payments to state-owned institutions for treatment of mental diseases. The payment to each hospital shall be calculated by applying a uniform percentage to the uninsured costs of each eligible hospital, excluding state-owned institutions for treatment of mental diseases; however, that percentage for a state-owned teaching hospital located in Hinds County shall be multiplied by a factor of two (2).

(h) Public hospitals permanently classified in (but not reclassified to) the Gulfport-Biloxi, MS Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA) for hospital wage index purposes and eligible for Deficit Reduction Act Hurricane Katrina Related Stabilization Grants under Section 6201(a)(4) of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 shall qualify for DSH payments as follows: (i) critical access hospitals that were forced to cease operations for more than thirty (30) days as a direct result of Hurricane Katrina shall receive a multiple of two (2) times the DSH amount, and (ii) hospitals with more than four hundred (400) licensed beds and greater than thirty-five percent (35%) of total patient days during 2007 from Medicaid patients shall receive a multiple of one and one-half (1-1/2) times the DSH amount. This paragraph shall stand repealed on July 1, 2011.

(For state fiscal year 2010, the state shall use uninsured costs from the 2009 hospital survey. For state fiscal year 2011, the state shall use costs from the 2010 hospital survey.)

(11) The hospital assessment provided in subsection (4) of this section shall not be in effect or implemented until the SPA is approved by CMS.

(12) The commission shall implement DSH and UPL calculation methodologies that result in the maximization of available federal funds.

(13) The DSH and inpatient UPL payments shall be paid on or before December 31, March 31, and June 30 of each fiscal year, in increments of one-third (1/3) of the total calculated DSH and inpatient UPL amounts.

(14) The hospital assessment as described in subsection (4) above shall be assessed and collected quarterly a maximum of ten (10) days before making the DSH and inpatient UPL payments; provided, however, that the first quarterly payment shall be assessed but not be collected until collection is made for the second quarterly payment.

(15) Hospitals shall receive the Medicare published market basket inflationary index payment increase annually.

(16) If for any reason any part of the plan for additional annual DSH and inpatient UPL payments to hospitals provided under subsection (10) of this section is not approved by CMS, the remainder of the plan shall remain in full force and effect.

(17) Subsections (10) through (16) of this section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2012.

SECTION 31. Section 43-13-147, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-147. (1) The Mississippi Medicaid Program and the Children's Health Insurance Program, in consultation with statewide organizations focused on premature infant health care, shall:

(a) Examine and improve hospital discharge and follow-up care procedures for premature infants born earlier than thirty-seven (37) weeks gestational age to ensure standardized and coordinated processes are followed as premature infants leave the hospital from either a Level 1 (well baby nursery), Level 2 (step down or transitional nursery) or Level 3 (neonatal intensive care unit) unit and transition to follow-up care by a health care provider in the community; and

(b) Use guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Neonatal Outcomes Improvement Project to implement programs to improve newborn outcomes, reduce newborn health costs and establish ongoing quality improvement for newborns.

(2) Data regarding the incidence and cause of rehospitalization in the first six (6) months of life for infants born premature at earlier than thirty-seven (37) weeks gestational age shall be reported to the Chairman of the House Public Health and Human Services Committee and the Chairman of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee by the Mississippi State Department of Health utilizing the mandated hospital discharge data system authorized in Section 41-63-4.

SECTION 32. Section 43-13-201, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-201. This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Medicaid Fraud Control Act."

SECTION 33. Section 43-13-203, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-203. As used in this article:

(a) "Benefit" means the receipt of money, goods, services or anything of pecuniary value.

(b) "False statement" or "false representation" means a statement or representation knowingly and willfully made by a person knowing of the falsity of the statement or representation.

(c) "Knowing" and "knowingly" means that a person is aware of the nature of his conduct and that such conduct is substantially certain to cause the intended result.

(d) "Medicaid benefit" means a benefit paid or payable under the Medicaid program established under Section 43-13-101 et seq.

(e) "Person" means an individual, corporation, unincorporated association, partnership or other form of business association.

SECTION 34. Section 43-13-205, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-205. (1) A person shall not knowingly make or cause to be made a false representation of a material fact in an application for Medicaid benefits.

(2) A person shall not knowingly make or cause to be made a false statement of a material fact for use in determining rights to a Medicaid benefit.

(3) A person, who having knowledge of the occurrence of an event affecting his initial or continued right to receive a Medicaid benefit, shall not conceal or fail to disclose that event with intent to obtain a Medicaid benefit to which the person or any other person is not entitled or in an amount greater than that to which the person or any other person is entitled.

SECTION 35. Section 43-13-207, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-207. A person shall not solicit, offer or receive a kickback or bribe in the furnishing of goods or services for which payment is or may be made in whole or in part pursuant to the Medicaid program, or make or receive any such payment, or receive a rebate of a fee or charge for referring an individual to another person for the furnishing of such goods or services.

SECTION 36. Section 43-13-209, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-209. A person shall not knowingly and willfully make, induce or seek to induce the making of a false statement or false representation of a material fact with respect to the conditions or operation of an institution or facility in order that the institution or facility may qualify, upon initial certification or upon recertification, to receive Medicaid benefits as a hospital, skilled nursing facility, intermediate care facility or home health agency.

SECTION 37. Section 43-13-211, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-211. A person shall not enter into an agreement, combination or conspiracy to defraud the state by obtaining or aiding another to obtain the payment or allowance of a false, fictitious or fraudulent claim for Medicaid benefits.

SECTION 38. Section 43-13-213, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-213. A person shall not make, present or cause to be made or presented a claim for Medicaid benefits, knowing the claim to be false, fictitious or fraudulent.

SECTION 39. Section 43-13-215, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-215. A person who violates any provision of Sections 43-13-205 through 43-13-213 shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than five (5) years, or by a fine of not more than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00), or both. Sentences imposed for convictions of separate offenses under this article may run consecutively.

SECTION 40. Section 43-13-217, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-217. In any prosecution under this article, it shall not be necessary to show that the person had knowledge of similar acts having been performed in the past on the part of persons acting on his behalf, nor to show that the person had actual notice that the acts by persons acting on his behalf occurred, in order to establish the fact that a false statement or representation was knowingly made.

SECTION 41. Section 43-13-219, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-219. There is hereby created within the Office of the Attorney General a "Medicaid Fraud Control Unit." The unit shall consist of a director appointed by the Attorney General and such attorneys, auditors, investigator and other such personnel as are necessary to conduct the activities of the unit.

SECTION 42. Section 43-13-221, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-221. The Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Fraud Control Unit, may, in any case involving alleged violations of this article, conduct an investigation or prosecution. In conducting such actions, the Attorney General, acting through the director, shall have all the powers of a district attorney, including the powers to issue or cause to be issued subpoenas or other process.

Persons employed by the Attorney General as investigators in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit shall serve as law enforcement officers as defined in Section 45-6-3, and they shall be empowered to make arrests and to serve and execute search warrants and other valid legal process anywhere within the State of Mississippi.

SECTION 43. Section 43-13-223, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-223. (1) An action brought in connection with any matter under this article may be filed in the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County or in the circuit court of the county in which the defendant resides, and may be prosecuted to final judgment in satisfaction there.

(2) Process issued by a court in which an action is filed may be served anywhere in the state.

SECTION 44. Section 43-13-225, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-225. (1) A health care provider or vendor committing any act or omission in violation of this article shall be directly liable to the state and shall forfeit and pay to the state a civil penalty equal to the full amount received, plus an additional civil penalty equal to triple the full amount received.

(2) A criminal action need not be brought against a person for that person to be civilly liable under this article.

SECTION 45. Section 43-13-227, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-227. (1) As a means of protecting the health, safety and welfare of patients in residential health care facilities, including hospitals and nursing homes, whenever there is probable cause that any acts or omissions in violation of this article have been committed by a person who is in control of assets purchased, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, with funds from the Medicaid program and is likely to convert, destroy or remove those assets, the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Fraud Control Unit, shall be authorized to petition the chancery court of the county in which those assets may be found to enjoin the person in control of the assets from converting, destroying or removing those assets, and to appoint a receiver to manage those assets until the investigation and any litigation are completed.

(2) The chancery court shall, immediately upon receipt of the petition of the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Fraud Control Unit, enjoin the person in control of the assets from converting, destroying or removing those assets.

(3) The chancery court shall issue an order to show cause why a receiver should not be appointed, returnable within ten (10) days after filing of the petition.

(4) If the chancery court finds that the facts warrant the granting of the petition to appoint a receiver, the court shall appoint a receiver to take charge of the residential health care facility and any other assets involved. The court may determine fair compensation for the receiver.

SECTION 46. Section 43-13-229, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-229. (1) During any investigation under this article, the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Fraud Control Unit, shall have the right to audit and to inspect the records of any health care provider or vendor of Medicaid benefits.

(2) Reimbursement under the Medicaid program shall not be available for services furnished by a provider or vendor who is otherwise eligible for Medicaid benefits during any period when such provider or vendor has refused to provide the Attorney General and the Director of the Fraud Control Unit such information as the unit may request in order to complete its investigation.

(3) Suspension of Medicaid reimbursement payments shall continue during all periods during which any part of any requested records are not produced, notwithstanding any administrative, legal or other proceedings which may be brought or maintained by such provider or vendor or by any other party to forestall, modify or prevent the request for records.

(4) As used in this section, "requested records" means those records required by the unit for investigative or prosecutorial purposes, and requested by subpoena, subpoena duces tecum, grand jury subpoena, administrative demand, search warrant, or other process, demand or written request.

SECTION 47. Section 43-13-231, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-231. The powers of the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Fraud Control Unit, under this article shall not diminish the powers of local authorities to investigate and/or prosecute criminal conduct within their respective jurisdictions.

SECTION 48. Section 43-13-233, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

43-13-233. Nothing in this article shall in any way limit any penalties or remedies which may be available under any other statute or law of this state.

SECTION 49. Section 43-13-301, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-301. The Mississippi Department of Human Services shall assist the Mississippi Medicaid Commission in identifying cases involving third-party liability, including, without limitation, third-party insurance benefits, health insurance or other health coverage maintained by the recipient or absent parent through intake, initial determinations, and redeterminations of eligibility, and shall promptly transmit that information to the commission or the fiscal agent of the commission.

SECTION 50. Section 43-13-303, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-303. (1) The Department of Human Services, in administering its child support enforcement program on behalf of Medicaid and non-Medicaid recipients, or any other attorney representing a Medicaid recipient, shall include a prayer for medical support in complaints and other pleadings in obtaining a child support order whenever health-care coverage is available to the absent parent at a reasonable cost. Nothing in this section shall be construed to contradict the provisions of Section 43-19-101(6).

(2) Health insurance enrollment shall be on the form prescribed by the Department of Human Services unless a court or administrative order stipulates an alternative form of health-care coverage other than employer-based coverage. Employers must complete the employer response and return to the Department of Human Services within twenty (20) days. Employers must transfer the Medical Support Notice to Plan Administrator Part B to the appropriate group health plan providing any such health care coverage for which the child(ren) is eligible within twenty (20) business days after the date of the notice. Employers must withhold any obligation of the employee for employee contributions necessary for coverage of the child(ren) and send any amount withheld directly to the plan. Employees may contest the withholding based on a mistake of fact. If the employee contests the withholding, the employer must initiate withholding until the time that the employer receives notice that the contest is resolved. Employers must notify the Department of Human Services promptly whenever the noncustodial parent's employment is terminated in the same manner as required for income withholding cases.

(3) Health insurers, including, but not limited to, ERISA plans, preferred provider organizations, and HMO's, shall not have contracts that limit or exclude payments if the individual is eligible for Medicaid, is not claimed as a dependent on the federal income tax return, or does not reside with the parent or in the insurer's service area.

Health insurers and employers shall honor court or administrative orders by permitting enrollment of a child or children at any time and by allowing enrollment by the custodial parent, the commission, or the Child Support Enforcement Agency if the absent parent fails to enroll the child(ren).

The health insurer and the employer shall not disenroll a child unless written documentation substantiates that the court order is no longer in effect, the child will be enrolled through another insurer, or the employer has eliminated family health coverage for all of its employees.

The employer shall allow payroll deduction for the insurance premium from the absent parent's wages and pay the insurer. The health insurer and the employer shall not impose requirements on the Medicaid recipient that are different from those applicable to any other individual. The health insurer shall provide pertinent information to the custodial parent to allow the child to obtain benefits and shall permit custodial parents to submit claims to the insurer.

The health insurer and employer shall notify the commission and the Department of Human Services when lapses in coverage occur in court-ordered insurance. If the noncustodial parent has provided that coverage and has changed employment, and the new employer provides health-care coverage, the Department of Human Services shall transfer notice of the provision to the employer, which notice shall operate to enroll the child in the noncustodial parent's health plan, unless the noncustodial parent contests the notice. The health insurer and employer shall allow payments to the provider of medical services, shall honor the assignment of rights to third-party sources by the Medicaid recipient and the subrogation rights of the commission as set forth in Section 43-13-305, and shall permit payment to the custodial parent.

The employer shall allow the commission to garnish wages of the absent parent when the parent has received payment from the third party for medical services rendered to the insured child and the parent has failed to reimburse the commission to the extent of the medical service payment.

Any insurer or the employer who fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be liable to the commission to the extent of payments made to the provider of medical services rendered to a recipient to which the third party or parties, is, are, or may be liable.

(4) The commission shall report to the Department of Revenue an absent parent who has received third-party payment(s) for medical services rendered to the insured child and who has not reimbursed the commission for the related medical service payment(s). The Department of Revenue shall withhold from the absent parent's state tax refund, and pay to the commission, the amount of the third-party payment(s) for medical services rendered to the insured child and not reimbursed to the commission for the related medical service payment(s).

SECTION 51. Section 43-13-305, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-305. (1) By accepting Medicaid from the commission, the recipient shall, to the extent of the payment of medical expenses by the commission, be deemed to have made an assignment to the commission of any and all rights and interests in any third-party benefits, hospitalization or indemnity contract or any cause of action, past, present or future, against any person, firm or corporation for Medicaid benefits provided to the recipient by the commission for injuries, disease or sickness caused or suffered under circumstances creating a cause of action in favor of the recipient against the person, firm or corporation as set out in Section 43-13-125. The recipient shall be deemed, without the necessity of signing any document, to have appointed the commission as his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact in his or her name, place and stead in collecting any and all amounts due and owing for medical expenses paid by the commission against the person, firm or corporation.

(2) Whenever a provider of medical services or the commission submits claims to an insurer on behalf of a Medicaid recipient for whom an assignment of rights has been received, or whose rights have been assigned by the operation of law, the insurer must respond within sixty (60) days of receipt of a claim by forwarding payment or issuing a notice of denial directly to the submitter of the claim. The failure of the insuring entity to comply with the provisions of this section shall subject the insuring entity to recourse by the commission in accordance with the provision of Section 43-13-315. The commission shall be authorized to endorse any and all, including, but not limited to, multi-payee checks, drafts, money orders or other negotiable instruments representing Medicaid payment recoveries that are received by the commission.

(3) Court orders or agreements for medical support shall direct the payments to the commission, which shall be authorized to endorse any and all checks, drafts, money orders or other negotiable instruments representing medical support payments which are received. Any designated medical support funds received by the Mississippi Department of Human Services or through its local county departments shall be paid over to the commission. When medical support for a Medicaid recipient is available through an absent parent or custodial parent, the insuring entity shall direct the medical support payment(s) to the provider of medical services or to the commission.

SECTION 52. Section 43-13-307, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-307. Any applicant or recipient, inclusive of the grantee relative of a dependent child who refuses to cooperate with or to provide reasonable assistance to the commission against a liable third party in accordance with Section 43-13-125, or fails to pay over to the commission third-party payments as provided in this article, or fails or refuses to cooperate with the local county department of public welfare shall not be eligible for Medicaid benefits under the Mississippi Medicaid Law.

SECTION 53. Section 43-13-309, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-309. The Mississippi Department of Human Services shall obtain an appropriation of state funds from the State Legislature in carrying out its medical support responsibilities under this article and shall organize its programs and budgets in * * * a manner as to secure maximum federal funding directly or through the commission under Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act, as amended. If Title XIX federal funds are secured through the commission, the funds shall not be considered a part of the budget of the commission in providing medical assistance under the Mississippi Medicaid Law.

SECTION 54. Section 43-13-311, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-311. Providers of medical services participating in the Medicaid program shall, in submitting claims for the payment of services, identify, if known to the provider, the third party or parties who are or may be liable for the injuries, disease, or sickness of the recipient and shall cooperate with the commission in the recoupment of the payments from the third party or parties.

Any provider submitting claims for the payment of medical services by the commission, who, having knowledge of the liability or potential liability of a third party for the injuries, disease, or sickness of the recipient, fails to identify the third party or parties to the commission or who fails to cooperate with the commission in the recoupment of its payments from the third party or parties shall be liable to the commission to the extent of the payments made to the provider for medical assistance or services rendered to a recipient to which the third party or parties is, are, or may be liable.

SECTION 55. Section 43-13-313, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-313. (1) In furnishing medical information to the recipient, his attorney or any other party upon written authorization, a provider participating in the Medicaid program shall denote in writing on the medical information that the patient is a Medicaid recipient and his Medicaid identification number, and if the medical charges have been paid by the commission, the provider shall, in addition, write or cause to be stamped or printed thereon "paid by the Mississippi Medicaid Commission." If the provider has not been paid by the commission but seeks to bill the commission for medical services rendered the recipient, the provider shall denote in writing on the medical information the same information as herein provided and shall advise the recipient, his attorney, or any other party upon written authorization that it intends to bill the commission for medical services rendered the recipient.

(2) At the time the requested medical information is furnished to the recipient, his attorney, or other party, including medical information produced under court order, subpoena, interrogatory or deposition, the participating provider shall immediately direct a copy of the medical information so furnished or produced to the commission along with the authorization for the production of the information. The failure of the provider of medical services to comply with the provisions of this section shall subject the provider to recourse by the commission in accordance with the provisions of Section 43-13-311.

SECTION 56. Section 43-13-315, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-315. Any person, firm, or corporation who fails or refuses to honor the subrogation rights of the commission and, specifically, without limitation, hospital insurance and indemnity benefits accruing to a recipient, after advanced written notice and a reasonable opportunity of responding, shall be liable to the commission, if suit becomes necessary by the commission and liability be established, for double the amount of Medicaid benefits paid by the commission or double the amount of the insurance policy limits, whichever is the lesser, inclusive of the assessment of a reasonable attorney's fee and all costs of court.

SECTION 57. Section 43-13-317, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-317. (1) The commission shall be noticed as an identified creditor against the estate of any deceased Medicaid recipient under Section 91-7-145.

(2) In accordance with applicable federal law and rules and regulations, including those under Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act, the commission may seek recovery of payments for nursing facility services, home- and community-based services and related hospital and prescription drug services from the estate of a deceased Medicaid recipient who was fifty-five (55) years of age or older when he or she received the assistance. The claim shall be waived by the commission (a) if there is a surviving spouse; or (b) if there is a surviving dependent who is under the age of twenty-one (21) years or who is blind or disabled; or (c) as provided by federal law and regulation, if it is determined by the commission or by court order that there is undue hardship.

SECTION 58. Section 43-13-507, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-13-507. (1) As used in this section, the term "health care professional" means any of the following:

(a) Physicians and osteopaths licensed under Section 73-25-1 et seq.;

(b) Podiatrists licensed under Section 73-27-1 et seq.;

(d) Optometrists licensed under Section 73-19-1 et seq.;

(e) Pharmacists licensed under Section 73-21-71 et seq.;

(f) Registered nurses and licensed practical nurses licensed under Section 73-15-1 et seq.; and

(g) Physician assistants licensed under Section 73-26-1 et seq.

(2) The State Board of Pharmacy; the State Department of Health; the Mississippi Medicaid Commission; any person, including a drug manufacturer, or health care facility or government entity that donates drugs to the repository program; any pharmacy, hospital, nonprofit clinic or health care professional that accepts or dispenses drugs under the program; and any pharmacy, hospital, or nonprofit clinic that employs a health care professional who accepts or dispenses drugs under the program, shall not be subject to any of the following for matters related to donating, accepting, or dispensing drugs under the program: criminal prosecution; liability in tort or other civil action or professional disciplinary action.

A drug manufacturer shall not, be subject to criminal prosecution or liability in tort or other civil action for matters related to the donation, acceptance, or dispensing of a drug manufactured by the drug manufacturer that is donated by any person, health care facility or government entity under the program, including, but not limited to, liability for failure to transfer or communicate product or consumer information, or for improper storage or for the expiration date of the donated drug.

SECTION 59. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2011.

LegiScan Search

View Top 50 Searches

LegiScan Info

Price List

Voter Registration

Governor Deadlines &
Effective Dates

LegiScan Trends

View Top 50 National

US HB7423 To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at...

US SB1510 GAO Inspector General Parity Act

MI HB6051 Labor: hours and wages; prevailing wage; require on certain broadband service...

US HB5861 BRIDGE for Workers Act Building on Reemployment Improvements to Deliver...

TX SB231 Relating to temporary emergency energy facilities.

US HB3728 To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at...

US HB5464 To name the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic...

TX HB1369 Relating to the confidentiality of residential eviction case informati...

PA HB2481 Providing for restriction on use and custody of digital assets prohibited...

US SB5401 A bill to amend the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to establish...

Main menu

Bill Text: MS HB449 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

Mississippi House Bill 449 (Prior Session Legislation)

House Bill 449

LegiScan Search

LegiScan Info

LegiScan Trends