SB 135

This bill requires the Department of Health Services to provide reimbursement

or a supplemental payment to hospitals under the Medical Assistance program for

providing nursing-facility-level custodial care. To receive reimbursement or a

supplemental payment, the hospital must notify DHS that it is participating as a

swing bed hospital under the Medical Assistance program and providing custodial

care for which federal financial participation is approved to an individual who is

eligible for discharge after receiving inpatient care in the hospital, who needs

nursing-facility-level care, and for whom the hospital is unable to locate a nursing

facility that accepts the individual for admission. If providing reimbursement

instead of a supplemental payment, DHS must pay the hospital the statewide

average per-diem rate paid to nursing facilities. DHS must use the same standards

and eligibility criteria as the federal Medicare program uses to determine

reimbursement for swing beds or, for hospitals that are not critical access hospitals,

the terms of a federal waiver issued during the federally declared national

emergency related to the 2019 novel coronavirus. This requirement to reimburse

hospitals for providing nursing facility care applies until June 30, 2021, or until the

termination of any public health emergency declared by the secretary of the federal

Department of Health and Human Services related to the 2019 novel coronavirus,

whichever is earlier.