AMENDMENT TO LONG TERM CARE BILL

Notwithstanding any general or special laws to the contrary, there shall be a special commission established to examine the Commonwealth’s institutional long term care system, which shall recommend a plan to provide a seamless transition to a continuum of long term care services for elders and persons with disabilities that recognizes the central place of consumer choice and consumer control in any long term care setting; evaluate options and prepare policy recommendations regarding potential savings to the commonwealth achieved by reducing the number of MassHealth licensed nursing home beds; develop recommendations as to the criteria to be used to determine which beds are de-licensed, provided that said criteria shall include at a minimum established Quality Indicators and other quality measures, such as staffing levels, turnover rate and training options for direct care staff; and to consider any programmatic or financial incentives to reduce the number of nursing home beds, convert said beds to subacute beds or other uses, or otherwise more efficiently use the institutional long term care facilities in the Commonwealth. The commission shall examine the eligibility requirements, services, and costs for each state-funded long term care program, including but not limited to nursing homes, assisted living, group adult foster care, rest homes, home care programs, and managed care dual eligible programs; and to make recommendations for organizing the continuum of long term care in a cost-effective way.

The commission shall consist of 18 members, 1 of whom shall be the secretary of health and human services or his designee, 1 of whom shall be the secretary of elder affairs or her designee, 1 of whom shall be the director of the office of Medicaid or her designee, 1 of whom shall be the Attorney General or her designee, 1 of whom shall be the Auditor or his designee, 1 of whom shall be the house chair of the joint committee on elder affairs, 1 of whom shall be the senate chair of the joint committee on elder affairs, 1 of whom shall be the senate chair of the joint committee on health care financing, 1 of whom shall be the house chair of the joint committee on health care financing, 1 of whom shall be a consumers or consumer surrogates member of the PCA quality home care workforce council approved by a majority of the Council, and 8 persons to be appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall be a health care economist, 1 of whom shall be a representative of 1199SEIU, 1 of whom shall be a representative of the Statewide Independent Living Council, 1 of whom shall be a representative of the Massachusetts Extended Care Federation, 1 of whom shall be a representative of Mass Home Care, 1 of whom shall be a representative of the Mass Alzheimers Association, 1 of whom shall be a representative of MassAging and 1 of whom shall be a representative of AARP. The commission shall be co-chaired by the senate and house chairs of the joint committee on elder affairs.


The commission shall meet within 30 days of passage, and not less than quarterly thereafter, and shall release its first recommendations to the house and senate committees on ways and means no later than December 31, 2008.

PRESCRIPTION ADVANTAGE AMENDMENT

Representatives Reinstein of Revere, Kafka of Stoughton, Fagan of Taunton, L’Italien of Andover, Guyer of Dalton, Sannicandro of Ashland, Smith of Everett, Koczera of New Bedford, Brownsberger of Belmont, Linsky of Natick, O’Day of West Boylston, Lantigua of Lawrence, Fernandes of Milford, Haddad of Somerset, Rush of Boston, Fresolo of Worcester, Callahan of Sutton, Wolf of Cambridge, Canessa of New Bedford, McCarthy of East Bridgewater, Verga of Gloucester, Speliotis of Danvers, Allen of Boston, Ayers of Quincy, Keenan of Salem, Provost of Somerville, and Binienda of Worcester move to amend the bill in section 2, in item 9110-1455, by adding the following: “; and provided further, that the secretary shall not implement cost sharing increases during fiscal year 2009 unless the executive office has given 90 days notice to the general court and has received approval of the proposed plan from a majority of the general court.”

Universal Health Plan Massachusetts

In its first full year, universal health coverage in Massachusetts will cost the state $153.1 million more than was budgeted, according to a supplemental budget request released Monday by Gov. Deval Patrick. The state had appropriated $472 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, but enrollment in the state’s subsidized insurance programs for low- and middle-income workers exceeded expectations. About 340,000 of the state’s estimated 600,000 uninsured have gained coverage since Massachusetts began requiring health insurance. The state had projected that 136,000 people would sign up for its Commonwealth Care policies, but 174,000 are now enrolled. Cyndi Roy, a spokeswoman for Mr. Patrick, a Democrat, said this year’s shortfall would be offset by surplus revenues in the state’s general fund. For the coming fiscal year, Mr. Patrick has requested $869 million for Commonwealth Care, but his aides have already conceded that will not be enough as enrollment continues to grow.

Massachsetts Health Care Bill

In its first full year, universal health coverage in Massachusetts will cost the state $153.1 million more than was budgeted, according to a supplemental budget request released Monday by Gov. Deval Patrick. The state had appropriated $472 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, but enrollment in the state’s subsidized insurance programs for low- and middle-income workers exceeded expectations. About 340,000 of the state’s estimated 600,000 uninsured have gained coverage since Massachusetts began requiring health insurance. The state had projected that 136,000 people would sign up for its Commonwealth Care policies, but 174,000 are now enrolled. Cyndi Roy, a spokeswoman for Mr. Patrick, a Democrat, said this year’s shortfall would be offset by surplus revenues in the state’s general fund. For the coming fiscal year, Mr. Patrick has requested $869 million for Commonwealth Care, but his aides have already conceded that will not be enough as enrollment continues to grow.

The Community Preservation Act

The Community Preservation Act is statewide enabling legislation to allow cities and towns to exercise control over local planning decisions. This legislation strengthens and empowers Massachusetts communities:
All decisions are local.
Local people must vote by ballot to adopt the Act.
Local legislatures must appoint a committee of local people to draw up plans for use of the funds.
These plans are subject to local comment and approval.
If residents don’t feel the CPA is working as they expected, they can repeal it.
The Community Preservation Act provides new funding sources which can be used to address three core community concerns:
Acquisition and preservation of open space
Creation and support of affordable housing
Acquisition and preservation of historic buildings and landscapes
A minimum of 10% of the annual revenues of the fund must be used for each of the three core community concerns. The remaining 70% can be allocated for any combination of the allowed uses, or for land for recreational use. This gives each community the opportunity to determine its priorities, plan for its future, and have the funds to make those plans happen.Property taxes traditionally fund the day-to-day operating needs of safety, health, schools, roads, maintenance. - and more. But until the CPA, there was no steady funding source for preserving and improving a community’s infrastructure. The Community Preservation Act can give a community the funds needed to control its future.
I heard a discussion at the Senior Building meeting that they would like to be sure that our Historical Society to be involved in developing a plan for the decorating and furnish memobelia and funding for the New Senior Communit Center "A WAY OUT SUGGESTION??" Any consiedation for opening dialog on this act. Failed Election
1/6/01 3129-5531 Howard McGowan