S.B. 160 Medicaid Reimbursement Rate Amendments: transcript

I do have one more, um, Senate Bill one 60, If you haven't Tired of me.

Ahead. So this is very simple. Um, when, when Senator Brian, she was awa introduced this pilot program for, um, uh, insurance coverage and, uh, for, um, autism, um, which was really revolutionary back in like 2014 for some reason at the time, uh, I think it was to keep the fiscal note down, it didn't get tied to the regular increases. So you could actually have two children with disabilities and you could have providers coming in to assist them. And the, the, the child with the provider for the child with disabilities, um, was being paid substantially less than the provider for the other child that didn't have autism. And so I've been working with some stakeholders for now four or five years to try to get those equalized. 'cause it just, it's a little bit discriminatory, but more importantly, it just doesn't make sense. And so this was the solution we came up with and we kind of did it for three years to try it out. It seems to have been working. Um, and so all this bill does is it takes the current fix that we found to kind of keep those rates close to equal and it, instead of just a three year period, it, it kind of kicks it out. Um, and by the way, EAC has engaged in this and they've, they've, they took an effort this year, I think, to make it, um, equalized for this year. But we kind of are using this as a backstop. So all this is doing is extending the current policy, and you'll note that the fiscal note is a only $18,000. That concludes my, uh, Carrie Gibson's here if you want to either harass him or ask him questions. Uh, but that concludes my presentation. Do

Move that we, uh, pass from this body with a favorable recommendation, SB one 60.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee. I am the upgraded Senator Weiler for today. You know, the house is always better. Um, so most of you were on this committee, and I'll remember several years ago, um, we tied autism provider rates to the inflationary 2%, two and a half percent increase. That already exists in statute. It pulled a little bit away from administrative bumps. Um, if the general fund grows by at least 102%, all this bill does is repeal that temporary language. Um, this is something that's been working for everyone over the last couple of years, and we feel comfortable making it permanent at this time. It's not a new revenue source. It's already something that's already existing within our statute. If we don't pass this bill, autism provider rates will stay stagnant. While the rates of those who provide the exact same services to neurotypical children will continue to increase. So we just wanna keep that parody, um, in those two things. And that concludes my presentation.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the work you're doing on this. Uh, I move that we favorably recommend, uh, SB one 60.

Appreciate the motion. Thank you.

Thank You, uh, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate that. I can't let you leave here without one question. So I'm hoping you'll, uh, help me understand what neurotypical means. Maybe you could define that for me.

Well, I don't see anyone in this room that fits that description, so I'll let you know.

I think I summed already. Okay. I'm

the motion. I'll waive.

You, Mr. Chair, would it be appropriate to ask for a consent recommendation?

that request if the committee's willing?

Mr. Chair, I motion this be put on the consent calendar.

Is that because of my comment?

Thank you. Um, this is, uh, identical to a bill that we passed two years ago, and it's designed, you know, when Senator Shiozawa first did the pilot program, uh, for, uh, an autism mandate, uh, for the insurance companies. Uh, I think they were trying to keep the cost low. There were some ridiculous projections on how much it would cost, uh, which did not bear fruition. But because of some of those, um, uh, efforts in the, in the beginning, I think to make it, uh, not more expensive than what it, uh, they thought it should have been. Um, we've never tracked the rates for the providers who kind of come into the home and provide respite care, um, for autism like we have for all of the other disabilities. So this is a kind of a, a, a backended method of, of making sure that those providers, uh, are being paid about the same. The problem is you could have two children in your home, Mr. President Proti, and if one of them had autism, another one had a different disability, the same people coming into your home could be paid, uh, wildly different rates, uh, because they haven't been equalized. So we've been, I've been working on this for about four years. This takes existing language, uh, that had a Sunset set date and extends it for a few more years until we can get a more global solution. So with that, that concludes my presentation. Thank you. Oh, uh, any discussion to the bill?

Um, thank you. I'd move that, uh, Senate Bill one 60. Be read for a third time. And

Thank you. I think this was circled when I was escorting our friends from Alberta to the house this morning. Senate Bill one 60 stabilizes Medicaid a BA reimbursement rates by codifying existing growth formula, which is already in statute, but it pushes out the date, uh, which improves fairness and predictability without increasing state spending. With that, I will yield to any questions.

Thank you. I would move that Senate Bill one 60 pass. Uh, the motion is so Senate Bill one 60 pass roll call vote.

the Senate third reading calendar, Senate bill one 60 Medicaid Reimbursement Rate Amendments by Senator Weiler. This bill was served in business and Labor with a vote of 13 0 3.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. This bill just makes a change that we did temporarily several years ago. Permanent when it comes to autism provider rates. Um, it's not a new source of revenue or new expenditure, it simply pulls those rates out of an already existing, um, inflationary adjustment that we have in our statute just to make sure that those who are providing services for children with autism are paid at the same rate as those who are providing services for everyone else.

Waive. Thank you.