HB5000ham001 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Health Care Availability and Access Committee

Adopted in House Comm. on Feb 14, 2006

09400HB5000ham001 LRB094 15260 DRJ 55924 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 5000

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 5000 on page 4, between lines 13 and 14, by inserting the following:

""Medicaid Inpatient Utilization Rate" means the Medicaid Inpatient Utilization Rate used by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services for reviewing Disproportionate Share status and other purposes for the rate year 2006, hospital year 2003."; and

on page 4, between lines 34 and 35, by inserting the following:

""Safety net hospital" means a freestanding hospital, unaffiliated with a health system, that has a Medicaid Inpatient Utilization Rate of 35% or greater."; and

on page 14, by replacing line 4 with the following:

"Section 35. Exemption for critical access hospitals.

(a) Each"; and

on page 14, after line 8, by inserting the following:

"(b) Each hospital designated as a safety net hospital as defined in Section 10 of this Act is exempt from the charity care requirements set forth in Sections 15, 20, 25, and 30 of this Act.

(c) The Attorney General shall develop a process by rule for exempting for a period of one year any tax-exempt hospital from the charity care requirements set forth in Sections 15, 20, 25, and 30 of this Act, if the hospital can demonstrate that compliance with those Sections will jeopardize the continued operation of the hospital. There is no limit on the number of times a hospital can secure this exemption."; and

on page 17, line 34, after the period, by inserting the following: "To the extent that, at the end of any State fiscal year, monies in the Fund exceed the amount appropriated during that fiscal year to the Attorney General for enforcement of this Act, all remaining Fund monies, minus the amount appropriated for enforcement of this Act during the subsequent State fiscal year, shall be used for a grant program, to be administered by the Attorney General, for delivery of charity care to qualified individuals. The Attorney General shall promulgate a rule concerning implementation of this grant program.".