Bill > H4499

This bill mandates that by December 1, 2016, the office of Medicaid, which is the state agency that administers the federal Medicaid program, must produce a feasibility report. This report will examine the possibility of allowing spouses to be paid caregivers for their partners, a change that could impact how home and community-based care is provided. The report needs to detail what state plan amendments (changes to how the state implements Medicaid) or waiver applications (requests for permission to deviate from standard Medicaid rules) would be necessary, potentially including a specific federal option called the 1915(k) community first choice state plan option, which aims to promote community living. It must also outline the projected costs to the state and the expected financial contributions from the federal government, along with the assumptions used in these calculations, and include information on best practices, quality control measures, a comparison with other states that already allow paid spousal caregivers, and a plan for how this change would be put into effect. The bill is declared an emergency law, meaning it takes effect immediately upon passage, specifically as of July 1, 2016, to ensure its purpose of facilitating this report can be achieved without delay.