SECOND REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 1868

93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

                  Reported from the Committee on Workforce Development and Workplace Safety April 11, 2006 with recommendation that House Committee Substitute for House Bill No. 1868 Do Pass. Referred to the Committee on Rules pursuant to Rule 25(26)(f).

STEPHEN S. DAVIS, Chief Clerk

5032L.04C

AN ACT

To amend chapter 208, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to the health care responsibility act.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

            Section A. Chapter 208, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 208.230, to read as follows:

            208.230. 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Health Care Responsibility Act".

            2. Any applicant for Medicaid benefits under this chapter shall identify:

            (1) The employer or employers of the proposed beneficiary of Medicaid benefits. If the proposed beneficiary is not employed, the applicant shall identify the employer or employers of any adult who is legally responsible for providing all or some of the proposed beneficiary's support. For purposes of this section, "employer" includes all private employers, the state of Missouri, and any political subdivision of the state.

            (2) Whether the beneficiary was receiving medical assistance under this chapter and Titles XIX and XXI of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, prior to employment; and

            (3) Whether the beneficiary is a full-time, part-time, or seasonal employee. For purposes of this section, "seasonal employee" means an employee who is employed for a specified period of time. Such specified period of time shall not be more than fifteen weeks.

            3. (1) The department of social services shall annually prepare a Medicaid beneficiary employer report to be submitted to the governor and general assembly. For the purposes of this section, a "Medicaid beneficiary" means a person who receives medical assistance under this chapter and Titles XIX and XXI of the federal Social Security Act, as amended, and is not a seasonal employee. The report shall provide the following information for each employer who has more than fifty employees:

            (a) The name and address of the qualified employer;

            (b) The number and percentage of Medicaid beneficiaries, which shall be listed as a percentage of the qualified employer's workforce;

            (c) The number of Medicaid beneficiaries who are spouses or dependents of employees of the employer;

            (d) Information on whether the employer offers health insurance benefits to full-time and part-time employees and their dependents and, if so, information on the level of premium subsidies for such health insurance;

            (e) Information on whether the employee receives health insurance benefits through the company and whether Medicaid paid some or all of the premiums for such health insurance benefits in lieu of direct enrollment in Medicaid;

            (f) The cost to the state of Missouri of providing Medicaid benefits for the employer's employees and enrolled dependents; and

            (g) The employer of the Medicaid beneficiary upon termination of medical assistance under this chapter and Titles XIX and XXI of the federal Social Security Act, as amended.

            (2) The report shall make industry-wide comparisons by sorting employers into industry-sector categories.

            (3) The report shall not include the names of any individual Medicaid beneficiary and shall be subject to privacy standards in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended, and Titles XIX and XXI of the federal Social Security Act, as amended.

            (4) The report shall be issued within thirty days of the end of each calendar year, starting with calendar year 2007. The department of social services shall make the report available to the public through the department's Internet web site. Any member of the public shall have the right to request and receive a copy of the report published under this subsection.

            4. The department shall verify for each reporting period that each Medicaid beneficiary remains employed by the qualified employer under which the Medicaid beneficiary was listed for the previous reporting period.

            5. If a Medicaid beneficiary lists more than one employer, the beneficiary shall be counted as one-half of one person for each employer.

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