1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to health; modifying requirements for the
1.3 	provision of medical assistance swing bed services;
1.4 	amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 256B.0625,
1.5 	subdivision 2.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 256B.0625,
1.8 	subdivision 2, is amended to read:
1.9 		Subd. 2.Skilled and intermediate nursing care.  Medical
1.10 	assistance covers skilled nursing home services and services of
1.11 	intermediate care facilities, including training and
1.12 	habilitation services, as defined in section 252.41, subdivision
1.13 	3, for persons with mental retardation or related conditions who
1.14 	are residing in intermediate care facilities for persons with
1.15 	mental retardation or related conditions.  Medical assistance
1.16 	must not be used to pay the costs of nursing care provided to a
1.17 	patient in a swing bed as defined in section 144.562, unless (a)
1.18 	the facility in which the swing bed is located is eligible as a
1.19 	sole community provider, as defined in Code of Federal
1.20 	Regulations, title 42, section 412.92, or the facility is a
1.21 	public hospital owned by a governmental entity with 15 or fewer
1.22 	licensed acute care beds; (b) the Centers for Medicare and
1.23 	Medicaid Services approves the necessary state plan amendments;
1.24 	(c) the patient was screened as provided by law; (d) the patient
1.25 	no longer requires acute care services; and (e) no nursing home
2.1 	beds are available within 25 miles of the facility. The
2.2 	commissioner shall exempt a facility from compliance with the
2.3 	sole community provider requirement in clause (a) if, as of
2.4 	January 1, 2004, the facility had an agreement with the
2.5 	commissioner to provide medical assistance swing bed services.
2.6 	Medical assistance also covers up to ten days of nursing care
2.7 	provided to a patient in a swing bed if:  (1) the patient's
2.8 	physician certifies that the patient has a terminal illness or
2.9 	condition that is likely to result in death within 30 days and
2.10 	that moving the patient would not be in the best interests of
2.11 	the patient and patient's family; (2) no open nursing home beds
2.12 	are available within 25 miles of the facility; and (3) no open
2.13 	beds are available in any Medicare hospice program within 50
2.14 	miles of the facility.  The daily medical assistance payment for
2.15 	nursing care for the patient in the swing bed is the statewide
2.16 	average medical assistance skilled nursing care per diem as
2.17 	computed annually by the commissioner on July 1 of each year.
2.18 	
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day
2.19 	following final enactment and applies to medical assistance
2.20 	payments for swing bed services provided on or after March 5,
2.21 	2005.