Substitute Senate Bill No. 123, also known as Public Act No. 26-74, implements several amendments to enhance regulations for assisted living facilities and municipal agents for aging. Key provisions include a requirement for assisted living services agencies to hold an informational hearing if a fee increase exceeds ten percent, allowing residents and their representatives to comment before the increase takes effect. The bill also mandates the appointment of municipal agents for aging with specific qualifications to prevent conflicts of interest, outlining their duties to include disseminating information about community resources and assisting with benefit applications. Additionally, the definition of "older adults" replaces "elderly persons," and privately owned multifamily housing projects in certain municipalities are required to install emergency power generators.

The bill further amends regulations for home health aide agencies and nursing home bed management, defining "privately owned multifamily housing project" and requiring home health aide agencies to provide personal protective equipment at no cost. It modifies criteria for the Department of Social Services to approve additional nursing home beds, emphasizing financial feasibility and public need, while removing exemptions for continuing care facilities from certificate of need requirements. The bill also enhances the auditing process for Medicaid-participating facilities, requiring the Commissioner of Social Services to notify facilities before audits and establishing penalties for submitting false information. New provisions include free training for facilities on preparing cost reports and the requirement for the commissioner to audit minimum data set information used in Medicaid rate calculations.

Statutes affected:
Public Act No. 26-74: 7-127b, 29-453a