SPONSOR: Hausman
This bill adds provisions relating to services for persons with disabilities.
The bill requires the Department of Social Services and the Department of Mental Health to jointly report to the General Assembly on whether systems used to administer MO HealthNet benefits and waiver services for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities are interoperable and allow for the secure electronic exchange of application materials and the use of electronic signatures. If the systems are not interoperable and no plans have been made to implement interoperability, the departments must include an estimate of the funding required to implement interoperability.
The MO HealthNet Division, within the Department of Social Services, must ensure its durable medical equipment provider directory is filterable by the type of supplies or equipment a provider is authorized to furnish. This directory will be made available in paper and electronic form, and a filtered list can be mailed to any person upon request.
The bill also requires the MO HealthNet Division, in coordination with the Department of Mental Health, to develop a public-facing dashboard that allows persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities or their caregivers to track their status in application, review, appeal, or waiver processes. The dashboard will include a clearly identified point of contact responsible for assisting users who encounter delays or barriers.
This bill requires the Division of Developmental Disabilities, within the Department of Mental Health, to issue regular guidance to all targeted case management entities contracting with the Division regarding waitlist procedures, eligibility standards, and required communication with families. Additionally, the Division must establish a public reporting mechanism for families or individuals to report instances in which they were incorrectly informed that they were on a waitlist or that no funding was available.
Upon verifying that a targeted case management entity provided incorrect information as described in this subsection, the Division: (1) For the first occurrence, shall provide a written warning and require staff retraining within 30 days;
(2) For the second occurrence, shall issue a notice of deficiency; and
(3) For the third or subsequent occurrence, may impose suspension, revocation, or nonrenewal of the entity's targeted case management contract.
All denial notices, appeal documents, and cover letters issued by the Division must be written in plain language.
Finally, the Division must provide in all reports to the General Assembly separate counts of persons on a waiver waitlist, an interest list, or any other internal list used to track requests for services.
Statutes affected: