Senate Bill 578 proposes significant changes to the process by which a patient's representative can consent to the admission of an incapacitated individual from a hospital to a nursing home or community-based residential facility. The bill allows a patient's representative to consent to such admissions without the need for filing petitions for guardianship or protective placement, provided certain conditions are met, including direct admission from a hospital inpatient unit and notification of the county's corporation counsel within 72 hours. The patient's representative must also sign a declaration acknowledging their authority to make health care decisions. Additionally, the bill expands the definition of who can determine incapacity to include advanced practice clinicians alongside physicians.

The bill amends existing statutes to clarify the authority of a patient's representative in making health care decisions and enrolling the incapacitated individual in the Medical Assistance program without the previous time limitations. It establishes that the authority of a patient's representative ends under specific circumstances, such as the appointment of a guardian or the determination that the individual is no longer incapacitated. The bill modifies Section 50.06 (7) by replacing "An individual who consents to an admission under this section" with "A patient’s representative" and allows the representative to request functional and financial screenings for family care benefits eligibility. Furthermore, it introduces a new section, 50.06 (8), permitting a patient’s representative to consent to admissions without filing a petition for guardianship, contingent upon certain conditions being met, and mandates the department to prescribe a form for the required declaration.

Statutes affected:
Bill Text: 50.06(2)(b), 50.06, 50.06(2)(c), 50.06(5)(a)(intro.), 50.06(5)(b), 50.06(6), 50.06(7)