Session of 1998
                   
HOUSE BILL No. 2969
         
By Committee on Appropriations
         
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            9             AN ACT establishing the quality enhancement wage pass-through pro-
10             gram for nursing facilities.
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12       Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
13           Section 1. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, and
14       within the limits of appropriations therefor, the secretary of social and
15       rehabilitation services and the secretary on aging shall establish a quality
16       enhancement wage pass-through program as part of the state medicaid
17       plan to allow nursing facilities electing to participate in such program a
18       payment option of not to exceed $4 per resident day designed to increase
19       salaries or benefits, or both, for those employees providing direct care
20       and support services to residents of nursing facilities. The categories of
21       employees eligible to receive the wage pass-through are the follow-
22       ing: Nurse aides, medication aides, restorative-rehabilitation aides,
23       licensed mental health technicians, plant operating and maintenance
24       personnel, nonsupervisory dietary personnel, laundry personnel, house-
25       keeping personnel and activity directors. The program shall establish a
26       pass-through wage payment system designed to reimburse facilities dur-
27       ing the reimbursement period in which the pass-through wage payment
28       costs are incurred.
29           (2) Nursing facilities shall have the option to elect to participate in
30       the quality enhancement wage pass-through program. The wage pass-
31       through moneys are to be paid to nursing facilities outside of cost center
32       limits or occupancy penalties as a pass-through labor cost reimbursement.
33       The pass-through cost shall be included in the cost report base.
34           (3) The quality enhancement wage pass-through program shall re-
35       quire quarterly wage audits for all nursing facilities participating in the
36       program. The quarterly wage audits will require facilities to submit cost
37       information within 45 days of the end of each quarter reporting on the
38       use of the wage pass-through payment under the quality enhancement
39       wage pass-through program. This quarterly wage audit process shall be
40       used to assure that the wage pass-through payment was used to increase
41       salaries and benefits to direct care and other support staff as specified in
42       this subsection or to hire additional staff that fall into the eligible person-
43       nel categories specified in this subsection.

HB 2969

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  1           (4) No wage pass-through moneys shall be expended to increase man-
  2       agement compensation or facility profits. A nursing facility participating
  3       in the quality enhancement wage pass-through program which fails to file
  4       quarterly enhancement audit reports shall be terminated from the pro-
  5       gram and shall repay all amounts which the nursing facility has received
  6       under the quality enhancement wage pass-through program for that re-
  7       porting period.
  8           Sec. 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
  9       publication in the statute book.
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