Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a) Definitions.
(1) A chronic care management demonstration
program (program) is a program authorized by chapter 653 of the Laws of 1984,
chapter 832 of the Laws of 1987 or chapter 530 of the Laws of 1988 that tests
cost-effective methods of coordinating the arrangement and provision of
services to persons who require chronic or long-term care and determines
whether such a program can effectively meet these persons' needs.
(2) Multi-disciplinary team is a group
comprising one or more physicians, nurses, social workers, therapists, home
health aides, nutritionists or such other health care professionals as
determined necessary by the program, that assesses a person's eligibility for
program enrollment and provides case management services to program
enrollees.
(b)
Contracts. A program may operate and receive medical assistance (MA) payments
only if it has entered into a contract with the department. With the advice and
consent of the Department of Health, the department may contract with a program
sponsored by Beth Abraham Hospital, Bronx, NY, or with a program sponsored by a
not-for-profit corporation affiliated with such hospital. With the advice and
consent of the Department of Health and the Monroe County Department of Social
Services, the department may contract with a program sponsored by Rochester
Health Care, Inc. and with programs sponsored by other providers licensed or
certified pursuant to article 28, 36, or 44 of the Public Health Law to provide
services in Monroe County.
(c)
Eligibility criteria.
(1) Except as provided
in paragraph (2) of this subdivision, a person is eligible to enroll in a
program if he or she meets the following criteria:
(i) is at least 55 years old or such age as
may be specified in the contract required by subdivision (b) of this
section;
(ii) is eligible for MA
or, as may be specified in the contract required by subdivision (b) of this
section, is eligible for MA and Medicare, and such person's MA eligibility is
determined, where applicable, in accordance with the rules for the treatment of
income and resources of institutionalized spouses specified in Part 360 of this
Title;
(iii) resides in the
program's service area;
(iv) is
assessed by the program's multi-disciplinary team as being medically eligible
for a residential health care facility (RHCF) level of care and such assessment
has been confirmed by the department or, at the department's direction, the
social services district in which the program is located;
(v) is assessed by the program as capable, as
of the time of enrollment, of remaining in his or her home in the community
without jeopardizing his or her health or safety or the health or safety of
others; and
(vi) executes an
enrollee agreement and an appropriate form which authorizes the release of
medical and financial information to the program.
(2) A person is not eligible to enroll in a
program if the program determines that:
(i)
the person suffers from a severe and acute psychiatric disorder or from severe
mental confusion, either of which presents a danger to the person or to
others;
(ii) social, physical, or
environmental factors would prevent the person from receiving effective care
from the program or would present a danger to the person or to
others;
(iii) the person, his or
her family, if appropriate, and the program do not agree upon an appropriate
plan of care; or
(iv) the person is
a hospital in-patient or an RHCF resident on the date that otherwise would be
his or her effective date of enrollment in the program, provided that the
person may reapply to the program after he or she is discharged from the
hospital or RHCF.
(d) Enrollment.
(1) A person may be referred to the program
by a discharge planner of an RHCF, a general hospital or another entity or by
any other referral source. The program's multi-disciplinary team must assess
whether a person who seeks enrollment in the program is medically eligible for
an RHCF level of care and meets the program's other eligibility criteria. When
the program's multi-disciplinary team assesses the person to be medically
eligible for the program, it must refer its assessment findings to the
department or, at the department's direction, the social services district in
which the program is located, for confirmation that the person is medically
eligible for an RHCF level of care.
(2) The program must notify the person
whether he or she has been accepted for or denied enrollment in the program.
The notice must be on a form approved by the department.
(3) A person who has been denied enrollment
in the program may request the program to review the denial of enrollment
through the program's grievance process. If the person remains dissatisfied at
the conclusion of the program's grievance process, he or she may appeal the
program's denial of enrollment to the department through the appeals process
set forth in subdivision (i) of this section.
(4) A person's enrollment in a program is
voluntary. If an otherwise eligible person declines to enroll in the program,
the program must refer the person to other appropriate services, which may
include the entity that initially referred the person to the program.
(e) Program responsibilities.
(1) Generally. The program must coordinate
all activities relating to an enrollee's medical care including providing, or
arranging for the provision of, management and administrative support services
required by paragraph (2) of this subdivision; case management services
required by paragraph (3) of this subdivision; and such services listed in
paragraph (4) of this subdivision as are required by an enrollee's plan of
care.
(2) Management and
administrative support services. The program must provide, or arrange for the
provision of, the following management and administrative support services:
(i) organizing a network of licensed or
certified providers sufficient to provide the services listed in paragraph (4)
of this subdivision, which may include a long-term home health care program, a
diagnostic and treatment center, and other appropriate providers, and
contracting with such providers to furnish medical and health-related services
to enrollees;
(ii) submitting
providers' payment claims to the appropriate payors and preparing necessary
financial reports;
(iii)
maintaining referral, enrollment, and disenrollment records;
(iv) monitoring enrollee utilization
rates;
(v) establishing and
maintaining an enrollee grievance process;
(vi) submitting to the department all
enrollment and marketing materials for its review and approval;
(vii) educating the community regarding the
program;
(viii) developing and
maintaining, in cooperation with the department and the Department of Health, a
system for gathering and reporting information necessary to evaluate the
program;
(ix) developing and
maintaining a quality assurance plan;
(x) providing documentation and such other
information to the department as the department may require to determine a
person's appeal to the department from the program's denial of enrollment,
denial of disenrollment for good cause, or proposed involuntary disenrollment;
and
(xi) furnishing such other
management and administrative support services as the program and the
department may agree to in the contract required by subdivision (b) of this
section.
(3) Case
management. The program's physicians, nurses, social workers, therapists, home
health aides, nutritionists or other professionals must participate in
multi-disciplinary teams that provide case management services to all enrollees
when the program determines that the participation of such professionals in
such teams is appropriate. Case management services include the following
services and such other services as the contract required by subdivision (b) of
this section may require:
(i) conducting
initial assessments of each person's health and social status when he or she is
enrolled in the program and conducting reassessments every three months and
more frequently when necessary to address changes in the enrollee's health or
social status;
(ii) developing and
implementing an initial plan of care for each person when he or she is enrolled
in the program and a new plan of care every three months or more frequently
when necessary. The plan of care must be based on the assessment or
reassessment required by subparagraph (i) of this paragraph and must specify
the types of services the enrollee requires, the medical necessity for the
services, and the frequency at which the services must be provided;
and
(iii) monitoring each
enrollee's progress to evaluate whether the services for which the enrollee has
been authorized continue to be medically necessary and provided in accordance
with the enrollee's plan of care.
(4) Services.
(i) The program must provide, or arrange for
the provision of, such of the services set forth herein as are medically
necessary and required by the contract required by subdivision (b) of this
section and by the enrollee's plan of care. These services are defined in
accordance with appendix VI-A of the Program for All Inclusive Care for the
Elderly (PACE) Protocol. Appendix VI-A of the PACE Protocol is published by the
Health Care Financing Administration, Office of Research and Demonstrations,
Division of Research and Demonstration Systems Support, P.O. Box 11972,
Baltimore, MD 21207-0972. Copies are available for public use and inspection at
the Department of Social Services, 40 North Pearl St., Albany, NY 12243.
(a) acute hospital services, including
in-patient and out-patient hospital services;
(b) adult day health care;
(c) ambulance services;
(d) audiology services;
(e) dental services;
(f) dietary services;
(g) durable medical equipment;
(h) in-home services;
(i) laboratory services;
(j) medical specialty services;
(k) medications;
(l) nursing facility services;
(m) nursing services;
(n) occupational, physical, and speech
therapy services;
(o) personal care
services;
(p) primary care
services; and
(q) such other
services as are specified in the contract required by subdivision (b) of this
section or in appendix VI-A of the PACE Protocol.
(ii) The program must not directly provide
any service for which a license or certificate under article 28, 36, 40, or any
other article of the Public Health Law is required unless the program is
licensed or certified to provide such service. The program must verify that all
persons or entities with which it contracts to provide such services are
appropriately licensed or certified pursuant to the Public Health
Law.
(f)
Payment. The contract required by subdivision (b) of this section must specify
the capitated payment methodology and rate under which the department will pay
the program for services provided to enrollees. In approving such methodology
and rate, the department must be satisfied that the program is cost-effective
when compared to the cost of services that would otherwise have been provided
to program enrollees.
(g)
Disenrollment for good cause.
(1) A person
who has been enrolled in a program sponsored by Beth Abraham Hospital, or by a
not-for-profit corporation affiliated with such hospital, for 180 or fewer days
may disenroll from the program for any reason. A person who has been enrolled
in such a program for more than 180 days may disenroll only for good cause, as
defined in paragraph (2) of this subdivision. A person who is enrolled in a
program sponsored by Rochester Health Care, Inc. or in a program sponsored by
other licensed providers may disenroll at any time without cause.
(2) Good cause for disenrollment means:
(i) the program failed to furnish accessible,
appropriate, and high quality medical care, services, or supplies to which the
enrollee is entitled under the terms of the contract required by subdivision
(b) of this section or the enrollee agreement, including, but not limited to
the following:
(a) failure to arrange
in-patient or out-patient care, consultations with specialists, or laboratory
and radiological services when reasonably necessary;
(b) failure to coordinate and interpret any
consultation findings with emphasis on continuity of medical care;
(c) failure to arrange for consultation
appointments;
(d) failure to
arrange for services at locations geographically accessible to the
enrollee;
(e) failure to arrange
for services with qualified licensed or certified providers; or
(f) failure to appropriately coordinate the
enrollee' overall medical care, including periodic examinations, immunizations,
and diagnosis and treatment of illness or injury; or
(ii) the program and the enrollee agree that
disenrollment would be in the enrollee's best interests.
(3) The program must notify the enrollee of
its approval or denial of the enrollee's request to be disenrolled for good
cause. The notice must be on a form approved by the department.
(4) An enrollee whose request for
disenrollment for good cause has been denied may request the program to review
the denial of his or her disenrollment request through the program's grievance
process. If the enrollee remains dissatisfied at the conclusion of the
program's grievance process, he or she may appeal the program's denial of his
or her request for disenrollment for good cause to the department through the
appeals process set forth in subdivision (i) of this section.
(h) Involuntary disenrollment.
(1) The program may involuntarily disenroll
an enrollee if the program determines that:
(i) the enrollee moved out of the program's
service area or left the program's service area for any reason for more than 30
consecutive days;
(ii) the enrollee
failed to pay or make arrangements satisfactory to the program to pay any
amount of excess income owed the program within 30 days after such amount is
due provided that the program first made a reasonable effort in writing to
collect such amount;
(iii) the
enrollee has not complied with his or her plan of care or the enrollee, and the
enrollee's family if appropriate, and the program do not continue to agree upon
an appropriate plan of care;
(iv)
the enrollee and his or her program primary care physician or
multi-disciplinary team can no longer agree on the enrollee's plan of
care;
(v) the enrollee provided the
program with false information or otherwise deceived the program or engaged in
fraudulent conduct with respect to any aspect of the program;
(vi) the enrollee, any of his or her family
members, or others in the enrollee's home, have been abusive to any program
personnel;
(vii) the enrollee is no
longer eligible for MA or, as may be specified in the contract required by
subdivision (b) of this section, is no longer eligible for MA and
Medicare;
(viii) the enrollee
knowingly failed to complete and submit any consent, release, assignment or
other document reasonably requested by the program to obtain services or to
ensure payment by Medicare, MA, or another third party;
(ix) the enrollee died;
(x) the program's authorization to provide or
arrange for the provision of services or its contracts enabling it to offer
services have terminated; or
(xi)
the program or the program's contract with the department has terminated for
any reason.
(2)
(i) The program must promptly notify an
enrollee, other than an enrollee who has died, of its intention to disenroll
the enrollee involuntarily. The notice must be on a form approved by the
department.
(ii) The enrollee may
request the program to review the proposed involuntary disenrollment through
the program's grievance process. If the enrollee remains dissatisfied at the
conclusion of the program's grievance process, he or she may appeal the
program's proposed involuntary disenrollment to the department through the
appeals process set forth in subdivision (i) of this section; however, an
enrollee may not appeal the proposed involuntary disenrollment if the reason
for the proposed involuntary disenrollment is that the program or the program's
contract with the department has terminated for any reason. During the pendency
of an enrollee's appeal to the department, the program must continue to provide
the enrollee with such services as may be included in the enrollee's plan of
care.
(i)
Appeals to the department.
(1) This
subdivision sets forth the appeals process by which the following persons may
appeal final program grievance determinations to the department:
(i) a person who has been denied enrollment
in the program;
(ii) a person whom
the program proposes to disenroll involuntarily for a reason other than that
the person has died or the program or the program's contract with the
department has terminated for any reason; or
(iii) a person whom a program sponsored by
Beth Abraham Hospital, or by a not-for-profit corporation affiliated with such
hospital, determines to deny disenrollment for good cause.
(2) If a person described in paragraph (1) of
this subdivision remains dissatisfied at the conclusion of the program's
grievance process, he or she may file a written appeal with the department
within 15 days after receiving the program's final written grievance
determination. The person's written appeal must include the following
information, which the program must assist the person to obtain, if necessary:
(i) the name and address of the person filing
the appeal and the date of the program's final written grievance
determination;
(ii) the date the
person filed a grievance with the program;
(iii) a copy of the program's final written
grievance determination;
(iv) if
the appeal is from a denial of an enrollee's request for disenrollment for good
cause, a description of the circumstances constituting good cause for
disenrollment from the program; and
(v) a copy of the program's notice denying
the person's request for enrollment or request for disenrollment for good cause
or proposing to disenroll the person involuntarily.
(3) The program may prepare a written
statement in support of the program's determination to deny the person's
request to enroll in, or disenroll for good cause from, the program or in
support of the program's determination to disenroll the person
involuntarily.
(4) The department
must decide appeals within 15 days after receipt and issue a written decision
either affirming or reversing the program's determination. The department's
decision must fully explain the reasons for the decision and the facts upon
which the decision is based.
(5) An
appeal to the department under this subdivision is not a fair hearing pursuant
to Part 358 of this Title. The commissioner of the department will designate an
appeals officer who must decide appeals from final program grievance
determinations. A decision of the appeals officer may be appealed by the person
or the program pursuant to article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and
Rules.