Maine § 1708. - Appropriations for aid of public and private hospitals and nursing homes

§ 1708.. Appropriations for aid of public and private hospitals and nursing homes

1.  Compensation for hospitals.  Such sums of money as may be appropriated by the Legislature in aid of public and private hospitals shall be expended under the direction of the department, and the expense of administration shall be charged to the appropriation of that department for general administration. The department is authorized to compensate hospitals located in the State of New Hampshire within 15 miles from the Maine - New Hampshire state line or hospitals located in the Provinces of Quebec or New Brunswick, Canada, within 5 miles of the international boundary, for cases where the hospital care is for persons resident in the State of Maine and, in the judgment of the commissioner, adequate local hospital facilities are not available. The department may compensate hospitals at such rates as it may establish for hospital care of persons whose resources or the resources of whose responsible relatives are insufficient therefor, except as provided in subsection 2. Bills itemizing the expenses of such hospital care, when approved by the department and audited by the State Controller, shall be paid by the Treasurer of State.

2.  Compensation for nursing homes. 

2-A.  Base-year revisions. 

3.  Compensation for nursing homes.  A nursing home, as defined under section 1812‑A, or any portion of a hospital or institution operated as a nursing home, when the State is liable for payment for care, must be reimbursed at a rate established by the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to this subsection. The department may not establish a so-called "flat rate." This subsection applies to all funds, including federal funds, paid by any agency of the State to a nursing home for patient care. The department shall establish rules concerning reimbursement that:

A. Take into account the costs of providing care and services in conformity with applicable state and federal laws, rules, regulations and quality and safety standards;   [PL 1991, c. 528, Pt. E, §21 (NEW); PL 1991, c. 528, Pt. E, §22 (AFF); PL 1991, c. 528, Pt. RRR (AFF); PL 1991, c. 591, Pt. E, §21 (NEW); PL 1991, c. 591, Pt. E, §22 (AFF).]

A-1. [PL 2001, c. 666, Pt. A, §1 (RP); PL 2001, c. 666, Pt. E, §1 (AFF).]

B. Are reasonable and adequate to meet the costs incurred by efficiently and economically operated facilities;   [PL 1995, c. 696, Pt. A, §32 (AMD).]

C. Are consistent with federal requirements relative to limits on reimbursement under the federal Social Security Act, Title XIX;   [PL 2001, c. 666, Pt. A, §1 (AMD); PL 2001, c. 666, Pt. E, §1 (AFF).]

D. Ensure that any calculation of an occupancy percentage or other basis for adjusting the rate of reimbursement for nursing facility services to reduce the amount paid in response to a decrease in the number of residents in the facility or the percentage of the facility's occupied beds excludes all beds that the facility has removed from service for all or part of the relevant fiscal period in accordance with section 333. If the excluded beds are converted to residential care beds or another program for which the department provides reimbursement, nothing in this paragraph precludes the department from including those beds for purposes of any occupancy standard applicable to the residential care or other program pursuant to duly adopted rules of the department;   [PL 2013, c. 594, §1 (AMD).]

E. Contain an annual inflation adjustment that: