New Jersey § 30:4d-17

§ 30:4d-17.

a. (1) Beginning in fiscal year 2008, and in each succeeding fiscal year through fiscal

year 2013, the commissioner, in consultation with the State Treasurer and in accordance with the provisions of this section, shall implement a process

that rebalances the overall allocation of funding within the Department of Human Services for long-term care services through the expansion of home and community-based

services for persons eligible for long-term care as defined by regulation of the commissioner. The expansion of home and community-based services shall be funded, within the existing

level of appropriations, by diverting persons in need of long-term care to allow maximum

flexibility between nursing home placements and home and community-based services. The State Treasurer, after review and analysis, shall determine the transfer of

such funding to home and community-based services provided by the Department of Human Services as is necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act. 1 (2) Beginning in fiscal year 2008, and in each succeeding fiscal year through fiscal

year 2013, funds equal to the amount of the reduction in the projected growth of Medicaid

expenditures for nursing home care pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, for

State dollars only plus the percentage anticipated for programs and persons that will

receive federal matching dollars, shall be reallocated to home and community-based

care through a global budget and expended solely for such care, until the commissioner

determines that total Medicaid expenditures for long-term care have been sufficiently

rebalanced to achieve funding parity between nursing home care and home and community-based

care. Any funds so reallocated, which are not expended in the fiscal year in which they

are reallocated, shall be reserved for expenditures for home and community-based care

in a subsequent fiscal year. (3) Subject to federal approval, the home and community-based services to which funds

are reallocated pursuant to this act shall include services designated by the commissioner and the Medicaid Long-Term Care Funding Advisory Council established pursuant to

this act. (4) Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection to the contrary, this act shall

not be construed to authorize a reduction in funding for Medicaid-approved services

based upon the approved State Medicaid nursing home reimbursement methodology, including

existing cost screens used to determine daily rates, annual rebasing and inflationary

adjustments. b. The commissioner shall adopt modifications to the Medicaid long-term care intake system that promote

increased use of home and community-based services. These modifications shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) commencing March 1, 2007, on a pilot basis in Atlantic and Warren counties, pursuant

to Executive Order No. 31 of 2005: (a) the provision of home and community-based services available under Medicaid, as

designated by the commissioner, in consultation with the Medicaid Long-Term Care Funding Advisory Council established pursuant to this

act, 2 pending completion of a formal Medicaid financial eligibility determination for the

recipient of services, for a period that does not exceed a time limit established

by the commissioner; except that the cost of any services provided pursuant to this

subparagraph to a person who is subsequently determined to be ineligible for Medicaid

may be recovered from that person; and (b) the use of mechanisms for making fast-track Medicaid eligibility determinations,

a revised clinical assessment instrument, and a computerized tracking system for Medicaid

long-term care expenditures; and (2) commencing March 1, 2008, expansion of the services and measures provided for

in paragraph (1) of this subsection to all of the remaining counties in the State,

subject to the commissioner conducting or otherwise providing for an evaluation of

the pilot programs in Atlantic and Warren counties prior to that date and determining

from that evaluation that the pilot programs are cost-effective and should be expanded

Statewide. 1

L.2006, c. 23, §§ 1 to 11 [N.J.S.A. § 30:4D-17.23 et seq.]. 2

N.J.S.A. § 30:4D-17.29.