2014 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 17b - Social Services
Chapter 319o - Department of Social Services
Section 17b-28 - Council on Medical Assistance Program Oversight. Duties. Appointments. Funding. Reports.

(a) There is established a Council on Medical Assistance Program Oversight which shall advise the Commissioner of Social Services on the planning and implementation of the health care delivery system for the following health care programs: The HUSKY Plan, Parts A and B and the Medicaid program, including, but not limited to, the portions of the program serving low income adults, the aged, blind and disabled individuals, individuals who are dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare and individuals with preexisting medical conditions. The council shall monitor planning and implementation of matters related to Medicaid care management initiatives including, but not limited to, (1) eligibility standards, (2) benefits, (3) access, (4) quality assurance, (5) outcome measures, and (6) the issuance of any request for proposal by the Department of Social Services for utilization of an administrative services organization in connection with such initiatives.

(b) On or before June 30, 2011, the council shall be composed of the chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to human services, public health and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, or their designees; two members of the General Assembly, one to be appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate and one to be appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives; the director of the Commission on Aging, or a designee; the director of the Commission on Children, or a designee; a representative of each organization that has been selected by the state to provide managed care and a representative of a primary care case management provider, to be appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate; two representatives of the insurance industry, to be appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives; two advocates for persons receiving Medicaid, one to be appointed by the majority leader of the Senate and one to be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; one advocate for persons with substance use disorders, to be appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives; one advocate for persons with psychiatric disabilities, to be appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives; two advocates for the Department of Children and Families foster families, one to be appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate and one to be appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives; two members of the public who are currently recipients of Medicaid, one to be appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives and one to be appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives; two representatives of the Department of Social Services, to be appointed by the Commissioner of Social Services; two representatives of the Department of Public Health, to be appointed by the Commissioner of Public Health; two representatives of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, to be appointed by the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services; two representatives of the Department of Children and Families, to be appointed by the Commissioner of Children and Families; two representatives of the Office of Policy and Management, to be appointed by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management; and one representative of the office of the State Comptroller, to be appointed by the State Comptroller.

(c) On and after July 1, 2011, the council shall be composed of the following members:

(1) The chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to aging, human services, public health and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, or their designees;

(2) Four appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, one of whom shall be a member of the General Assembly, one of whom shall be a community provider of adult Medicaid health services, one of whom shall be a recipient of Medicaid benefits for the aged, blind and disabled or an advocate for such a recipient and one of whom shall be a representative of the state’s federally qualified health clinics;

(3) Four appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one of whom shall be a member of the General Assembly, one of whom shall be a representative of the home health care industry, one of whom shall be a primary care medical home provider and one of whom shall be an advocate for Department of Children and Families foster families;

(4) Two appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives, one of whom shall be an advocate for persons with substance abuse disabilities and one of whom shall be a Medicaid dental provider;

(5) Two appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, one of whom shall be a representative of school-based health centers and one of whom shall be a recipient of benefits under the HUSKY program;

(6) Two appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives, one of whom shall be an advocate for persons with disabilities and one of whom shall be a dually eligible Medicaid-Medicare beneficiary or an advocate for such a beneficiary;

(7) Two appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, one of whom shall be a low-income adult recipient of Medicaid benefits or an advocate for such a recipient and one of whom shall be a representative of hospitals;

(8) The executive director of the Commission on Aging, or the executive director’s designee;

(9) The executive director of the Commission on Children, or the executive director’s designee;

(10) A representative of the Long-Term Care Advisory Council;

(11) The Commissioners of Social Services, Children and Families, Public Health, Developmental Services and Mental Health and Addiction Services, and the Commissioner on Aging, or their designees, who shall be ex-officio nonvoting members;

(12) The Comptroller, or the Comptroller’s designee, who shall be an ex-officio nonvoting member;

(13) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary’s designee, who shall be an ex-officio nonvoting member; and

(14) One representative of an administrative services organization which contracts with the Department of Social Services in the administration of the Medicaid program, who shall be a nonvoting member.

(d) The council shall choose a chairperson from among its members. The Joint Committee on Legislative Management shall provide administrative support to such chairperson.

(e) The council shall monitor and make recommendations concerning: (1) An enrollment process that ensures access for each Department of Social Services administered health care program and effective outreach and client education for such programs; (2) available services comparable to those already in the Medicaid state plan, including those guaranteed under the federal Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment Services Program under 42 USC 1396d; (3) the sufficiency of accessible adult and child primary care providers, specialty providers and hospitals in Medicaid provider networks; (4) the sufficiency of provider rates to maintain the Medicaid network of providers and service access; (5) funding and agency personnel resources to guarantee timely access to services and effective management of the Medicaid program; (6) participation in care management programs including, but not limited to, medical home and health home models by existing community Medicaid providers; (7) the linguistic and cultural competency of providers and other program facilitators and data on the provision of Medicaid linguistic translation services; (8) program quality, including outcome measures and continuous quality improvement initiatives that may include provider quality performance incentives and performance targets for administrative services organizations; (9) timely, accessible and effective client grievance procedures; (10) coordination of the Medicaid care management programs with state and federal health care reforms; (11) eligibility levels for inclusion in the programs; (12) enrollee cost-sharing provisions; (13) a benefit package for each of the health care programs set forth in subsection (a) of this section; (14) coordination of coverage continuity among Medicaid programs and integration of care, including, but not limited to, behavioral health, dental and pharmacy care provided through programs administered by the Department of Social Services; and (15) the need for program quality studies within the areas identified in this section and the department’s application for available grant funds for such studies. The chairperson of the council shall ensure that sufficient members of the council participate in the review of any contract entered into by the Department of Social Services and an administrative services organization.

(f) The Commissioner of Social Services may, in consultation with an educational institution, apply for any available funding, including federal funding, to support Medicaid care management programs.

(g) The Commissioner of Social Services shall provide monthly reports to the council on the matters described in subsection (e) of this section, including, but not limited to, policy changes and proposed regulations that affect Medicaid health services. The commissioner shall also provide the council with quarterly financial reports for each covered Medicaid population which reports shall include a breakdown of sums expended for each covered population.

(h) The council shall biannually report on its activities and progress to the General Assembly.

(May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-5, S. 26, 30; P.A. 95-257, S. 56, 58; Oct. 29 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-1, S. 18, 23; P.A. 99-167; 99-230, S. 5, 10; P.A. 06-188, S. 46; P.A. 07-148, S. 16; 07-217, S. 72; Sept. Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-5, S. 58; P.A. 10-179, S. 46; P.A. 11-44, S. 167; P.A. 13-125, S. 6; 13-234, S. 92.)

History: May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-5 effective June 16, 1994; P.A. 95-257 amended Subsec. (a) by requiring the council to advise the Waiver Application Development Council on certain matters, increased membership by adding two members of the General Assembly, one advocate for persons with substance abuse disabilities and one for psychiatric disabilities, requiring the council to choose a chair and requiring the public health committee staff to provide administrative support, added Subsec. (b)(10) to (12) and replaced reference to Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Department of Public Health and reference to Department of Mental Health with Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, effective July 1, 1995; Oct. 29 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-1 amended Subsec. (a) by increasing membership by adding two advocates for foster families, two representatives of the Department of Children and Families, two representatives of the Office of Policy and Management and one representative of the Comptroller, added Subsec. (b)(13) re coordination with coverage under the HUSKY Plan and made technical changes, effective October 30, 1997; P.A. 99-167 added new Subsec. (b)(14) re program quality studies, relettered the remaining subdivision and made technical changes; P.A. 99-230 amended Subsec. (b) to make a technical change, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 06-188 amended Subsec. (a) to expand council by adding the chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, and added new Subsec. (b)(15) re managed care portion of the state-administered general assistance program and redesignate existing Subdiv. (15) as Subdiv. (16), effective July 1, 2006; P.A. 07-148 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “substance abuse disabilities” with “substance use disorders”; P.A. 07-217 made a technical change in Subsec. (b), effective July 12, 2007; Sept. Sp. Sess. P.A. 09-5 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing provision re two members who are community providers of health care with provision re members who are representatives of state-selected managed care organization and primary care case management provider, amended Subsec. (b) by adding Subdiv. (17) re recommendations concerning primary care case management pilot program, added new Subsec. (d) allowing commissioner to apply for funding for Medicaid managed care programs and redesignated existing Subsecs. (d) and (e) as Subsecs. (e) and (f), effective October 5, 2009; P.A. 10-179 amended Subsecs. (a) and (b) and existing Subsecs. (d) and (e) by replacing references to managed care with references to care management, amended Subsec. (a) by renaming council as “Council on Medicaid Care Management Oversight” and deleting provisions requiring council to advise Waiver Application Development Council and appointing members of Health Care Access Board to be ex-officio council members, amended Subsec. (b)(13) by adding reference to HUSKY Plan, Part A and other health care programs administered by department, amended Subsec. (b)(15) by replacing reference to managed care portion of state-administered general assistance program with references to HUSKY Plan, Medicaid care management programs and Charter Oak Health Plan, deleted former Subsec. (c) re federal waiver and implementation and redesignated existing Subsecs. (d) to (f) as Subsecs. (c) to (e), effective May 7, 2010; P.A. 11-44 divided existing Subsec. (a) into Subsecs. (a), (b) and (d), amended Subsec. (a) by changing council name to “Council on Medical Assistance Program Oversight”, replacing provision requiring council to advise on Medicaid care management with provision requiring council to advise on health care delivery system for specified programs, adding provision requiring council to monitor matters related to Medicaid care management initiatives, designating existing provisions re matters to be monitored as Subdivs. (1) to (4), adding Subdiv. (5) re outcome measures and Subdiv. (6) re issuance of request for proposal and making technical changes, amended Subsec. (b) by specifying that existing membership appointments are in effect on or before June 30, 2011, added new Subsec. (c) re membership appointments in effect on and after July 1, 2011, amended Subsec. (d) by deleting provision re first meeting and making technical changes, redesignated existing Subsec. (b) as Subsec. (e) and amended same by adding requirement that council monitor items specified in Subdivs. (1) to (15), replacing “guaranteed access to enrollees” with provision re enrollment process in Subdiv. (1), adding specific types of providers in Subdiv. (3), replacing “capitated rates provider payments, financing and staff resources” with provision re provider rates in Subdiv. (4), adding new Subdiv. (5) re funding and agency personnel management, redesignating existing Subdivs. (5) and (6) as Subdivs. (6) and (7), adding “medical home and health home models” in Subdiv. (6), replacing provision re quality assurance with provision re data on linguistic translation services in Subdiv. (7), adding new Subdiv. (8) re program quality, redesignating existing Subdivs. (8) to (14) as Subdivs. (9) to (15), adding reference to health care programs in Subdiv. (13), replacing reference to the HUSKY Plan and other health care program with reference to continuity among Medicaid programs and integration of care in Subdiv. (14), deleting former Subdivs. (15) to (17), adding provision re participation in review of contract with administrative services organization and making technical changes, redesignated existing Subsecs. (c) and (d) as Subsecs. (f) and (g), amended Subsec. (g) by replacing provision re plans and implementation of the Medicaid care management program with provision re matters described in Subsec. (e), adding requirement that commissioner provide quarterly financial reports and making technical changes, redesignated existing Subsec. (e) as Subsec. (h) and amended same by replacing requirement that council report quarterly with requirement that council report biannually, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 13-125 amended Subsec. (c)(1) and (11) to add chairpersons and ranking members of joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to aging and Commissioner on Aging to council membership, effective July 1, 2013; P.A. 13-234 amended Subsec. (a) to delete reference to Charter Oak Health Plan, effective January 1, 2014.