STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 1814

with Assembly Floor Amendments

(Proposed By Assemblywoman WRIGHT)

ADOPTED: DECEMBER 4, 1997

      These amendments would require that when the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services in the Department of Human Services or its fiscal agents seek to recover a claim asserted against a Medicaid provider which is contested by the provider, the division or its fiscal agents shall place the State portion of the disputed recovery claim in escrow, to be released with interest only after final agency adjudication if the provider prevails.

      In addition, the amendments provide that:

      -- the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services shall reimburse a long-term care facility for any net amount discovered to be owing to the facility after notice of underpayment to the facility as a result of an audit;

      -- if the reimbursement is not made within 60 days, rather than 45 days as the bill originally provided, of the notice of underpayment to the facility, rather than the audit as the bill originally provided, the reimbursement shall include interest on the amount due; and

      -- the provisions governing reimbursement of a long-term care facility shall apply to an audit performed for any fiscal year ending after November 30, 1996.

      These amendments conform the provisions of this bill to Assembly Bill No. 1427 (1R) (Wright).