Vetoed by Governor John Bel Edwards

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that authorizes state agency partnerships for better Medicaid administration and program integrity.

Highlights:

• Establishes that except as otherwise limited by a specific provision of law, the secretary is authorized to perform all of the following relative to or concerning the Medical Assistance Program (Sec. 1):

• Cause the department to enter into memoranda of understanding, cooperative endeavors, or other types of agreements with the Department of Revenue for the program integrity functions provided for in R.S. 36:460; and

• Cause the department to enter into memoranda of understanding, cooperative endeavors, or other types of agreements with the Department of Children and Family Services for the interagency incentive program provided for in R.S. 46:236.9.1.

• Specifies that unless prohibited by regulations or policies of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or any other federal regulation or law, the Department of Revenue and the Louisiana Department of Health is to annually enter into a memorandum of understanding, cooperative endeavor, or other types of agreements for Medicaid program integrity functions that conform with the requirements and specifications provided in this Section (Sec. 1).

• Establishes that the agreements provided for in this Section are to require the Louisiana Department of Health to furnish to the Department of Revenue identifying information of all of the following persons (Sec. 1):

• Each person under the age of 19 years who is enrolled in the Medicaid program of this state, excluding children in child-only Medicaid cases and children in Medicaid cases that have received a good cause exemption from the Medicaid Support Enforcement Services cooperation requirement; and

• Each adult who is enrolled in the Medicaid program of this state and whose Medicaid application indicates that any child or children under the age of 19 years live with him.

• Specifies that the Department of Revenue is to examine income tax returns to identify any Medicaid-enrolled child who is claimed as a dependent by someone other than an adult whose home the child lives in according to the child's Medicaid application (Sec. 1).

• Establishes that unless prohibited by the Internal Revenue Code or any other federal law or regulation, the Department of Revenue is to identify to the Louisiana Department of Health each child identified (Sec. 1).

• Specifies that each agreement that the Department of Revenue and Louisiana Department of Health enters into according to this law are to set forth standards and protocols for the transfer of data required by Subsections B and C of this Section and the standards and protocols are to ensure that in cases where there is domestic abuse or violence, the personal information shared between the departments does not create or increase the risk of harm to the victims of domestic abuse or violence (Sec. 1).

• Establishes that on or before January 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, the Department of Revenue is to report to the legislature the number of children enrolled in Medicaid, excluding children in child-only Medicaid cases and children in Medicaid cases that have received a good cause exemption from the Medicaid Support Enforcement Services cooperation requirement, who are claimed as dependents on tax returns by persons other than an adult whose home the child lives in according to the child's Medicaid application and the report required by the provisions of this Subsection is to consist of statistical information exclusively and contain no identifying information of any individual (Sec. 1).

• Defines “Medicaid” to mean the medical assistance program provided for in Title XIX of the Social Security Act (Sec. 1).

• Establishes that the Department of Children and Family Services and the Louisiana Department of Health are to enter into a memorandum of understanding, cooperative endeavor, or other types of agreements as may be necessary to implement a program wherein payments collected under the authority of this Subpart are used to offset state and federal Medicaid costs (Sec. 1). 

• Specifies that the agreements may be for any term that the secretaries of the two departments mutually determine, and, at its expiration, are to be renewed inclusive of any revisions that the secretaries of the two departments mutually determine (Sec. 1).

• Establishes that the Department of Children and Family Services is to remit any cash medical support payments to the Louisiana Department of Health when all of the following apply (Sec. 1):

• The obligor has been ordered under R.S. 46:236.1.2(L) or other law to make cash medical support payments;

• The Department of Children and Family Services is providing support enforcement services; and 

• Cash medical support has been assigned to the state..

• Specifies that nothing in this Section is to be construed to require the Department of Children and Family Services to violate 45 CFR 302.51 or 302.52, or any other federal regulation about child support enforcement (Sec. 1).

• Establishes that each agreement required by Subsection A of this Section is to provide for an incentive payment to be made at least annually by the Louisiana Department of Health to the Department of Children and Family Services in an amount that does not exceed 15 percent of the total of remittances made under the prior agreement to offset Medicaid costs (Sec. 1).

• Specifies that any payment by the Louisiana Department of Health to the Department of Children and Family Services made according to this law is to be made from the federal share of the amount collected (Sec. 1).

• Establishes that no payment remitted to the Louisiana Department of Health according to this law is to reduce the amount of child support that otherwise would be owed to the obligee if cash medical support had not been ordered (Sec. 1).

Full Bill Text