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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY GINGRICH, BELFANTI, BEYER, GEIST, GROVE, HENNESSEY, HESS, HORNAMAN, KAUFFMAN, KORTZ, MAJOR, MOUL, PHILLIPS, PICKETT, RAPP, ROSS, SIPTROTH, STABACK AND VULAKOVICH, FEBRUARY 9, 2009 |
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| REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON AGING AND OLDER ADULT SERVICES, FEBRUARY 9, 2009 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Providing for the training and certification of qualified |
2 | assessors of individuals needing long-term care services, for |
3 | the powers and duties of the Department of Aging and for |
4 | report to General Assembly. |
5 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
6 | hereby enacts as follows: |
7 | Section 1. Short title. |
8 | This act shall be known and may be cited as the Long-Term |
9 | Care Assessor Training and Certification Act. |
10 | Section 2. Definitions. |
11 | The following words and phrases when used in this act shall |
12 | have the meanings given to them in this section unless the |
13 | context clearly indicates otherwise: |
14 | "Comprehensive assessment." A thorough and independent |
15 | review and analysis of a consumer's functional status and |
16 | financial resources. The term includes a personal history, |
17 | assessment of physical and emotional health, ability to carry |
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1 | out activities of daily living, informal supports, environmental |
2 | factors and cognitive functioning, including immobility |
3 | assessment. |
4 | "Comprehensive service plan." A plan developed to meet a |
5 | consumer's individual needs, as determined by a comprehensive |
6 | assessment and developed by an interdisciplinary team that |
7 | includes the consumer, the consumer's legal representatives, the |
8 | consumer's family member and an appropriate professional on |
9 | aging as defined by regulation of the department. |
10 | "Consumer." An individual seeking long-term care services. |
11 | "Department." The Department of Aging of the Commonwealth. |
12 | "Long-term care services." Functionally necessary or |
13 | medically necessary diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, |
14 | rehabilitative, maintenance or personal care services provided |
15 | in a setting other than an acute care unit of a hospital. |
16 | "Options program." The Long-Term Care Preadmission |
17 | Assessment Program and the Community Services for Nursing |
18 | Facility Eligibility Program administered by the Department of |
19 | Aging and operated by the local area agencies on aging. |
20 | "Qualified assessor." A person approved by the Department of |
21 | Aging as qualified to conduct assessments of consumers and |
22 | develop service plans based thereon. The term includes a |
23 | qualified employee of an area agency on aging, a qualified |
24 | employee of a licensed entity providing long-term care services |
25 | or a qualified independent entity. The term does not include a |
26 | hospital discharge planner or other staff or employee of an |
27 | insured's health or long-term care insurance company. |
28 | Section 3. Duties of department. |
29 | (a) Development of qualified assessor program.--The |
30 | department shall develop a training and certification program |
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1 | for qualified assessors. Only those qualified assessors trained |
2 | and certified by the department shall be permitted to conduct |
3 | assessments that identify the services a consumer requires and |
4 | that serve as the basis for a comprehensive service plan. This |
5 | program shall be separate from the Options program. However, |
6 | nothing in this act shall be construed to permit a qualified |
7 | assessor, other than a local area agency on aging, to perform an |
8 | Options program assessment. |
9 | (b) List of qualified assessors.--The department shall |
10 | develop and make available to the public a listing of qualified |
11 | assessors. The listing shall be updated at least monthly and |
12 | shall be available on the department's Internet website and |
13 | through the local area agencies on aging. |
14 | Section 4. Duties of qualified assessors. |
15 | (a) Certification required.-- |
16 | (1) A qualified assessor shall certify that any |
17 | assessment or reassessment the qualified assessor conducts is |
18 | true and correct to the best of that qualified assessor's |
19 | knowledge and skill at the time of assessment. |
20 | (2) The department shall revoke the certification of any |
21 | qualified assessor who falsely certifies a need for services. |
22 | (b) Standardized screening instrument.--A qualified assessor |
23 | shall utilize a standardized screening instrument. The |
24 | instrument shall be developed by the department, in cooperation |
25 | with the Department of Public Welfare, the Department of Health |
26 | and the Intra-Governmental Council on Long-Term Care, within six |
27 | months of the effective date of this section. |
28 | Section 5. Report to General Assembly. |
29 | Within one year of the effective date of this section, the |
30 | department shall provide to the General Assembly a report on |
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1 | programs within this Commonwealth and throughout the United |
2 | States that seek to maximize the effectiveness of charitable |
3 | pharmaceutical programs and to provide recommendations for new |
4 | laws and initiatives within this Commonwealth to enhance the |
5 | ability of Pennsylvanians to take advantage of such programs. |
6 | Section 6. Rules and regulations. |
7 | The department shall work in cooperation with the Department |
8 | of Public Welfare, the Department of Health and the Intra- |
9 | Governmental Council on Long-Term Care to develop rules and |
10 | regulations to implement this act. Within six months of the |
11 | effective date of this section, the department shall promulgate |
12 | regulations to implement this act. |
13 | Section 7. Effective date. |
14 | This act shall take effect as follows: |
15 | (1) Section 5 shall take effect immediately. |
16 | (2) This section shall take effect immediately. |
17 | (3) The remainder of this act shall take effect in one |
18 | year. |
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