Title: H170 [Edition 2]
Category: Introduced Bill 2003

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA	SESSION 2003

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2003
H	2
HOUSE BILL 170*
Committee Substitute Favorable 4/23/03

Short Title:	Special Assistance In-Home Option. | (Public)
Sponsors: |
Referred to: |
March 4, 2003

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO MAKE THE STATE/COUNTY SPECIAL ASSISTANCE IN‑HOME OPTION AVAILABLE TO ALL COUNTIES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The Department of Health and Human Services may use funds from the existing State/County Special Assistance for Adults budget to provide Special Assistance payments to up to a total of 800 eligible individuals in in‑home living arrangements. The standard monthly payment to individuals enrolled in the Special Assistance in‑home option shall be fifty percent (50%) of the monthly payment the individual would receive if the individual resided in an adult care home and qualified for Special Assistance, except if a lesser payment amount is appropriate for the individual as determined by the local case manager. The Department shall implement Special Assistance in‑home eligibility policies and procedures to assure that in‑home option participants are those individuals who need and, but for the in‑home option, would seek placement in an adult care home facility. The Department's policies and procedures shall include the use of a functional assessment.  The Department shall make this in‑home option available to all counties on a voluntary basis. To the maximum extent possible, the Department shall consider geographic balance in the dispersion of payments to individuals across the State. The Department shall make a report to the cochairs of the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, the cochairs of the House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, the cochairs of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services by January 1, 2005. The report shall also be sent to the North Carolina Study Commission on Aging. This report shall include the following information:
(1)	A description of cost savings that result from allowing individuals eligible for State/County Special Assistance the option of remaining in the home.
(2)	The geographic location of individuals receiving payments under this section.
(3)	A description of the services purchased with these payments.
(4)	A complete fiscal analysis of the in‑home option to include all federal, State, and local funds expended.
(5)	An analysis of the differences in the needs and characteristics of persons living in adult care homes and persons in the CAP/DA program compared with persons receiving the Special Assistance payments under this section.
SECTION 2.  The Department of Health and Human Services shall use funds appropriated to it for fiscal year 2003-2004 and fiscal year 2004-2005 for the Special Assistance payments authorized in Section 1 of this act.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2003.

Page 		House Bill 170*-Second Edition

House Bill 170*-Second Edition		Page