A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT increasing the personal needs allowance for recipients of state‑county special assistance in order to correct for inflation and allow residents of assisted living facilities to retain more of their own funds to purchase personal items; and appropriating funds to the department of health and human services, division of social services, to offset the cost of this increase.
Whereas, residents of assisted living facilities who are recipients of State‑County Special Assistance are permitted to retain a small amount of money each month known as a personal needs allowance (PNA) to purchase personal items such as clothing and other personal needs and expenses described in 42 C.F.R. § 435.832(c)(1); and
Whereas, since 2003, these residents have paid all of their medication co‑payments from their PNA while receiving no additional allowance to account for the increase in their necessary medication costs; and
Whereas, the PNA for residents of assisted living facilities who are State‑County Special Assistance recipients has been forty‑six dollars ($46.00) per month per recipient since 2003, which translates to current residents of assisted living facilities having one‑third less buying power than in 2003; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  Effective October 1, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Aging and Adult Services, shall increase the personal needs allowance under the State‑County Special Assistance program from forty‑six dollars ($46.00) per month per recipient to seventy dollars ($70.00) per month per recipient.
SECTION 1.(b)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Social Services, the sum of two million two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($2,250,000) in recurring funds for the 2019‑2020 fiscal year and the sum of three million dollars ($3,000,000) in recurring funds for the 2020‑2021 fiscal year, to offset the cost of increasing the amount of the personal needs allowance under the State‑County Special Assistance program, as provided in subsection (a) of this section.
SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2019.