HB 5339 — AN ACT EXPANDING ACCESS TO THE CONNECTICUT HOME-CARE PROGRAM FOR THE ELDERLY.

House of Representatives General Assembly FileRaised Bill No.

2965339 February Session, 2022 HouseLCO Bill No.

53392441 HouseReferred ofto Representatives, April 5, 2022 The Committee on HumanHUMAN ServicesSERVICES reportedIntroduced throughby: REP.

ABERCROMBIE(HS) ofAN theACT 83rdEXPANDING Dist.,ACCESS ChairpersonTO ofTHE theCONNECTICUT CommitteeHOME-CARE onPROGRAM theFOR partTHE ofELDERLY. the House, that the bill ought to pass.

AN ACT EXPANDING ACCESS TO THE CONNECTICUT HOME-CARE PROGRAM FOR THE ELDERLY.

For program HB5339applications /received Fileby the Department of Social Services for the fiscal LCO 2441 \\PRDFS1\HCOUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2022HB-05339-R02-1 of 3 HB.docx Raised Bill No.

2965339 1years HB5339ending FileJune No.30, 2016, and June 30, 2017, only persons who require the level of care provided in a nursing home shall be eligible for the state-funded portion of the program, except for persons residing in affordable housing under the assisted living demonstration project established pursuant to section 17b-347e who are otherwise eligible in accordance with this section.

296 applications received by the Department of Social Services for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2016, and June 30, 2017, only persons who require the level of care provided in a nursing home shall be eligible for the state-funded portion of the program, except for persons residing in affordable housing under the assisted living demonstration project established pursuant to section 17b-347e who are otherwise eligible in accordance with this section.

Any personpersonwhoseincome whoseincome exceeds two hundred per cent of the federal poverty level shall contribute [four] three and one-half per cent of the cost of his or her care in addition to the amount of applied income determined in accordance with the methodology established by the Department of Social Services forrecipientsofmedicalassistance.Anypersonwhodoesnotcontribute to the cost of care in accordance with this subdivision shall be ineligible to receive services under this subsection.

Any person whose HB5339LCO /2441 File{\\PRDFS1\HCOUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2022HB-053392 of 3 R02-HB.docx } Raised Bill No.

2965339 2income HB5339exceeds Filetwo No.hundred per cent of the federal poverty level and who does not contribute to the cost of care in accordance with this subdivision shall be ineligible to receive services under this subsection.

296 income exceeds two hundred per cent of the federal poverty level and who does not contribute to the cost of care in accordance with this subdivision shall be ineligible to receive services under this subsection.

(4) The annualized cost of services provided to an individual under the state-funded portion of the program shall not exceed fifty per cent oftheweightedaveragecostofcareinnursing homesinthestate,except an individual who received services costing in excess of such amount under the Department of Social Services in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1992, may continuetoreceive suchservices,providedsuchservices,providedtheannualized theannualized cost of such services does not exceed eighty per cent of the weighted average cost of such nursing home care.

Section 1 July 1, 2022 17b-342(i) HS Joint Favorable HB5339APP /Joint FileFavorable No.LCO 2441 {\\PRDFS1\HCOUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2022HB-05339- 3 of 3 R02-HB.docx }

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296 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 23 $ FY 24 $ Social Services, Dept.

GF - Cost up to up to 5,900,000 5,900,000 Note:

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill results in a cost of up to approximately $5.9 million in both FY 23 and FY 24 to the Department of Social Services due to increasing eligibility for the state-funded Connecticut Home Care Program.

Increasing the asset limit (to $45,000 if single and $65,000 if married) is anticipatedtoincreaseenrollmentintheprogramresultinginadditional costs of up to $5.7 million annually.

Reducing participant cost sharing by 1% is anticipated to increase costs by approximately $200,000 annually.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation.

HB5339 / File No.

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296 OLR Bill Analysis HB 5339 AN ACT EXPANDING ACCESS TO THE CONNECTICUT HOME- CARE PROGRAM FOR THE ELDERLY.

SUMMARY This bill expands eligibility to the state-funded portion of the Connecticut Homecare Program for the Elderly (CHCPE, see BACKGROUND) by increasing program asset limits.

It also reduces the required co-payments for participants in the state-funded portion.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

July 1, 2022 STATE-FUNDED CHCPE Asset Limits The bill increases asset limits under the state-funded portion of CHCPE to $45,000 if single and $65,000 if married.

Current law limits an eligible individual’s assets to 150% of the federal minimum community spouse protected amount (CSPA) if single ($41,220 in 2022) or 200% if married ($54,960 in 2022).

The bill also eliminates annual adjustments to these asset limits by removing the link to the CSPA, which is updated annually.

Copayments The bill reduces, from 4.5% to 3.5%, the required co-payments for participants in the state-funded portion as shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1:

CHCPE Participant Copayments Under Current Law and the Bill Participant Category Copayments Copayments Under Current Law Under the Bill Participants with income4.5% of care costs/month3.5% of care costs/month or below 200% FPL* and Medicaid-ineligible HB5339 / File No.

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296 Participant Category Copayments Copayments Under Current Law Under the Bill Participants with income 4.5% of care costs/month 3.5% of care costs/month greater than 200% FPL and an applied income and the applied income amount (calculated by amount subtracting certain personal needs allowances from their gross income) Participants living in An applied income copay ifNo change government-subsidized income is greater than 200% affordable housing programs FPL *In 2022, 200% of the FPL is $27,180 for an individual and $36,620 for a family of two BACKGROUND Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders CHCPE is a Medicaid-waiver and state-funded program that provides a range of home- and community-based services for eligible individuals age 65 or older who are at risk of inappropriate institutionalization (e.g., nursing home placement).