HB4214 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB096 08584 DRJ 18707 b

96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
HB4214

Introduced 2/27/2009, by Rep. Jim Watson - Richard P. Myers - Ron Stephens - Mike Bost - Michael P. McAuliffe, et al.

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

20 ILCS 2805/2.15 new

Amends the Department of Veterans Affairs Act. Provides that if a veteran has applied for admission to an Illinois Veterans Home and has been found to be entitled to admission but has been placed on a waiting list to be admitted because of a lack of room at a Home, the veteran may instead be admitted to a private facility licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act. Provides that the veteran is responsible for paying for his or her care at the facility at a daily rate based on the maximum maintenance charge that the veteran would have been required to pay at an Illinois Veterans Home; if that rate is less than the facility's charge for the veteran's care as negotiated with the departments of Veterans' Affairs and Healthcare and Family Services, the Department of Veterans' Affairs shall pay the difference between those amounts to the facility. Provides that the Department of Veterans' Affairs, in cooperation with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, shall develop a list of long-term care facilities willing to admit veterans under these provisions. Provides that a veteran admitted to a private long-term care facility under these provisions shall be transferred to an Illinois Veterans Home as soon as a bed is available for the veteran in a Home for which he or she is qualified. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning State government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Department of Veterans Affairs Act is amended by adding Section 2.15 as follows:

(20 ILCS 2805/2.15 new)

Sec. 2.15. Placement on waiting list for admission to Home.

(a) If a veteran has applied for admission to an Illinois Veterans Home and has been found to be entitled to admission but has been placed on a waiting list to be admitted because of a lack of room at a Home, the veteran may instead be admitted to a private facility licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act. A veteran who is admitted to such a facility is responsible for paying for his or her care at the facility at a daily rate based on the maximum maintenance charge that the veteran would have been required to pay at an Illinois Veterans Home. If that rate is less than the facility's charge for the veteran's care as negotiated under subsection (b), the Department shall pay the difference between those amounts to the facility.

(b) The Department of Veterans' Affairs, in cooperation with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, shall develop a list of private long-term care facilities willing to admit veterans under the terms set forth in subsection (a). The Department of Veterans' Affairs, in cooperation with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, shall negotiate a payment rate with those private facilities for care provided to veterans under this Section.

(c) A veteran admitted to a private long-term care facility under subsection (a) shall be transferred to an Illinois Veterans Home as soon as a bed is available for the veteran in a Home for which he or she is qualified under Section 2.01.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.