CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE; DHHS                                                          S.B. 956 (S-3):

                                                                                                    SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                                  ON THIRD READING

Senate Bill 956 (Substitute S-3 as reported by the Committee of the Whole)

Sponsor:  Senator Peter J. Lucido

Committee:  Health Policy and Human Services

CONTENT

The bill would amend the Public Health Code to do the following:

-- Require the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to conduct, by July 31, 2020, an evaluation of the operation, efficacy, clinical outcomes, and performance of each COVID-19 regional hub that was implemented and operating during the State's response to coronavirus in nursing homes and provide a detailed report on its evaluation to the Legislature. 

-- Require the DHHS to develop and submit to the Legislature, by August 15, 2020, a plan describing a process to ensure that by September 15, 2020, there were dedicated facilities for only coronavirus-positive patients in each of the eight health care regions of the State to provide care to individuals who tested positive for coronavirus and were ineligible for admission at a hospital, nursing home, or adult foster care facility.

-- Require a plan to incorporate any enhancement that the DHHS considered appropriate to prevent the spread of coronavirus in nursing homes based on the evaluation conducted by the Department, if the plan used the regional hub design.

-- Specify that an individual could not be admitted or retained for care in a nursing home if he or she had tested positive for coronavirus unless that individual had since recovered from coronavirus or the nursing home was able to provide a designated area and a program to demonstrate its ability to retain the individual in its facility and provide the appropriate care for the individual.

-- Require the DHHS to approve a nursing home's designated area and the program before the nursing home was permitted to retain residents described above in its care.

MCL 333.21717 et al.                                              Legislative Analyst:  Stephen Jackson

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would require the DHHS to evaluate the COVID-19 regional hubs and to develop a plan to create a process to ensure that there are dedicated skilled nursing facilities for COVID-19 patients. These provisions would lead to minor administrative costs for the DHHS. The requirement that COVID-19 positive individuals not be placed in skilled nursing facilities until they had recovered or a designated area in the skilled nursing facility was available could delay some placements of those individuals in skilled nursing facilities.

Date Completed:  6-23-20                                                Fiscal Analyst:  Steve Angelotti

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.