28 March 2018

Committee action, Mar. 28: HB 334

DID YOU KNOW?
HB 334 by Rep. Tony Bacala would create a managed care system for long-term health care, requiring the state to submit a proposal to the federal government to do so no later than the beginning of the year. It mirrored SB 357 by Sen. Conrad Appel, although that set a deadline a year later.

But Bacala said to the House Health and Welfare Committee that he would pull the bill, because the debate and actions surrounding Appel’s bill indicated it could not get through the legislative process. He lamented that Gov. John Bel Edwards, who during his campaign had expressed support for such a change in philosophy, did not seem motivated to put his weight behind the bill’s passage.

Rep. Bob Hensgens, whose civilian job is as a nursing home administrator, in remarks before making the motion to accommodate Bacala’s request, said he wanted to expand waiver services with new funding, but did not address Bacala’s concern to spend taxpayer dollars more wisely in the process. Without objection, the committee shelved the bill.

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