The Florida Senate

393.165  Legislative findings.--

(1)  The Legislature finds:

(a)  That noninstitutional home and community-based services are a cost-effective and appropriate alternative to institutional care for many individuals who would otherwise be served in institutional settings;

(b)  That the Intermediate Care Facility for the Developmentally Disabled program is an optional institutional service authorized by Title XIX of the Social Security Act and that this act encourages states to develop and utilize alternatives to optional institutional services for Medicaid clients through authorization of waivers that allow for federal financial participation in the provision of services in noninstitutional settings for clients who are eligible for Medicaid-reimbursed institutional services;

(c)  That utilization of noninstitutional funding mechanisms for individuals residing outside of state-owned-and-operated institutions allows individuals to be appropriately served at less cost than is possible through the Intermediate Care Facility for the Developmentally Disabled program;

(d)  That federal regulations diminish the ability of the state to manage resources currently used to reimburse privately owned or operated intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled to enable the most cost-effective utilization of resources appropriated to programs that serve individuals with developmental disabilities;

(e)  That there are fundamental differences in the respective roles of private and public facilities that serve individuals with developmental disabilities and that these differences justify funding private and public facilities through different funding mechanisms;

(f)  That there is a critical state need to continue financing institutional services provided in state-owned-and-operated facilities for the developmentally disabled through the Intermediate Care Facility for the Developmentally Disabled program to provide for the adequate care of the clients who reside in these facilities; and

(g)  That the most appropriate and cost-effective care for state-supported clients who reside in privately owned or operated residential facilities for individuals with developmental disabilities is provided through community-based, noninstitutional service delivery models that are financed through noninstitutional financing mechanisms.

(2)  In accordance with the findings in subsection (1), it is the intent of the Legislature that, in order to both reduce the cost of serving individuals with developmental disabilities and provide appropriate alternative services to institutional care, privately owned or operated facilities authorized to receive reimbursement through the Medicaid Intermediate Care Facility for the Developmentally Disabled program on June 30, 1996, shall no longer be reimbursed through that program but may continue to serve clients through noninstitutional service arrangements that are financed through noninstitutional funding mechanisms. It is further the intent of the Legislature that individuals who reside in state-owned-and-operated intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled shall continue to receive services financed through the Medicaid Intermediate Care Facility for the Developmentally Disabled program.

History.--s. 11, ch. 96-417.