FISCAL NOTE
Date Requested: January 30, 2023
Time Requested: 03:12 PM |
| Agency: |
Health and Human Resources, WV Department of |
|---|
| CBD Number: |
Version: |
Bill Number: |
Resolution Number: |
| 2152 |
Introduced |
HB3142 |
|
|---|
| CBD Subject: |
Courts |
|---|
|
FUND(S):
0525 - Consolidated Medical Services Fund, 0403 - DIV OF HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL ADMINISTRATION FUND
Sources of Revenue:
General Fund
Legislation creates:
Creates New Program
Fiscal Note Summary
Effect this measure will have on costs and revenues of state government.
The purpose of this bill is to clarify the ability of family courts to order services provided by the Department of Health and Human Resources; and establish that the costs for those services remain expenses of the department.
This legislation could pose enormous financial risk to the Department. If this becomes law, a family court judge could theoretically order the Department to provide benefits or services for which a client may be otherwise ineligible. In general, program eligibility requirements are set up in legislation via a statute and/or rule and are tied to the funding. If an individual is court ordered to receive a service for which they do not previously meet eligibility the funding must be fully absorbed with State General/Special revenue funding. Thus no federal matching or Federal participation in those costs would be realized. The cost for development of new policy, business rules and processes for this change, and IT system changes is unquantifiable at this time.
The Bureau for Family Assistance (BFA) processes court ordered child care payments. The number of court ordered payments may increase which could lead to more processing time for the BFA staff each month. Currently, the worker can dispute these to some extent but if this legislation passes, there will be no grounds to dispute these payments, leading to an initial increase in orders. It is not clear if this legislation would open the door for out of state adoptions to request court ordered child care payments.
The Bureau for Behavioral Health oversees and supports a wide range of behavioral health services primarily through grant programs with community based behavioral health providers. Without an understanding of the populations, volume and types of services that may be court ordered, we would not be able to provide a reasonable estimate for potential increases in cost. For example, inpatient behavioral health services for individuals can cost hundreds of dollars a day for extended periods and without coverage eligibility and medical necessity those costs would charged in whole to state dollars.
The bill as it is written is vague and does not specifically identify which services would be included in these family court ordered services. Without a specific list of services or rate of payment for services there would be no way to fiscally estimate a financial impact. During SFY2022, the Department's Bureau for Social Services accounted for $5,505,828.93 in court ordered payments from circuit court. Unlike cases before circuit court regarding abuse and neglect proceedings under Ch 49 of WV Code, cases before family court do not have Department involvement and are unknown to the Department. Additional staff resources would be required to track and process the payments from family court cases if the Department was ordered to pay for services. The Department is unable to determine number of staff based on vague bill language and volume of court orders/payments.
Fiscal Note Detail
| Effect of Proposal |
Fiscal Year |
2023
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
2024
Increase/Decrease
(use"-") |
Fiscal Year
(Upon Full
Implementation) |
| 1. Estmated Total Cost |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Personal Services |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Current Expenses |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Repairs and Alterations |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Assets |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 2. Estimated Total Revenues |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Explanation of above estimates (including long-range effect):
Please explain increases and decreases in personal services, current expenses, repairs and alterations, assets, other costs and revenues, including assumptions and data sources and delineation between start-up and ongoing costs. Please also include a long-range schedule of costs and revenues if fiscal impact is expected to vary in future years.
Memorandum
Many services are provided in accordance with strict programmatic guidelines and contingent on medical necessity. Any court determination that does not take those factors into consideration could jeopardize service providers, other patients, and the program. BBH has had a handful of issues previously with courts attempting to court order substance use treatment programs which creates a wide range of challenges that can be counterproductive to service delivery, programmatic integrity and eventual outcomes.
Person submitting Fiscal Note: Jeffrey H. Coben
Email Address: dhhrsecretary@wv.gov