H. B. 3223
(By Delegates Long and Porter)
[Introduced February 23, 2007; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §16-29I-1, §16-29I-2,
§16-29I-3, §16-29I-4, §16-29I-5, §16-29I-6, §16-29I-7,
§16-29I-8, §16-29I-9 and §16-29I-10, all relating to creating
a revolving loan fund to be administered by the West Virginia
Health Care Authority Board to provide grants and loans to
assist hospitals in the rationalization and restructuring of
their health care delivery systems; setting forth the criteria
and conditions for approving hospital restructuring plans and
grants or loans from the revolving funds; and providing the
Health Care Authority Board with reporting responsibilities
and rule making authority to implement the provisions of the
new article.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated §16-29I-1, §16-29I-2,
§16-29I-3, §16-29I-4, §16-29I-5, §16-29I-6, §16-29I-7, §16-29I-8,
§16-29I-9 and §16-29I-10, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 29I. WEST VIRGINIA HEALTH CARE AUTHORITY REVOLVING LOAN
AND GRANT FUND.
§16-29I-1. Legislative findings; purpose.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the
rationalization and restructuring of the health care delivery
system, particularly for services provided by hospitals can provide
for efficiencies and corresponding reduced costs for the delivery
and provision of health care services provided by hospitals.
Further, the Legislature finds and declares that the
rationalization and restructuring of the health care delivery
system by a hospital or combination of hospitals can, if undertaken
properly, provide health care cost savings for both public health
care funds administered or funded by the state and for private
payors and health care insurers operating within the State of West
Virginia.
The Legislature further finds that state support of the
rationalization and restructuring of the delivery of hospital
services with state resources can be utilized to promote beneficial
cost containment restructuring for the health care delivery system
in the State of West Virginia.
Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide for a revolving loan and grant fund to be administered and utilized by
the board to provide grants, loans, and low interest or no interest
loans to hospitals or combinations of hospitals to assist in the
rationalization and restructuring of the health care delivery
system in the State of West Virginia.
§16-29I-2. Short Title.
This article may be cited as the West Virginia Health Care
Authority Revolving Loan and Grant Fund Act.
§16-29I-3. Definitions.
Definitions of words and terms defined herein in articles
two-d, five-f and twenty-nine-b of this chapter are incorporated in
this section for the purposes of this article unless this article
contains different definitions.
(a) "Fund" means the West Virginia Health Care Authority
Revolving Loan and Grant Fund created under section four of this
article.
(b) "Hospital Restructuring Plan" means a plan submitted by a
hospital or combination of hospitals to the board for review and
approval pursuant to section five of this article.
§16-29I-4. Revolving Fund Created.
(a) The board shall create and establish a special revolving
fund of moneys made available to the fund by appropriation, grant,
contribution, loan, or statutory dedication to be known as the West
Virginia Health Care Authority Revolving Loan and Grant Fund. The fund shall be governed, administered and accounted for by the
board.
Any money collected pursuant to this section, including the
repayment of loans made by the board, shall be paid into the fund
by any state agent or entity charged with the collection of the
same, credited to the fund, and used only for the purposes set
forth in this article.
(b) The board may pledge revenues to the fund and from time to
time establish one or more restricted accounts within the fund for
the purpose of providing funds to guarantee loans made pursuant to
this article. No loan guarantee shall be made pursuant to this
article unless recourse under the loan guarantee is limited solely
to amounts in the restricted account or accounts. No person shall
have any recourse to any restricted accounts established pursuant
to this subsection other than those persons to whom the loan
guarantee or guarantees have been made.
(c) Each loan, loan guarantee, grant or form of other
financial assistance made or provided by the board from the fund
shall be evidenced by a loan document, a loan guarantee document,
a grant or assistance agreement, or such other writing or document
or documents as the board may deem appropriate, between the Health
Care Authority Board and the hospital or hospitals to which the
loan, loan guarantee, grant or assistance shall be made available
or provided. Said agreements shall include, without limitation and to the extent applicable, the following provisions:
(1) The estimated total costs of the hospital restructuring
plan, the amount of the loan, loan guarantee, or grant, and in the
case of a loan or loan guarantee, the terms of repayment and the
security therefore if any;
(2) The specific purposes for which the loan or grant proceeds
shall be expended and the conditions and procedures for dispersing
a loan or grant proceeds; and
(3) The duties, conditions and obligations imposed by the
board upon the hospital or hospitals regarding the hospital
restructuring plan.
(d) Moneys in the fund shall be approved for expenditure, by
loan or grant, by the Health Care Authority Board only as said
moneys are available in the fund. Approval of expenditures by the
board may occur without appropriation by the Legislature prior to
the first day of July, two thousand eight. After the first day of
July, two thousand eight, expenditures from the fund shall be made
by the board only pursuant to available amounts appropriated by the
Legislature.
§16-29I-5. Use of Revolving Loan Funds by Loan or Grant, Hospital
Restructuring Plans.
A hospital or combination of hospitals, whether or not related
by common ownership or management, may submit to the board for its
approval, a hospital restructuring plan which provides for the rationalization and restructuring of health care delivery services
provided by the hospital or combination of hospitals. The
submission of a hospital restructuring plan or plans by a hospital
or a combination of hospitals, shall be in a form and manner
authorized by the board and shall include the following
information:
(1) The sponsoring hospital or combination of hospitals
submitting the hospital restructuring plan;
(2) All financial information required by the board relevant
to an analysis of the proposed hospital restructuring plan and the
subsequent delivery of impacted services;
(3) An estimate of savings and the methodologies utilized to
calculate those savings for both public and private health care
payors attributable to the implementation of the hospital
restructuring plan;
(4) The amount of any loan or grant requested by the hospital
or combination of hospitals and the purposes for which any loan or
grant will be utilized by the hospital or combination of hospitals,
to implement the hospital restructuring plan;
(5) An identification of any other benefits or enhancements of
services provided by the hospital or combination of hospitals
attributable to the implementation of the hospital restructuring
plan;
(6) Any other relevant information requested by the board necessary to review and analyze the submitted hospital
restructuring plan.
§16-29I-6. Review of Hospital Restructuring Plans.
(a) The board shall review and may approve or reject hospital
restructuring plans submitted to it from time to time. Upon
approval of any submitted plan, the board may in its sole
discretion provide from the fund a loan, low-interest loan,
no-interest loan, grant or other funding in such form and on such
terms and conditions as the board deems appropriate to assist in
the implementation of the hospital restructuring plan. Prior to
approving any plan, the board shall make a factual determination
that the implementation of the hospital restructuring plan will
rationalize and restructure the delivery of health care services
provided by the hospital or combination of hospitals submitting the
plan, and shall further determine that the implementation of the
plan will provide a cost savings for hospital services delivered by
the hospital or combination of hospitals for both public and
private health care payors.
(b) The board may approve hospital restructuring plans and
loans or grants from the revolving fund contingent upon any
conditions deemed necessary by the board to assure the repayment of
any loan, which may include but need not be limited to the
successful implementation of the cost containment objectives of any
hospital restructuring plan.
(c) The board is empowered to withhold future rate approvals,
certificates of need and rural health system loans and grants if
any of the terms or conditions of the loan, grant or other funding
provided by the board is not subsequently satisfied or met by the
hospital or combination of hospitals receiving such loan, grant or
other funding from the fund.
§16-29I-7. Temporary Exemption For Approval Process.
The board may in its discretion conduct such hearing or
hearing as it deems necessary for the consideration of hospital
restructuring plans: Provided, That both the application
consideration process and the loan or grant approval process
provided for herein and undertaken by the board and completed prior
to the first day of July, two thousand eight, are exempt from the
requirement of holding hearings upon the written demand of any
person alleging that they are interested in or affected by any act
or failure to act by the board pursuant to article twenty-nine-b.
§16-29I-8. Review of Final Decisions of Board.
A final decision of the board accepting or rejecting a
hospital restructuring plan submitted pursuant to the terms of this
article, shall upon request of the hospital or combination of
hospitals making application of said plan be reviewed and approved
pursuant to the provisions of article twenty-nine (b) of this
chapter: Provided, That no appeal or review authority shall have
the authority or jurisdiction to require the board to provide or alter the conditions of any loan, grant or combination thereof.
§16-29I-9. Rule making Authority.
The board may propose rules, including emergency rules, for
legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article
three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to implement and make
effective the powers, duties and responsibilities contained in this
article.
§16-29I-10. Annual Report.
The board shall within thirty days following the close of the
fiscal year, or from time to time as requested by the Legislature,
prepare and transmit to the Governor and the Legislative Oversight
Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability, a report
of its operations and activities for the proceeding year regarding
the consideration, denial or approval of hospital restructuring
plans and any loans or grants made pursuant to the approval of said
plans.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to improve the efficiency
of the health care delivery infrastructure in West Virginia, by
facilitating restructuring plans by one or more hospitals that will
provide a cost savings for hospital services. A revolving fund is
created to provide loans or other funding for such purposes, to be
administered by the Health Care Authority in accordance with the
provisions of the bill.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.