Sub. S.B. No. 214 Summary

• Establishes "home first" components for PASSPORT, PACE, and Assisted Living programs that prioritize enrollment of individuals already in nursing facilities or at imminent risk of admission, using a unified waiting list across these three programs.

• Revises Medicaid debt collection procedures for long-term care facilities by requiring the Department of Job and Family Services to estimate debts within 60 days, provide written notice, and allow exiting operators to contest findings through a structured review and dispute process.

• Creates successor liability agreements allowing entering operators or affiliated operators to assume exiting operator debts in exchange for reduced or eliminated payment withholdings, with specific financial thresholds and conditions for eligibility.

• Authorizes temporary Certificate of Need applications (through December 31, 2010) for relocating up to 15 long-term care beds from hospitals in specific counties to existing nursing homes in contiguous counties, under defined population and capacity conditions.

• Adds new definitions and grounds for denying Certificate of Need applications, including references to "actual harm but not immediate jeopardy" and "immediate jeopardy" deficiencies under federal regulations, replacing previous statutory language.