2021 -- S 0101

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LC000648

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES -- HEALTH CARE FOR FAMILIES

     Introduced By: Senators Calkin, Anderson, Mack, Mendes, Bell, and Quezada

     Date Introduced: January 26, 2021

     Referred To: Senate Finance

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Chapter 40-8.4 of the General Laws entitled "Health Care for Families" is

hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

     40-8.4-21. Employer public assistance assessment.

     (a) Employer Assessment. Each employer employing no less than three hundred (300)

employees within the state of Rhode Island, shall pay quarterly an assessment for each employee

who is a Medicaid beneficiary for every day of the quarter, whether full- or part-time; provided,

however, no nonprofit organization or governmental entity shall be considered an employer for the

purposes of this section. The assessment shall be computed by multiplying the wages the employer

paid any such employee by ten percent (10%), up to an annual maximum assessment of one

thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per Medicaid beneficiary employee. Working adults with

disabilities, as further defined by regulation authorized in subsection (g) of this section, employees

enrolled in RIte Share and employees who only have children enrolled in Medicaid are exempted

employees for whom the employer will not be charged an employer assessment under this section.

     (b) Wages. For the purposes of this section, “wages” means all compensation due to an

employee by reason of his or her employment.

     (c) Appeal. An employer notified of a liability determination under this section may request

a hearing with the department of labor and training to appeal the liability determination. The request

for a hearing shall be filed not more than fifteen (15) days after the receipt of notice of the

determination. The decision rendered at the conclusion of the hearing shall be considered a final

agency order.

     (d) Eligibility inquiries. Notwithstanding the appeal right in subsection (c) of this section,

an employer may issue to the department of human services a request for review of the Medicaid

eligibility of any employee for whom the employer is charged an assessment. Except where

prohibited by federal law, the state is authorized to make a limited disclosure to the inquiring

employer regarding the name of any Medicaid beneficiary employee for whom the employer is

being assessed under subsection (a) of this section.

     (e) Discrimination prohibited. No employer may take any adverse action against any

employee or potential employee on the basis of the employee’s status as a Medicaid beneficiary.

Any employer found to have discriminated on this basis shall be subject to a penalty prescribed in

regulations promulgated pursuant to this section.

     (f) Data sharing. The departments of administration, revenue, human services, and labor

and training, and the executive office of health and human services are authorized to share data and

information to implement this section. Data collected by the departments of administration,

revenue, human services, labor and training, or the executive office of health and human services

for the implementation of this section shall not be a public record.

     (g) Regulations. The departments of labor and training and human services are authorized

to promulgate regulations to implement the provisions of this section, including additional

parameters on which employees cause the assessment and the definition of working disabled adults

exempted from the employer assessment contained in subsection (a) of this section, in consultation

with the executive office of health and human services and department of revenue.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2022.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES -- HEALTH CARE FOR FAMILIES

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     This act would establish a "Medicaid Employer Assessment" for employers with three

hundred (300) or more employees. The assessment is for each employee enrolled in Medicaid. The

assessment would equal ten percent (10%) of the employee's wages capped at one thousand five

hundred dollars ($1,500) per employee/per year.

     This act would take effect on January 1, 2022.

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