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Health and Social Services

Medicaid

House Bill 1 - State Appropriations Bill

bulletMedicaid budget for the 1997/98 fiscal year is funded at $3.28 billion bullet$70 million to reinstate the Medicaid Medically Needy Program bullet$4.7 million to fund additional Mentally Retarded/Developmentally Disabled waiver slots bullet$4 million for support services to 460 people on the MR/DD waiting list bullet$5.1 million for an increase in board rate for foster families and adoption subsidy cases

House Concurrent Resolution 41 - Health Care Pilot Programs

bulletAuthorizes the following health care pilot programs in situations where these programs cost less than the current Medicaid program: bulletMedicaid Region III managed care (enrollment in HMOs) pilot bulletMedicaid voucher program bulletMedicaid center of excellence program bulletModified community care program which requires gatekeeper physician referrals and tracking the use of services

House Concurrent Resolution 180 - Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)

bulletPaper food stamps and cash welfare benefits will be replaced by an electronic debit card bulletPart of a federal effort to reduce food stamp fraud to ensure benefits are used for their intended purposes bulletHB 2498 requires the EBT system to identify nonallowable items and requires photo identification on the cards bulletFunds: bullet$608,250 for statewide implementation bullet$17,895 for start-up training bullet$4,003,137 for statewide implementation - professional services

House Bill 1162 (Act No. 3) - Charity Hospital System Transfer

bulletState charity hospital administration transferred from the La. Health Care Authority to the newly created LSU Medical Center Health Services Division bulletAbolishes the La. Health Care Authority and transfers all of its employees to the LSU Medical Center bulletTransfers authority of 9 of the state's 10 charity hospitals - LSU already runs the charity hospital in Shreveport bulletThe Medical Center of La. in New Orleans and the Huey P. Long Hospital in Pineville will be jointly run by LSU and Tulane University bulletLSU and Tulane will select a non-profit organization to conduct day-to-day operations of the Medical Center of La. in New Orleans bulletLegislative approval is required before a hospital can be closed or expenditures are reduced more than 10% bulletAuthorizes the LSU Medical Center to create a Health Maintenance Organization for state Medicaid recipients bulletCreates community advisory committees to work with each hospital to assure that the needs of the communities served by those hospitals are met bulletEffective July 1, 1997

 

Abortions

Senate Bill 1558 (Act No. 933) - Minors Seeking Abortions

bulletSought to correct a constitutional problem in the state's abortion law which deals with minors seeking court orders for abortions bulletFederal courts ruled that the La. law illegally gave Juvenile Court judges the power to deny abortions to certain minors (Causeway Medical Suite v. Richard P. Ieyoub) bulletRuling said abortions could not be blocked if minors are mature and informed, or if the procedure is in their best interest bulletNew law allows a juvenile seeking an abortion to undergo an evaluation and counseling session with a mental health professional from the Dept. of Health and Hospitals or a staff member of the Dept. of Social Services, or both, to determine if she is competent to make her own decision concerning the abortion bulletIf she is found to be mature, the new law requires that the judge allow her to make her own decision concerning the abortion without parental consent bulletIf the minor is deemed to be incompetent, then the judge must determine if the abortion is in the best interest of the minor, and if it would be in the minor's best interest not to notify the parents bulletNew law provides for prompt appeals and decisions in cases when the court denies the request of an immature minor in the absence of parental notification bulletEffective July 10, 1997

Senate Bill 943 (Act No. 906) - Partial Birth Abortions

bulletProhibits the procedure known as partial birth abortions unless the life of the mother is at stake bulletPenalties imposed on anyone performing this procedure: bulletMaximum 10 year jail sentence bulletFine of $10,000 to $100,000 bulletBiological mother, father or guardians of the mother may bring suit bulletProcedure: bulletUsed to abort fetuses after the 20th week of pregnancy bulletThe fetus is pulled feet first through the birth canal, the skull is collapsed with an incision and the fetus is removed bulletEffective July 10, 1997

House Bill 1720 (Act No. 825) - Abortion Suits

bulletWomen have up to 10 years to sue the doctor who performed her abortion bulletEffective August 15, 1997

 

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