(a) Beginning October 1, 2020, a Medicaid reserve shall be re-established as paper agency of the Department.
(b) Notwithstanding D.C. Official Code §§ 44-361, 44-362, 44-363, and 44-365, funds may be transferred from the Medicaid reserve to the Department:
(1) To pay expenses associated with increased Medicaid enrollment or service utilization upon a determination by the Agency Fiscal Officer that available funds within the Department are projected to be exhausted;
(2) To pay expenses associated increased costs of Medicaid services upon a determination by the Agency Fiscal Officer that available funds within the Department are projected to be exhausted;
(3) To satisfy the District's requirement that sufficient funds be available to support a Department contract or a grant; and
(4) Provided that sufficient funds are still available within the Medicaid reserve to ensure a deficiency will not occur at the Department, to support the following health innovations within the Department:
(A) To create a Medicaid Buy-In Program;
(B) To fund telehealth programs including:
(i) Maintaining audio-only telehealth programs after a public health emergency;
(ii) Funding the Postpartum Coverage Expansion Act of 2020, passed on 2nd reading on July 21, 2020 (Enrolled version of Bill 23-326); and
(iii) Issuing contracts or grants for the purposes of expanding District health care providers' digital or telehealth capacity, including, for example, such innovations as the creation or expansion of patient care coordination platforms to enable nonprofit entities and practitioners to communicate with Medicaid beneficiaries' clinical and recovery support care teams in real time to improve continuity of care and ensure proper follow-up, including the purchase of telecommunications services, information services, devices, software, remote patient monitoring tools, and digital health tools;
(C) To fund reforms to the DC Healthcare Alliance Program, including:
(i) Allowing eligible District residents to submit Alliance applications electronically, without a face-to-face interview with the Department of Human Services, during a public health emergency;
(ii) Allowing Alliance clients to submit recertification applications to health care providers approved by the Department, without a face-to-face interview with the Department of Human Services, after a public health emergency;
(iii) Extending the Alliance eligibility period from 6 months to one year; and
(D) To award a competitive grant in an amount not to exceed $150,000 to fund operating expenses associated with the provision of medical respite care services to individuals who are homeless.
(c) The Office of the Chief Financial Officer shall notify the Budget Director of the Council of the District of Columbia in writing within 3 business days whenever a transfer is made from the Medicaid reserve pursuant to this section. The notice shall set forth the amount and purpose of the transfer.
(d) Funds may be reprogrammed from the Medicaid reserve for purposes other than those detailed in subsection (b) of this section, subject to subchapter IV of Chapter 3 of Title 47; provided, that the Office of the Chief Financial Officer determines that sufficient funds are still available within the Medicaid reserve to ensure a deficiency will not occur at the Department.
(Feb. 27, 2008, D.C. Law 17-109, § 8b; as added Dec. 3, 2020, D.C. Law 23-149, § 5032(b), 67 DCR 10493.)