PETITION OF:

SECTION 1. Beginning with the fiscal year immediately following the passage of this act, funding for so-called vendor payments to residential care facilities, also known as rest homes, as provided for in 4405-2000 shall be paid through a distinct line item within the Executive Office of Elder Affairs.

SECTION 2. Chapter 19A of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 13, the following section:-

Section 14: Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there is hereby established an advisory committee on residential care facilities. The advisory committee is charged with reviewing the status of residential care facilities in the Commonwealth, including the number of facility closures, and shall make recommendations to the Office on Long Term Care relative to funding and reimbursement options to ensure the stability of residential care facilities as options for elders and persons with disabilities in the Commonwealth. Specifically, the advisory committee shall study funding/payment options for residential care facilities which will maximize federal financial participation, including making residential care a service funded under the section 1915(c) Home and Community Based Services waiver and amending the state plan to make residential care a reimbursable service. Based on the results of the study, the advisory committee shall make a recommendation to the Secretary of Elder Affairs on actions to be taken, no later than 120 following the passage of this act. The Secretary of Elder Affairs shall take whatever steps necessary to implement the committee’s recommendation.

The advisory committee shall be comprised of the Secretary of Elder Affairs, who will serve as the chair of the committee, the Commissioner of the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy or his or her designee, the Director of the Division of Health Care Quality at the Department of Public Health or his or her designee, the director of the Office for Medicaid or his or her designee, one state Senator to be appointed by the Senate President, one state representative to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, three individuals representing residential care providers at least one from the Massachusetts Aging Services Association (MassAging) and one from the Mass Association of Residential Care Homes (MARCH). The committee shall meet not less than on a quarterly basis.

SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any general or special law, rule, regulation, or code section to the contrary, for the purposes of new construction or substantial renovation, a freestanding resident care facility (level IV) as defined in 105 CMR 150.001 shall be classified, for state building code purposes, in the residential use group R-1, R-2, R-3 or R-4 as applicable. Portions of a residential care facility which are used for any use other than residential shall be classified in accordance with the intended use.

SECTION 4. Section 72 of Chapter 111 of the General Laws is hereby amended in the first paragraph by adding at the end thereof the following:-

Prior to proposing any new regulations establishing new requirements for convalescent or nursing homes, rest homes, charitable homes for the aged and intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded, the Department shall complete an analysis to determine the costs associated with implementing the new regulations and shall disclose the cost analysis together with the notice of proposed amendment.