Enacts "Vincent Scheppa's law" authorizing, in certain cases, the provision of private duty nursing services to a medical assistance recipient by a relative…

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Siela Bynoe says this is needed

On occasion, an individual who requires and is approved for in-home nursing care through Medicaid has a family member who is a registered professional nurse licensed in the state and qualified to provide the care needed by their loved one. Current practice only allows a family member to provide care and be reimbursed under Medicaid through the Consumer Directed Personal Assistant Program (CDPAP) at the personal assistant rate of pay. This program allows family members to provide services traditionally reserved to those licensed as nurses in limited instances. However, CDPAP does not have a mechanism to allow relatives to be hired and paid a nursing rate for approved in-home nursing care. As a result, a nurse who would like to provide the care at home for a relative must be able to afford to take a substantial pay cut to do so or work as a nurse caring for someone else in order to earn the salary commensurate to their licensure. This legislation provides a mechanism for Medicaid recipients, or their representatives, to apply to the Department of Health in these rare instances where a family member is qualified and interested in providing nursing services through Medicaid to their loved one and be reimbursed at a nursing rate. Vincent Scheppa suffered a brain injury in May of 2016 and has been unable to care for himself since then. Vincent's mother Chris Scheppa is a registered trauma nurse at the Mercy Medical Center Emergency Room. Chris is constantly having to train a revolving door of home health aid workers on the specific medical needs of her son. She has been by Vincent's side since the accident.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.