(a) The Commissioner of Social Services, pursuant to Section 6071 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, shall submit an application to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Money Follows the Person demonstration project. Such project shall be designed to achieve the objectives set forth in Section 6071(a) of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. Services available under the demonstration project shall include, but need not be limited to, personal care assistance services. The commissioner may apply for a Medicaid research and demonstration waiver under Section 1115 of the Social Security Act, if such waiver is necessary to implement the demonstration project. The commissioner may, if necessary, modify any existing Medicaid home or community-based waiver if such modification is required to implement the demonstration project.

(b) (1) The Commissioner of Social Services shall submit, in accordance with this subdivision, a copy of any report on the Money Follows the Person demonstration project that the commissioner is required to submit to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and that pertains to (A) the status of the implementation of the Money Follows the Person demonstration project, (B) the anticipated date that the first eligible person or persons will be transitioned into the community, or (C) information concerning when and how the Department of Social Services will transition additional eligible persons into the community. The commissioner shall submit such copy to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to aging and human services, in accordance with the provisions of § 11-4a. Copies of reports prepared prior to October 1, 2009, shall be submitted by said date and copies of reports prepared thereafter shall be submitted semiannually.

(2) After October 1, 2009, if the commissioner has not prepared any new reports for submission to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for any six-month submission period under subdivision (1) of this subsection, the commissioner shall prepare and submit a written report in accordance with this subdivision to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to aging and human services, in accordance with the provisions of § 11-4a. Such report shall include (A) the status of the implementation of the Money Follows the Person demonstration project, (B) the anticipated date that the first eligible person or persons will be transitioned into the community, and (C) information concerning when and how the Department of Social Services will transition additional eligible persons into the community.

(c) The Commissioner of Social Services shall develop a strategic plan, consistent with the long-term care plan established pursuant to § 17b-337, to rebalance Medicaid long-term care supports and services, including, but not limited to, those supports and services provided in home, community-based settings and institutional settings. The commissioner shall include home, community-based and institutional providers in the development of the strategic plan. In developing the strategic plan the commissioner shall consider topics that include, but are not limited to: (1) Regional trends concerning the state’s aging population; (2) trends in the demand for home, community-based and institutional services; (3) gaps in the provision of home and community-based services which prevent community placements; (4) gaps in the provision of institutional care; (5) the quality of care provided by home, community-based and institutional providers; (6) the condition of institutional buildings; (7) the state’s regional supply of institutional beds; (8) the current rate structure applicable to home, community-based and institutional services; (9) the methods of implementing adjustments to the bed capacity of individual nursing facilities; and (10) a review of the provisions of subsection (a) of § 17b-354.

(d) The Commissioner of Social Services shall, within available resources, maintain a data collection system, in accordance with the federal reporting requirements pursuant to Section 6071 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, as amended from time to time, to guide the development of the strategic plan for long-term care. In maintaining the data collection system, the commissioner shall, as applicable: (1) Establish a process to identify and report on individuals participating in the Money Follows the Person demonstration project who signed an informed consent agreement to participate; (2) ensure that persons and agencies identifying persons as candidates for the Money Follows the Person demonstration project have access to information regarding plans to transition persons from institutional to community living and options for persons not eligible for the demonstration project; (3) ensure that Money Follows the Person demonstration project participants are counted only once for reporting purposes regardless of how many times they have been referred to the demonstration project; (4) establish a benchmark length of time that Money Follows the Person demonstration project participants may hold a status of “transition in process” before they are placed in a home in the community; and (5) identify steps to reduce the post-transition outcome of premature death for participants with chronic diseases or health conditions, including cardiac, pulmonary and endocrinal conditions or diabetes.

(e) The Commissioner of Social Services may contract with nursing facilities, as defined in § 17b-357, and home and community-based providers for the purpose of carrying out the strategic plan. In addition, the commissioner may revise a rate paid to a nursing facility pursuant to § 17b-340 in order to effectuate the strategic plan. The commissioner may fund strategic plan initiatives with federal grant-in-aid resources available to the state pursuant to the Money Follows the Person demonstration project pursuant to Section 6071 of the Deficit Reduction Act, P.L. 109-171, and the State Balancing Incentive Payments Program under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111-148.

(f) If a nursing facility has reason to know that a resident is likely to become financially eligible for Medicaid benefits within one hundred eighty days, the nursing facility shall notify the resident or the resident’s representative and the department. The department may (1) assess any such resident to determine if the resident prefers and is able to live appropriately at home or in some other community-based setting, and (2) develop a care plan and assist the resident in his or her transition to the community.

(g) The Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner’s designee, may waive the requirements of sections 19-13-D8t, 19-13-D6 and 19-13-D105 of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies, if a provider requires such a waiver for purposes of effectuating the strategic plan developed pursuant to subsection (c) of this section and the commissioner, or the commissioner’s designee, determines that such waiver will not endanger the health and safety of the provider’s residents or clients. The commissioner, or the commissioner’s designee, may impose conditions on the granting of any waiver which are necessary to ensure the health and safety of the provider’s residents or clients. The commissioner, or the commissioner’s designee, may revoke any waiver granted pursuant to this subsection upon a finding that the health or safety of a resident or client of a provider has been jeopardized.