32.1-122.07 - Authority of Commissioner for certain health planning activities; rural health plan; designation as a rural hospital.
§ 32.1-122.07. Authority of Commissioner for certain health planningactivities; rural health plan; designation as a rural hospital.
A. The Commissioner, with the approval of the Board, is authorized to makeapplication for federal funding and to receive and expend such funds inaccordance with state and federal regulations.
B. The Commissioner shall administer section 1122 of the United States SocialSecurity Act if the Commonwealth has made an agreement with the United StatesSecretary of Health and Human Services pursuant to such section.
C. In compliance with the provisions of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, P.L.105-33, and any amendments to such provisions, the Commissioner shall submitto the appropriate regional administrator of the Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services (CMS) an application to establish a Medicare Rural HospitalFlexibility Program in Virginia.
D. The Commissioner shall develop and the Board of Health shall approve arural health care plan for the Commonwealth to be included with theapplication to establish a Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program. Incooperation and consultation with the Virginia Hospital and Health CareAssociation, the Medical Society of Virginia, representatives of ruralhospitals, and experts within the Department of Health on rural healthprograms, the plan shall be developed and revised as necessary or as requiredby the provisions of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, P.L. 105-33, and anyamendments to such provisions. In the development of the plan, theCommissioner may also seek the assistance of the regional health planningagencies. The plan shall verify that the Commonwealth is in the process ofdesignating facilities located in Virginia as critical access hospitals,shall note that the Commonwealth wishes to certify facilities as "necessaryproviders" of health care in rural areas, and shall describe the process,methodology, and eligibility criteria to be used for such designations orcertifications. Virginia's rural health care plan shall reflect local needsand resources and shall, at minimum, include, but need not be limited to, amechanism for creating one or more rural health networks, ways to encouragerural health service regionalization, and initiatives to improve access tohealth services, including hospital services, for rural Virginians.
E. Notwithstanding any provisions of this chapter or the Board's regulationsto the contrary, the Commissioner shall, in the rural health care plan, (i)use as minimum standards for critical access hospitals, the certificationregulations for critical access hospitals promulgated by the Centers forMedicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) pursuant to Title XVIII of the SocialSecurity Act, as amended; and (ii) authorize critical access hospitals toutilize a maximum of ten beds among their inpatient hospital beds as swingbeds for the furnishing of services of the type which, if furnished by anursing home or certified nursing facility, would constitute skilled careservices without complying with nursing home licensure requirements orretaining the services of a licensed nursing home administrator. Suchhospital shall include, within its plan of care, assurances for the overallwell-being of patients occupying such beds.
F. Nothing herein or set forth in Virginia's rural health care plan shallprohibit any hospital designated as a critical access hospital from leasingthe unused portion of its facilities to other health care organizations orreorganizing its corporate structure to facilitate the continuation of thenursing home beds that were licensed to such hospital prior to thedesignation as a critical access hospital. The health care services deliveredby such other health care organizations shall not be construed as part of thecritical access hospital's services or license to operate.
G. Any medical care facility licensed as a hospital shall be considered arural hospital on and after September 30, 2004, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §1395ww(d)(8)(E)(ii)(II), if (i) the hospital is located in an area defined asrural by federal statute or regulation; (ii) the Board of Health defines, inregulation, the area in which the hospital is located as a rural health areaor the hospital as a rural hospital; or (iii) the hospital was designated,prior to October 1, 2004, as a Medicare-dependent small rural healthhospital, as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 1395ww(d)(5)(G)(iv).
(1989, cc. 617, 633; 2000, c. 903; 2002, c. 83; 2006, c. 378.)