Maryland HB 614: Hospitals - Changes in Status - Hospital Employee Retraining and Placement

Bill Text

EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
*hb0614*

HOUSE BILL 614
J3, K3 8lr2153
HB 932/17 – HGO CF SB 390
By: Delegates Lisanti, Anderson, Angel, Atterbeary, Barkley, B. Barnes,
D. Barnes, Barron, Barve, Brooks, Carr, Conaway, Cullison, Davis,
Ebersole, Fennell, Fraser–Hidalgo, Frick, Frush, Gaines, Gilchrist, Glenn,
Hayes, Haynes, Hettleman, Hill, Holmes, C. Howard, Kelly, Korman,
Lafferty, J. Lewis, R. Lewis, Lierman, Luedtke, McCray, McIntosh, McKay,
A. Miller, Morhaim, Mosby, Pena–Melnyk, Platt, Reznik, Robinson,
Rosenberg, Sample–Hughes, Sanchez, Tarlau, Turner, Valderrama,
Valentino–Smith, Waldstreicher, A. Washington, M. Washington, West,
Wilkins, K. Young, and P. Young
Introduced and read first time: January 29, 2018
Assigned to: Health and Government Operations

A BILL ENTITLED

AN ACT concerning 1

Hospitals – Changes in Status – Hospital Employee Retraining and Placement 2

FOR the purpose of requiring a hospital that downsizes to pay a fee directly to the 3
Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation if workers are displaced; 4
prohibiting the fee from exceeding a certain percent of total revenue approved by the 5
Health Services Cost Review Commission for a certain fiscal year; limiting the 6
number of times the fee may be assessed; prohibiting a certain fee paid by a hospital 7
that voluntarily closes, merges, or is delicensed from exceeding a certain percent of 8
total revenue approved by the Health Services Cost Review Commission, rather than 9
the gross operating revenue, for a certain fiscal year; requiring the Health Services 10
Cost Review Commission to prorate the total amount of certain fees in a certain 11
manner to derive a certain fee; prohibiting the Health Services Cost Review 12
Commission from including certain employees if the Health Services Cost Review 13
Commission uses the number of employees of a hospital who are affected by the 14
closure, merger, downsizing, or delicensing of the hospital in calculating a certain 15
fee; altering the purpose of a certain program the Department is required to 16
establish; requiring the Department to make a certain determination before using a 17
certain program; defining a certain term; making a conforming change; making 18
stylistic changes; and generally relating to hospital employee retraining and 19
placement related to changes in hospital status. 20

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 21
Article – Health – General 22

2 HOUSE BILL 614

Section 19–326.1 1
Annotated Code of Maryland 2
(2015 Replacement Volume and 2017 Supplement) 3

BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 4
Article – Labor and Employment 5
Section 11–201 6
Annotated Code of Maryland 7
(2016 Replacement Volume and 2017 Supplement) 8

SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 9
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 10

Article – Health – General 11

19–326.1. 12

(A) IN THIS SECTION, “DOWNSIZE” MEANS TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF 13
EMPLOYEES OF A HOSPITAL BY AT LEAST 10 FULL–TIME EQUIVALENT EMPLOYEES 14
IN ANY CONSECUTIVE 3–MONTH PERIOD. 15

(B) (1) If a hospital voluntarily closes, merges, DOWNSIZES, or is delicensed 16
under § 19–325 of this subtitle and workers are displaced[: 17

(1) Each], EACH hospital shall pay a fee directly to the Department of 18
Labor, Licensing, and Regulation. 19

(2) [The] SUBJECT TO PARAGRAPHS (3) AND (4) OF THIS SUBSECTION, 20
THE fee [shall] REQUIRED UNDER PARAGRAPH (1) OF THIS SUBSECTION: 21

(I) MAY not exceed 0.01 percent of the [gross operating] TOTAL 22
revenue APPROVED BY THE HEALTH SERVICES COST REVIEW COMMISSION for the 23
fiscal year immediately preceding the closure, MERGER, DOWNSIZING, or delicensing of 24
the hospital[. A fee shall only]; AND 25

(II) MAY be assessed ONLY once for each voluntary closure, merger, 26
DOWNSIZING, or delicensure. 27

(3) THE HEALTH SERVICES COST REVIEW COMMISSION SHALL 28
PRORATE THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF FEES AMONG ALL HOSPITALS BASED ON THE 29
RATIO OF THE ACTUAL GROSS PATIENT REVENUES OF AN INDIVIDUAL HOSPITAL TO 30
THE TOTAL GROSS PATIENT REVENUES OF ALL HOSPITALS TO DERIVE THE 31
INDIVIDUAL FEE FOR EACH HOSPITAL. 32

(4) IF THE HEALTH SERVICES COST REVIEW COMMISSION USES THE 33

HOUSE BILL 614 3

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AFFECTED BY THE CLOSURE, MERGER, DOWNSIZING, OR 1
DELICENSING OF A HOSPITAL IN CALCULATING THE FEE, THE HEALTH SERVICES 2
COST REVIEW COMMISSION MAY NOT INCLUDE AN EMPLOYEE WHO IS OFFERED A 3
COMPARABLE OR BETTER POSITION BY THE HOSPITAL AT AN AFFILIATED HOSPITAL 4
LOCATED WITHIN A 30–MILE RADIUS OF THE EMPLOYEE’S PLACE OF RESIDENCE. 5

[(2)] (5) The Secretary of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation shall pay the 6
fees received under this [section] SUBSECTION into the Hospital Employees Training Fund 7
established under § 11–201 of the Labor and Employment Article. 8

Article – Labor and Employment 9

11–201. 10

(A) IN THIS SECTION, “DOWNSIZE” MEANS TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF