Resolve, To Establish the Task Force To Study Opportunities for Improving Home and Community-based Services
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0653
Committee: Health and Human Services
Sponsors: COOPER, SANBORN, DENNO, PEOPLES, STANLEY, VEROW

Legislative Document
No. 653
H.P. 474
House of Representatives, February 7, 2019
Resolve, To Establish the Task Force To Study Opportunities for 
Improving Home and Community-based Services
Reference to the Committee on Health and Human Services suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative COOPER of Yarmouth.
Cosponsored by Senator SANBORN, H. of Cumberland and
Representatives: DENNO of Cumberland, PEOPLES of Westbrook, STANLEY of Medway, 
VEROW of Brewer.
Sec. 1.  Task force established.  Resolved:  That, notwithstanding Joint Rule 
353, the Task Force To Study Opportunities for Improving Home and Community-Based 
Services, referred to in this section as "the task force," is established to study how to 
make home and community-based services accessible to all residents of the State in need 
of these services.
Sec. 2.  Membership; chairs.  Resolved:  That the task force consists of 13 
members as follows:
1.  Four members appointed by the President of the Senate, including at least one 
Legislator who is not a member of the same political party as the President of the Senate, 
as follows:
A. One member of the Senate who serves on the Joint Standing Committee on Health 
and Human Services, who serves as a cochair of the task force;
B. One member of the Senate who serves on the Joint Standing Committee on Labor 
and Housing;
C. One member who is a representative of community-based services providers that 
currently provide home and community-based services; and
D. One member who is a worker who provides home and community-based services 
or is directly knowledgeable about workers who provide home and community-based 
services;
2.  Four members appointed by the Speaker of the House, including at least one 
Legislator who is not a member of the same political party as the Speaker of the House, 
as follows:
A.  Two members of the House of Representatives who serve on the Joint Standing 
Committee on Health and Human Services, the first-named of whom serves as a 
cochair of the task force;
B.  One member of the House of Representatives who serves on the Joint Standing 
Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs; and
C.  One member who represents an advocacy organization for seniors;
3.  Three members appointed by the Governor, as follows:
A.  One member who is a recipient of home or community-based services under 
MaineCare or who has a family member who is a recipient of home or community-
based services under MaineCare;
B.  One member who represents an advocacy organization for persons with 
disabilities; and
C.  One member of the public;
4.  The Commissioner of Health and Human Services or the commissioner's designee; 
and
5.  The Commissioner of Labor or the commissioner's designee.
Sec. 3.  Appointments; convening of task force. Resolved:  That all 
appointments must be made no later than 30 days following the effective date of this 
resolve. The appointing authorities shall notify the Executive Director of the Legislative 
Council once all appointments have been completed. Within 15 days after appointment of 
all members, the cochairs shall call and convene the first meeting of the task force, which 
must be no later than 30 days following the appointment of all members. Subsequent 
meetings are at the call of the cochairs or by decision of a majority of the members. The 
task force may meet 10 times.
Sec. 4.  Duties.  Resolved:  That the study conducted by the task force must 
include, but is not limited to:
1.  A review of the population in need of home and community-based services, the 
expected demand for services and approaches for determining eligibility;
2.  A review of the potential scope of services needed, including the type and 
frequency of services, staff time and other resources required to provide those services 
and the availability and qualifications of the workers who could provide those services;
3.  An examination of existing services provided through public sector and private 
sector systems, gaps in the systems resulting in unmet needs and the costs to a typical 
recipient expressed as a percentage of the income of typical recipients;
4. An analysis of the potential for innovative approaches to reimbursement for 
services and a review of promising proposals and successful models from other 
jurisdictions;
5.  A discussion with existing public and private home and community-based services 
providers to analyze the potential for greater coordination and the options for expanding 
services to meet projected needs;
6.  An analysis of the options for recruiting and retaining a workforce with the 
requisite skills and with sufficient capacity to satisfy the needs of the population to be 
served;
7.  An analysis of how federal Medicaid matching funding may provide opportunities 
to achieve more sustainable delivery of home and community-based services in the 
future;
8.  An analysis of how cost-sharing approaches can help maximize the scope and 
efficacy of home and community-based services delivery available in the State; and
9.  An analysis of other policies and strategies that a majority of the task force 
members agree to include in this study.
Sec. 5.  Staff assistance.  Resolved:  That the Department of Health and Human 
Services and the Department of Labor shall provide the task force with staff assistance 
and access to any nonconfidential aggregate information necessary for the task force to 
carry out its duties.
Sec. 6.  Interim report; public input. Resolved:  That the task force shall 
publish an interim report by October 15, 2019 and seek and obtain input on the interim 
report from a wide range of experts on home and community-based services policy, 
workers, families and agencies around the State who are knowledgeable about home and 
community-based services or affected by changes in cost or availability of home and 
community-based services.
Sec. 7.  Final report.  Resolved:  That the task force shall submit a report 
containing its findings and recommendations, including any necessary implementing 
legislation, to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services by December 
15, 2019. The findings and recommendations submitted by the task force must relate to at 
least the following proposals:
1.  The development of policies and strategies to increase the availability of home and 
community-based services to seniors and persons with disabilities who have difficulty 
with at least one activity of daily living;
2.  The establishment of an approach to workforce development that ensures that 
sufficient personnel are trained and available to serve the home and community-based 
services needs in the State at adequate compensation levels and allows providers to 
establish stable and reliable employee work schedules;
3.  An approach to cost-sharing that marshals scarce resources while ensuring that 
excessive cost is not a widespread obstacle to obtaining needed services; and
4.  The development of a procedure whereby the Department of Labor and the 
Department of Health and Human Services will report annually to the joint standing 
committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services matters 
and labor matters on the subjects addressed by this task force.
The Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services may submit a bill 
related to this report to the Second Regular Session of the 129th Legislature.
Sec. 8.  Outside funding.  Resolved:  That the task force may seek outside 
funding to support the work of the task force in accordance with the policy of the 
Legislative Council with regard to outside funding.
SUMMARY
This resolve establishes the Task Force To Study Opportunities for Improving Home 
and Community-based Services. The task force membership consists of Legislators, 
representatives of entities knowledgeable about or involved in home and community-
based services, one provider of such services, one recipient of such services, the 
Commissioner of Health and Human Services, the Commissioner of Labor and one 
member of the public. The task force's duties include examination and review of the 
unmet need for home and community-based services, adequacy of the workforce 
providing home and community-based services, current systems for delivering home and 
community-based services and reimbursement arrangements in the home and community-
based services sector. The task force is required to publish an interim report by October 
15, 2019 and then seek input from stakeholders around the State. The task force must 
report its findings and recommendations, including any necessary implementing 
legislation, to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services by December 
15, 2019.