2023 Rhode Island General Laws › Title 42 - State Affairs and Government › Chapter 42-7.2 - Office of Health and Human Services › Section 42-7.2-10. - Appropriations and disbursements.

§ 42-7.2-10. Appropriations and disbursements.
(a)
The general assembly shall annually appropriate such sums as it may deem necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this chapter. The state controller is hereby authorized and directed to draw his or her orders upon the general treasurer for the payment of such sum or sums, or so much thereof as may from time to time be required, upon receipt by him or her of proper vouchers approved by the secretary of the executive office of health and human services, or his or her designee.
(b)
For the purpose of recording federal financial participation associated with qualifying healthcare workforce development activities at the state’s public institutions of higher education, and pursuant to the Rhode Island designated state health programs (DSHP), as approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMC) October 20, 2016, in the 11-W-00242/1 amendment to Rhode Island’s section 1115 Demonstration Waiver, there is hereby established a restricted-receipt account entitled “Health System Transformation Project” in the general fund of the state and included in the budget of the office of health and human services.
(c)
There are hereby created within the general fund of the state and housed within the budget of the office of health and human services two restricted receipt accounts, respectively entitled “HCBS Support-ARPA” and “HCBS Admin Support-ARPA”. Amounts deposited into these accounts are equivalent to the general revenue savings generated by the enhanced federal match received on eligible home and community-based services between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022, allowable under Section 9817 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, Pub. L. No. 117-2. Funds deposited into the “HCBS Support-ARPA” account will be used to finance the state share of newly eligible Medicaid expenditures by the office of health and human services and its sister agencies, including the department of children, youth and families, the department of health, and the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals. Funds deposited into the “HCBS Admin Support-ARPA” account will be used to finance the state share of allowable administrative expenditures attendant to the implementation of these newly eligible Medicaid expenditures. The accounts created under this subsection shall be exempt from the indirect cost recovery provisions of § 35-4-27.
(d)
There is hereby created within the general fund of the state and housed within the budget of the office of health and human services a restricted receipt account entitled “Rhode Island Statewide Opioid Abatement Account” for the purpose of receiving and expending monies from settlement agreements with opioid manufacturers, pharmaceutical distributors, pharmacies, or their affiliates, as well as monies resulting from bankruptcy proceedings of the same entities. The executive office of health and human services shall deposit any revenues from such sources that are designated for opioid abatement purposes into the restricted receipt account. Funds from this account shall only be used for forward-looking opioid abatement efforts as defined and limited by any settlement agreements, state-city and town agreements, or court orders pertaining to the use of such funds. By January 1 of each calendar year, the secretary of health and human services shall report to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, and the attorney general on the expenditures that were funded using monies from the Rhode Island statewide opioid abatement account and the amount of funds spent. The account created under this subsection shall be exempt from the indirect cost recovery provisions of § 35-4-27. No governmental entity has the authority to assert a claim against the entities with which the attorney general has entered into settlement agreements concerning the manufacturing, marketing, distributing, or selling of opioids that are the subject of the Rhode Island Memorandum of Understanding Between the State and Cities and Towns Receiving Opioid Settlement Funds executed by every city and town and the attorney general and wherein every city and town agreed to release all such claims against these settling entities, and any amendment thereto. Governmental entity means any state or local governmental entity or sub-entity and includes, but is not limited to, school districts, fire districts, and any other such districts. The claims that shall not be asserted are the released claims, as that term is defined in the settlement agreements executed by the attorney general, or, if not defined therein, the claims sought to be released in such settlement agreements.
History of Section.
P.L. 2006, ch. 246, art. 38, § 19; P.L. 2019, ch. 88, art. 2, § 10; P.L. 2022, ch. 231, art. 2, § 7, effective July 1, 2021.