SUMMARY

This bill provides that an individual who holds a power of attorney, serves as a guardian or conservator or otherwise serves as a personal representative of a resident of a nursing facility, assisted living facility, residential care facility or related facility has a fiduciary duty with respect to that individual's actions on behalf of that resident. Such an individual shall apply the available resources of the resident to make timely payment for services rendered by a licensed health care facility to the resident and work to secure available coverage, including coverage from the Medicare and MaineCare programs.

This bill requires the Department of Human Services, to the extent reasonably practicable, to determine on a prospective basis the MaineCare cost of care of an individual MaineCare recipient residing in a nursing facility or other health care institution and make monthly prospective MaineCare payments to the health care institution. It provides that the department may not retroactively reduce the amount of the MaineCare payment to a nursing facility or other health care institution unless the individual MaineCare recipient or the recipient's responsible party has paid to the nursing facility or other health care institution the additional amount for which the department has determined the individual MaineCare recipient is responsible.