Agency for Persons with Disabilities.

There is created the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, housed within the Department of Children and Families for administrative purposes only. The agency shall be a separate budget entity not subject to control, supervision, or direction by the Department of Children and Families in any manner, including, but not limited to, personnel, purchasing, transactions involving real or personal property, and budgetary matters.

(1) The director of the agency shall be the agency head for all purposes and shall be appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate, and shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor. The director shall administer the affairs of the agency and may, within available resources, employ assistants, professional staff, and other employees as necessary to discharge the powers and duties of the agency.

(2) The agency shall include a Division of Budget and Planning and a Division of Operations. In addition, and in accordance with s. 20.04, the director of the agency may recommend establishing additional divisions, bureaus, sections, and subsections of the agency in order to promote efficient and effective operation of the agency.

(3) The agency is responsible for providing all services provided to persons with developmental disabilities under chapter 393, including the operation of all state institutional programs and the programmatic management of Medicaid waivers established to provide services to persons with developmental disabilities.

(4) The agency shall engage in such other administrative activities as are deemed necessary to effectively and efficiently address the needs of the agency’s clients.

(5) The agency shall enter into an interagency agreement that delineates the responsibilities of the Agency for Health Care Administration for the following:

(a) The terms and execution of contracts with Medicaid providers for the provision of services provided through Medicaid, including federally approved waiver programs.

(b) The billing, payment, and reconciliation of claims for Medicaid services reimbursed by the agency.

(c) The implementation of utilization management measures, including the prior authorization of services plans and the streamlining and consolidation of waiver services, to ensure the cost-effective provision of needed Medicaid services and to maximize the number of persons with access to such services.

(d) A system of approving each client’s plan of care to ensure that the services on the plan of care are those that without which the client would require the services of an intermediate care facility for the developmentally disabled.