Comprehensive Assessment and Review for Long-Term Care Services (CARES) Program.

(1) The agency shall operate the Comprehensive Assessment and Review for Long-Term Care Services (CARES) preadmission screening program to ensure that only individuals whose conditions require long-term care services are enrolled in the long-term care managed care program.

(2) The agency shall operate the CARES program through an interagency agreement with the Department of Elderly Affairs. The agency, in consultation with the Department of Elderly Affairs, may contract for any function or activity of the CARES program, including any function or activity required by 42 C.F.R. s. 483.20, relating to preadmission screening and review.

(3) The CARES program shall determine if an individual requires nursing facility care and, if the individual requires such care, assign the individual to a level of care as described in s. 409.983(4). When determining the need for nursing facility care, consideration shall be given to the nature of the services prescribed and which level of nursing or other health care personnel meets the qualifications necessary to provide such services and the availability to and access by the individual of community or alternative resources. For the purposes of the long-term care managed care program, the term “nursing facility care” means the individual:

(a) Requires nursing home placement as evidenced by the need for medical observation throughout a 24-hour period and care required to be performed on a daily basis by, or under the direct supervision of, a registered nurse or other health care professional and requires services that are sufficiently medically complex to require supervision, assessment, planning, or intervention by a registered nurse because of a mental or physical incapacitation by the individual;

(b) Requires or is at imminent risk of nursing home placement as evidenced by the need for observation throughout a 24-hour period and care and the constant availability of medical and nursing treatment and requires services on a daily or intermittent basis that are to be performed under the supervision of licensed nursing or other health professionals because the individual is incapacitated mentally or physically; or

(c) Requires or is at imminent risk of nursing home placement as evidenced by the need for observation throughout a 24-hour period and care and the constant availability of medical and nursing treatment and requires limited services that are to be performed under the supervision of licensed nursing or other health professionals because the individual is mildly incapacitated mentally or physically.

(4) For individuals whose nursing home stay is initially funded by Medicare, and Medicare coverage is being terminated for lack of progress towards rehabilitation, CARES staff shall consult with the person making the determination of progress toward rehabilitation to ensure that the recipient is not being inappropriately disqualified from Medicare coverage. If, in their professional judgment, CARES staff believe that a Medicare beneficiary is still making progress toward rehabilitation, they may assist the Medicare beneficiary with an appeal of the disqualification from Medicare coverage. The use of CARES teams to review Medicare denials for coverage under this section is authorized only if it is determined that such reviews qualify for federal matching funds through Medicaid. The agency shall seek or amend federal waivers as necessary to implement this section.