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SA1TOSB213 • 2025

This Amendment does all of the following: (1) Exempts long-term acute care hospitals from the budget submission and review procedures adopted in the Hospital Budget Review Act, House Substitute No.

This Amendment does all of the following: (1) Exempts long-term acute care hospitals from the budget submission and review procedures adopted in the Hospital Budget Review Act, House Substitute No.

Budget Healthcare
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Townsend
Last action
2026-01-20
Official status
Passed 1/20/26
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation included terms like 'Benchmark Compliance Year' which were not directly supported by the official source material.

Amendment Exempting Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals

This amendment exempts long-term acute care hospitals from certain budget review procedures and requires them to report financial information and compliance with cost containment arrangements.

What This Bill Does

  • Exempts long-term acute care hospitals from the budget submission and review requirements set by a previous act.
  • Requires hospitals to provide detailed financial reports for their most recently completed fiscal year compared to the previous one.
  • Adds new reporting rules that require hospital CEOs to confirm compliance with cost containment agreements in writing.
  • Necessitates hospitals to inform the board about any breaches or changes related to cost containment arrangements.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Long-term acute care hospitals
  • The Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board

Terms To Know

Meaningful Cost Containment Arrangement
An agreement that sets financial and operational standards for hospitals.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The amendment does not specify the exact penalties or consequences for non-compliance with reporting requirements.
  • It is unclear how this exemption will affect long-term acute care hospitals' financial oversight and accountability.

Bill History

  1. 2026-01-20 Delaware General Assembly

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

  2. 2026-01-19 Delaware General Assembly

    Introduced and Placed With Bill

Official Summary Text

This Amendment does all of the following:
(1) Exempts long-term acute care hospitals from the budget submission and review procedures adopted in the Hospital Budget Review Act, House Substitute No. 2 to House Bill No. 350 (152nd General Assembly).
(2) Makes technical corrections to lines 52 through 54 of this Act to clarify the intent to require hospitals to report expenditures, revenues, and other financial information for the most recently completed fiscal year to the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board, redlined against the fiscal year immediately preceding it. This is consistent with the structure of this Act and reflects the intent of the parties who negotiated the term sheet reflected in this Act.
(3) Requires the hospital’s chief executive officer to attest in writing that the hospital is not in breach of any material provision of, has not received a waiver of any penalties during the term of, and the penalties and risk provisions of the Meaningful Cost Containment Arrangement have not been modified during the term of the Meaningful Cost Containment Arrangement.
(4) Requires the hospital to report to the Board any breach, receipt of a waiver of any penalty under, or negotiation of new terms of the Meaningful Cost Containment Arrangement during an applicable benchmark compliance year.
(5) Makes a technical correction to line 124 of this Act to correct grammar in the existing law.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Sen. Townsend

DELAWARE STATE SENATE

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 1

TO

SENATE BILL NO. 213

AMEND Senate Bill No. 213 by inserting the following after line 4 and before line 5:

“(3) “Hospital” means as defined in § 1001 of this title, except that hospitals that exclusively provide psychiatric

services or

services,

rehabilitative

services

services, or long-term acute care services

are excluded from the application of this subchapter.”

FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 213 on line 52 by inserting “

for the most recently completed fiscal year

” after “

revenues

” and before the comma therein.

FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 213 on line 53 by deleting “

data

” and inserting in lieu thereof “

financial information

”.

FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 213 on line 54 by deleting “previous year.” as it appears therein and inserting in lieu thereof “

previous year.

fiscal year immediately preceding such fiscal year.

”.

FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 213 on line 102 by deleting “

a

” after “

whether

” and before “

hospital

” and inserting in lieu thereof “

the

”.

FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 213 by inserting the following after line 104 and before line 105:

“

1. The application must include a written attestation from the hospital’s chief executive officer of all of the following:

A. That the hospital is not in breach of any material provision of the Meaningful Cost Containment Arrangement.

B. That the hospital has not received a waiver of any penalties during the term of the Meaningful Cost Containment Arrangement.

C. That the penalties and risk provisions of the Meaningful Cost Containment Arrangement have not been modified during the term of the Meaningful Cost Containment Arrangement.

2. If during the applicable benchmark compliance year the hospital breaches any material provision of, receives a waiver of any penalties under, or negotiates new terms of the Meaningful Cost Containment Arrangement, the hospital shall notify the Board.

”.

FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 213 on line 120 by inserting the following after “

Arrangement

” and before “

is

”: “

, and for which the hospital’s chief executive officer has provided a written attestation in compliance with § 9953(d)(7)c.1. of this title,

”.

FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 213 on line 124 by deleting “or not a

performance improvement plan

benchmark

” and inserting in lieu thereof “

or not a performance improvement plan

a benchmark

”.

SYNOPSIS

This Amendment does all of the following:

(1) Exempts long-term acute care hospitals from the budget submission and review procedures adopted in the Hospital Budget Review Act, House Substitute No. 2 to House Bill No. 350 (152nd General Assembly).

(2) Makes technical corrections to lines 52 through 54 of this Act to clarify the intent to require hospitals to report expenditures, revenues, and other financial information for the most recently completed fiscal year to the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board, redlined against the fiscal year immediately preceding it. This is consistent with the structure of this Act and reflects the intent of the parties who negotiated the term sheet reflected in this Act.

(3) Requires the hospital’s chief executive officer to attest in writing that the hospital is not in breach of any material provision of, has not received a waiver of any penalties during the term of, and the penalties and risk provisions of the Meaningful Cost Containment Arrangement have not been modified during the term of the Meaningful Cost Containment Arrangement.

(4) Requires the hospital to report to the Board any breach, receipt of a waiver of any penalty under, or negotiation of new terms of the Meaningful Cost Containment Arrangement during an applicable benchmark compliance year.

(5) Makes a technical correction to line 124 of this Act to correct grammar in the existing law.

Author: Senator Townsend