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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 2463
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
5835H.02C JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 198, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to referrals to
facilities that of fer care or services to residents, with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 198, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 198.700, to read as follows:
198.700. 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
2 (1) "Facility", an independent living facility or a long-term care facility;
3 (2) "Independent living facility", a communal living structur e in which at least
4 fifty per cent of the res idents ar e fifty-five years of age or older that provi des its res idents
5 with on-site access to dining, transportation, medical care, and basic housekeeping and
6 laundry services and that is not licensed by the state;
7 (3) "Long-term care facility", any facility licensed under this chapter;
8 (4) "Referral agency", an individual or entity that pr ovides ref errals to a facility
9 for a fee that is collected fr om the facility or for a fee that is collected fr om a pr ospective
10 r esident or the legal re present ative of a prospective res ident. The term "r eferral
11 agency" shall not include a facility or its employees, a family member of a res ident of a
12 facility , or a res ident of a facility reg ardless of whether the r esident who refer s a
13 pr ospective res ident to a facility receive s a discount or other rem uneration fr om the
14 facility .
15 2. A ref erral agency shall pr ovide to a prospective res ident or the legal
16 r epresent ative of the pro spective res ident ref erred to a facility:
17 (1) W ritten or electr onic documentation of any agreement, including any
18 agr eement to terms and conditions, or acknowledgment or consent for services between
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
19 the r eferral agency and the pr ospective r esident or legal r epresentative of the
20 pr ospective res ident; and
21 (2) Written or electr onic disclosur e of:
22 (a) Any existing rel ationship between the r eferral agency and the facility ,
23 including common ownership or contr ol of the facility and financial, business,
24 management, or familial relat ionships between the ref erral agency and the facility;
25 (b) Any fee that the ref erral agency receives fr om the facility for the refer ral and
26 a description of the services pr ovided by the r eferral agency in exchange for the fee paid
27 by the facility;
28 (c) The right of the pr ospective res ident or legal repr esentative of the pr ospective
29 r esident to terminate the re ferral agency's services for any reas on at any time without a
30 fee or other penalty for such termination and with notice of the termination pr ovided by
31 the r eferral agency to all facilities to which the pr ospective res ident has been ref erred;
32 (d) The right of the pr ospective res ident or legal rep res entative of the
33 pr ospective res ident to requ est not to be contacted in the futur e by the ref erral agency
34 or any entity to which the ref erral agency has distributed the pr ospective res ident's
35 information;
36 (e) The right of the pr ospective res ident or legal repr esentative of the pr ospective
37 r esident to recei ve the r eferral agency's privacy policy upon requ est to the refe rral
38 agency; and
39 (f) The ref erral agency's possible distribution of the prospective res ident's
40 information to other entities that may call and solicit the pr ospective r esident to
41 pur chase goods and services.
42 3. The r eferral agency and the pr ospective res ident or legal repr esentative of the
43 pr ospective resi dent shall sign and date, in writing or electr onically , the disclosur e
44 r equir ed in subdivision (2) of subsection 2 of this section. The ref erral agency shall
45 pr ovide a written or electr onic copy of the signed disclosure to the facility on or before
46 the date the res ident becomes an occupant of or is admitted to the facility or payment is
47 made by the facility to the re ferral agency .
48 4. No ref erral agency shall charge a fee or other penalty to any facility r esulting
49 fr om the termination of an agr eement by a pr ospective res ident or legal r epresent ative
50 of a pr ospective r esident.
51 5. The facility shall:
52 (1) Pay the ref erral agency any fees, which shall be deemed earned when the
53 r eferral agency has performed the services r equir ed under its agreement with the
54 facility , rega rdless of the pr ospective r esident's or prospec tive r esident's legal
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55 r epresent ative's termination of the agr eement for services between the r eferral agency
56 and the pr ospective res ident or legal repr esentative of the pr ospective re sident; and
57 (2) Not sell or transfer the pr ospective r esident's or pr ospective res ident's legal
58 r epresent ative's contact information to a third party without the written consent of the
59 pr ospective res ident or legal re present ative of the prospective res ident.
60 6. A re ferral agency that violates this section is subject to a civil penalty of up to
61 five hundred dollars per violation.
62 7. The attorney general or a cir cuit attorney may bring a civil action on behalf of
63 the state to seek the imposition of a civil penalty for a violation of this section or to
64 enjoin the continuance of the violation by the refe rral agency .
✔
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