Sec. 4. Report on paperwork reduction. The Commissioner of Human Services shall report to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services by June 1, 1999 with a plan to reduce paperwork in nursing facilities. The report must include consideration of the opportunities presented by advancing technology and the feasibility of linking data between the minimum data set forms (MDS 2.0) and medical eligibility determination (MED'96) forms.

Sec. 5. Initiatives to make the Medicaid program more consumer friendly. The Department of Human Services shall take action to improve the provision to the public of information on long-term care services, costs and performance and to strengthen and make more independent the Long-term Care Steering Committee by allocating more resources to it.

Sec. 6. Report on regulatory barriers to high-quality care. The Commissioner of Human Services shall study and identify regulatory barriers to high-quality care and make recommendations for relief or modification of departmental rules and shall report to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services by January 1, 2000.

Sec. 7. Annual reports. Beginning March 1, 2000, the Bureau of Insurance shall collect information on long-term care insurance and provide a report by March 1st each year to the Commissioner of Human Services, the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services and the public. The information collected must include the number and types of policies purchased by consumers, the cost of premiums, daily benefit levels and the duration of benefits. Information must also be collected on policies paying benefits to or for consumers, including the types of policies, daily benefit levels and the remaining duration of benefits. The bureau shall also conduct a study of the use of individual income tax credits as incentives to encourage the purchase of long-term care insurance. The study must analyze the effectiveness of tax credits in encouraging the purchase of long-term care insurance in other states and the anticipated cost to the State from establishing a tax credit for all or part of the premium cost of qualifying long-term care policies. The bureau shall provide a report to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services by January 1, 2000.