4. The use of civil monetary penalties to fund education and training programs;

5. Ways to maximize the use of common space in facilities that have both residential care and nursing facility residents;

6. Improvements to the existing informal dispute resolution process to ensure timeliness and impartiality and to increase the proportion of disputes resolved at the state level without litigation;

7. Fostering more positive and productive provider-department communications and relations and promoting department responsiveness to legislative policy directives; and

8. Recommendations on any other issues considered appropriate by the parties preparing the report under this section.

Sec. 7. Long-term care assessment rules. By January 1, 2004, the Department of Human Services shall amend the rules regarding medical assessment for long-term care services reimbursed under the MaineCare program as they pertain to assessments for home health care services. The new rules must streamline the assessment process for home health care services, eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens and utilize as much as possible appropriate assessment mechanisms being used for other purposes or programs. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.

Sec. 8. Study and report on revised mechanism for assessing cognitive needs. The Department of Human Services shall invite the Maine Health Care Association, the long-term ombudsman program, the Maine Alzheimer's Association and other interested parties to form a working group to undertake a study and prepare a report for the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services evaluating the current criteria and procedures for assessing cognitive abilities and needs of person potentially requiring long-term health care services for purposes of determining eligibility for and coverage of such services. As part of its report, the working group shall include its recommendations regarding revision of the mechanism for reassessing persons receiving long- term care services to address cognitive deficits, and include its recommendations regarding the mechanism employed to determine initial eligibility for such services. The Department