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March 11, 2010 |
Vol 17, Issue 14 |
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Welcome to this week's edition of the FAHSA Link.
Week Two in the Legislature -- New
General Revenue Forecast Good News for
Legislators -- This week, lawmakers
got some good news about the economy. State
economists are now predicting that general
revenue estimates will increase by $25.3 million
this year and $56.1 million next year. As a
result, lawmakers have $81.4 million more to
spend when finalizing the budget for FY 2010 -
11. This is the first year since FY 2005-06
that general revenues increased from one year to
the next. According to Florida TaxWatch, the
growth is due mostly to the more than $1 billion
generated from tax and fee increases passed by
the 2009 Legislature. Taking the new estimates
into account, legislators now have $23.6 billion
available for the FY 2010-11 Budget, $2.4
billion more than the current year's budget.
Even so, because of increasing costs in Medicaid
and other entitlement programs, the Legislature
is facing a $1 billion to $3 billion shortfall
in funding a continuation budget for next year.
If Congress extends the increased federal match
for Medicaid as anticipated, the shortfall will
be reduced substantially.
This was a busy week for lawmakers and for the
Association's public policy staff. Bills that
deal with enhanced background screening,
defibrillators in assisted living facilities,
ALF limited nursing, respite care in nursing
homes, and Medicaid fraud passed out of
committees of reference. For an overview of
action on FAHSA priority bills, please
click here to read the Legislative
Update for 3/12/10.
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District & Membership News |
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Jacksonville Communities Complete Sheriff's Crime Free
Multi-Housing Program -- Linda Rubens,
Administrator, Mt. Carmel Gardens and Michael McClernon,
Administrator, Baptist Towers, both completed the
Jacksonville Sheriff's Crime Free Multi-Housing Program
last week. The Jacksonville Sheriff's office is
offering the program to local apartments. Read more
about this program in this week's Housing Alert, HUD
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Education News
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Prepare to Attend the Annual Legislative
Workshop on March 23-24 -- Join us for
FAHSA's annual Legislative Workshop, March 23-24
in Tallahassee. FAHSA has discounted the
registration fee this year to offset the cost of
a flight. In addition, a substantial discounted
rate was added for the second and subsequent
participants from your community to attend the
workshop in Tallahassee and learn about the
legislative process, visit legislators, and meet
other FAHSA members. Online registration is now
available. We look forward to seeing you!
Nominate Your Colleagues for a FAHSA
Award -- As an aging-services
professional, you are attuned to who your
organization's exceptional leaders and
innovators are. Recognize them by nominating
them for a 2010 FAHSA award!
The FAHSA awards honor organizations and
individuals for excellence in leadership, care
and service innovation. Apply for a 2010 FAHSA
award by June 15. For details and entry forms,
click here.
Scholarships Available for FAHSA's
Leadership Academy -- Scholarship funds
to cover half of the tuition are available for
those who would like to participate in the next
Leadership Academy program. FAHSA, in
partnership with the University of Florida
Leadership Development Institute, has developed
a leadership certificate course for
professionals working in long-term care,
affordable housing or home and community-based
services. This training is a valuable resource
and will help you develop your leadership style
and capabilities. The course teaches you more
about yourself by determining your personality
(DISC) and management styles.
During the three-month course (both onsite and
online), the following management topics will be
discussed:
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Understanding the Role of the Emerging
Leader
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Understanding Emotional Intelligence and Its
Impact on Leadership Success
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Leading and Managing for Results
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Teamwork and Team Building
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Giving and Receiving Feedback
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Delegating and Influencing
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Problem Solving
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Managing Conflict
Please consider registering for this next
course. Registration and a brochure is available
on
FAHSA's web site. Scholarship
forms are also available.
The New MDS 3.0 Resident Assessment
Instrument (RAI) Course: A Strategic and
Systematic Approach -- Please plan to
attend the MDS 3.0 intensive two-day training
program scheduled on May 4-5. This workshop is
targeted for staff familiar with the MDS 2.0 RAI
process, and for participants who would like to
become familiar with the changes to the RAI
process with MDS 3.0.
The new MDS 3.0 is four times the size as the
current assessment tool. Although the process
is similar, there are major differences. Jean
M. Bean, RN, Director of Clinical Services,
Covenant Retirement Communities will be
attending the MDS National Train the Trainer
Conference in Baltimore on April 13-15, and will
then be FAHSA's presenter for this training.
She will provide participants with the latest
information, straight from CMS. Next week, a
copy of the brochure and online registration
will be available on the FAHSA web site.
Join Us for Upcoming Training Opportunities --
Plan to join us for the following educational
opportunities:
- March
16, 2010 - Medicaid Integrity
and RAC Webinar
- March 23
& 24, 2010 - Legislative
Workshop, Tallahassee
- March 25
& 26, 2010 - Leadership Academy,
Tallahassee
- March
30, 2010 - MDS 3.0 &
RUGS IV Primer Webinar
- May 4 &
5 -- MDS Intensive 2-Day
Training, Orlando
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General News |
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CMS Terminates Contract with Fox Insurance
Company Drug Plan -- The Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services (CMS) terminated its contract with Fox
Insurance Company. After an onsite review of the plan
and its services, CMS determined that the plan's
significant deficiencies - not meeting Medicare's
requirements to provide enrollees with prescription
drugs or recognized standards of care - poses a serious
risk to the health of Fox enrollees. The termination is
effective immediately. For additional information on
this topic, please see the General Alert for this week.
Food Recalls --
This week, the
U.S. Food and Drug
Administration
recalled the following products:
- Dean's dips
- Kroger Onion Soup & Dip Mix and Kroger Beefy
Onion Soup & Dip Mix
- Publix Super Markets is issuing a voluntary
recall for four (4) varieties of seasoning mixes
- Mrs. Gerry's kitchen old fashioned spinach dip
- Olde Westport Spice Garden Harvest Special Blend
Seasoning
- Quaker Snack Mix Baked Cheddar
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Housing News |
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Road Tour Raises Awareness of 2010 Census
-- The 2010 Census Portrait of America Road Tour was
part of the largest civic outreach and awareness
campaign in U.S. history - stopping and exhibiting
at more than 800 events nationwide. From local
parades and festivals to major sporting events, the
Road Tour attempted to motivate America's growing
and increasingly diverse population to complete and
mail back the 10-question census form when it
arrives in mailboxes March 15-17.
Census questionnaires will be mailed or delivered to
every household throughout Florida and are due to be
returned by mail on Census Day, which is April 1,
2010. These short forms take only minutes to fill
out, but will have an impact on Florida's future for
the next 10 years. Between April and July 2010,
census takers will visit households that did not
return a questionnaire by mail.
Information obtained by Census Bureau employees is
kept, by law, strictly confidential for 72 years.
Census Bureau employees have taken an oath to
protect confidentiality and are subject to a jail
term, fine - or both - for disclosing any
information that could identify a respondent of a
household. This door-to-door collection of census
data lasts through July 2010.
In December 2010, the Census Bureau will deliver
population counts to the President of the United
States for apportionment, the process of
proportionately dividing the 435 seats in the U.S.
House of Representatives among the 50 states.
For more information,
click here.
Other Housing News:
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Jacksonville Communities Complete Sheriff's
Crime Free Multi-Housing Program
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Social Innovation Fund Grant Notice
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HUD Multifamily Properties Eligible for
Weatherization Assistance
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HUD Approves New 2010 Management Fees
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HUD Announces Potential Sec. 8 Regulation
Waivers
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Congresswoman Waters Urges Colleagues to Support
Affordable Housing, Including Section 202, in
Budget Process
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AAHSA Publishes HUD Management Update
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Three Sample EIV Resources Provided Following
AAHSA Spring Conference
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Legislative News |
Consultant Report on Medicaid Reform
Unveiled in House -- The House Select
Policy Council on Strategic & Economic Planning held
a special meeting on Monday, March 8, 2010, to hear
a presentation from the Pacific Health Policy
Group. Pacific Health Policy Group was hired by the
House to conduct an independent review of Florida's
Medicaid managed care system, compare it with that
of other states, and provide recommendations for
future changes.
The nearly three-hour meeting was packed with
attendees. The two principal investigators from
Pacific Health Policy Group detailed the results of
their study and answered numerous questions from
legislators. Ultimately, the researchers suggested
that Florida could reduce its Medicaid expenditures
by three to five percent via implementing one or
more of the following options:
1. Expand current health plan/PSN model
incrementally
2. Develop medical home model
3. Develop statewide, capitated managed care program
4. Develop statewide, capitated managed long-term
care program
Stay tuned. Please
click here to read more of this report.
If you have any questions, please contact Erwin
Bodo, at
ebodo@fahsa.org
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Nursing Home News |
Twelve States (VT, AL, AR, AZ, FL, IL, KS,
ME, MI, NE, OK, and VA) to Receive Federal Matching
Funds for Electronic Health Record Incentives
Program -- In another key step to further
states' roles in developing a robust U.S. health
information technology (HIT) infrastructure, the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
announced today additional federal matching funds
for certain state planning activities necessary to
implement the electronic health record (EHR)
incentive program established by the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery
Act). According to the release, additional funds
will be available for Florida. To read more about
this issue, please see the Nursing Home alert for
this week.
Other Nursing Home News:
- Medicare Therapy Caps (From AAHSA)
- Nursing Home Salary & Benefit Study Under
Way
- Fiscal Year 2010 Inpatient Prospective
Payment System Personal Computer Pricer Updated
- Program Advisory and Oversight Committee
Meeting DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program
- CMS Needs Your Feedback
- CMS Releases Medicaid HITECH Grants for 12
States - Florida Included
- Information Regarding the Holding of Claims
for Services Paid Under the 2010 Medicare
Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS)
- Proposed Rule for the Establishment of
Certification Programs for Health Information
Technology
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Preferred Business Associates News |
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 FAHSA's
Preferred Business Associates Program (PBAs)
-- A list of PBAs can be found by on the
FAHSA Web site
www.fahsa.org and
selecting Preferred Business Associates from the
left side menu bar or clicking on the FAHSA
Preferred Business Associates Page hyperlink. FAHSA
members can also use the on-line directory to search
for PBAs by specialty.
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Career Center |
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Welcome to the Florida Association of Homes
and Services for the Aging Career Center!
Your destination for exciting Aging Services job
opportunities and the best resource for qualified
candidates in the Florida Aging Services Industry.
Searching for a job in Aging Services?
Looking to fill a position? This job board is custom
tailored for the Aging Services industry, which
means we attract the most qualified professionals in
Florida.
Create an Employer Account,
search resumes and post your Aging Services job now!
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Copyright 2010 -- Publication of the Florida
Association of Homes and Services for the Aging
(FAHSA).
- FAHSA Chair: Terri Cunliffe
- FAHSA President/CEO: Janegale Boyd
- Managing Editor: Gail Matillo, MPA, COS
Copyright Information: Copies of the articles and
other information in this publication may be
noncommercially reproduced for the purpose of
educational or scientific advancement. Otherwise, no
part of this publication may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, mechanical or
electronic, including photocopying, microfilm and
recording, or by any information storage and
retrieval system, without the written permission of
the editor.
Correspondence: Should be addressed to: Editor, 1812
Riggins Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308. For telephone
inquiries, call (850) 671-3700. Or E-mail FAHSA at
info@fahsa.org. © 2010 FAHSA. All rights reserved.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this
correspondence is not intended as a substitute for
legal advice. Please discuss any information
gathered from this or any other FAHSA publications
with your legal counsel in the context of your
particular situation before implementing any new
policies or procedures.
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