August 5, 2010
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Vol 17, Issue 33
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Welcome to this week's
edition of the FAHSA Link!
FAHSA's 47th
Convention a Huge Success -- Last week,
more than 520 attendees and exhibitors converged
at the beautiful Boca Raton Resort for FAHSA's
47th Annual Convention and Exposition. One
hundred and fifty-one exhibit booths lined the
exhibit hall with the top companies displaying
their latest products and services and more than
60 experts presenting sessions on a variety of
topics including leadership, finance, marketing,
operations, human resources, housing, home and
community-based services and long-term care. A
fun night dinner allowed for some down time for
participants to network while enjoying the sand
and waves at the Boca Beach Club. Many FAHSA
members shared their secret talents by singing
karaoke to a melody of tunes.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, before the general
sessions, FAHSA presented short informational
sessions on the Innovation Exchange Program and
the Leadership Academy. Registrations for the
next leadership course are now being taken --
Register a deserving employee from your
community!
During the General Assembly Meeting on
Wednesday, the membership voted on a small
change to the bylaws, installed the Board of
Directors and new board members, Morris Funk,
At-Large Trustee; Alma Ballard, AAHSA House of
Delegates; Diane Marcello, AAHSA House of
Delegates; and Robert Scharmann, AAHSA House of
Delegates; new Regional Chairs, Maureen
Gartland, North Region Chair; and Ansley Holt,
Central Region Chair. The membership recognized
retiring board members, Chris Mulrooney, Joanna
Buckles and Joshua Ashby and thanked them for
their service. During the meeting, the
membership reviewed 2009 Annual Report. An email
will be sent next week with a website link to
the document.
FAHSA's Professional Development Committee had
the privilege of soliciting nominations and
selecting the most deserving individuals for
recognition and awards during our annual
convention. We want to thank everyone who
submitted nominees for this year's awards.
Please click on the General Alert, 10-13 below
to read more about the 2010 award recipients.
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Governor Visits Miami Jewish Health Systems
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Gov. Charlie Crist visited the Miami Jewish Health
Systems campus on Aug. 4, 2010, to connect with
senior citizens and healthcare administrators. Crist
toured the 23-acre facility for almost two hours,
shaking hands, posing for photos and meeting
residents and staff. Before leaving, he formally
addressed over 200 residents and employees in Irving
Cypen Towers, where he entertained questions. He
toured the Pain Center, PACE, Ambulatory Health
Clinic, and Culture Change Dining Program in the
nursing facility. Miami Jewish Health Systems CEO
Jeffrey Freimark gave Crist a summary prepared by
FAHSA and AAHSA staff of major public policy issues
related to elder care and senior housing under
consideration in the U.S. Congress. Mr. Freimark
also thanked the Governor for vetoing the nursing
home budget cuts passed by the 2010 legislature. For
a copy of the issue summary,
click here.
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Education News
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Registration
Coming Soon for FAHSA's 26thAnnual Affordable
Housing Conference -- Watch your mail and
email for registration information for FAHSA's
26th Annual Affordable Housing Conference. Many
sessions and group activities are being
planned. We look forward to seeing you at the
Hyatt Regency in downtown Jacksonville on
Monday, September 20 through Wednesday,
September 22. Make your hotel reservations now
by calling the Hyatt at (904) 588-1234. Ask for
the special discounted rate for FAHSA.
Renew Your
License through CE Broker -- If you are
renewing your nursing home administrator's
license through CE Broker, please call the FAHSA
office to receive the special code for a $10.00
discount.
Register for
FAHSA's Summer Regional Meeting--
National Health Care Reform: Beauty is in the
Eye of the Beholder -- This is your
opportunity to learn about implications for
employers, providers, residents and consumers --
National health reform is here. The health
reform bills (HR3590 and HR4872) are now law and
will trigger sweeping changes and
disruptions-some rather quickly and some over
many years. Barbara Gay, AAHSA's Director of
Advocacy Information will provide an overview of
the new laws and how the roll-out will affect
you and those you serve. Watch your email and
FAHSA's website for registration information.
Join Us
for Upcoming Training Opportunities:
- August 31, 2010-
September 3, 2010 -- FAHSA's Regional Meetings,
Health Care Reform, featuring Barbara Gay, AAHSA
- September 21-22,
2010 - FAHSA's Affordable Housing and Service
Coordinator Workshops, Hyatt Regency, downtown
Jacksonville
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General News |
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Bill (HB 7069)
Changes Background Screening Requirements --
Effective August 1, 2010 -- Changes to section to
408.809 and Chapter 435, Florida Statutes are now in
effect. The law elevates all Level 1 background
screening to Level 2 screenings. To read a copy of
the new law,
click here. To read more about the changes,
please click on FAHSA's General Alert, 10-13 link
below.
Board of Nursing
Electronic Application Process-- In an
article appearing in the MQA Today, the Florida
Board of Nursing reports a dramatic reduction in
application processing times with the use of an
electronic application process. The board processed
21,274 applications, with an average processing time
of 17.73 days compared to 14,082 applications in
2007-08 with an average processing time of 24.11
days.
NFPA Issues Safety
Alert Regarding Antifreeze in Residential Sprinklers
-- Fatal fire raises concern about antifreeze -- The
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) issued
a safety alert recommending that residential fire
sprinkler systems containing antifreeze should be
drained and the antifreeze replaced with water. The
alert follows a research study and an initial set of
fire tests conducted after a fire incident raised
concerns about antifreeze solutions in residential
sprinkler systems. The incident involved a grease
fire in a kitchen where a sprinkler with a high
concentration of antifreeze deployed. The fire
resulted in a single fatality and serious injury to
another person.
CLASS Act: A
Game-Changer for Aging Services Providers-- A
document provided by Dixon Hughes is an excellent
explanation of what the CLASS Act means to
providers. It fast forwards by about 10 years when
there will be evergreater numbers of people
requiring long-term care assistance - who are
financially ill-prepared, have more chronic
conditions, have fewer children to take care of
them, and do not want to live in a nursing home.
Contact: Scot Park, (440) 856-0338 for more
information.
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HCBS News
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FAHSA Comments on
HHA Proposed Rule Changes -- On Wednesday, we
submitted comments to Anne Menard, AHCA Home Care
Unit, on proposed changed to rule 59A-8, Florida
Administrative Code. The draft home health agency
rule changes were e-mailed to members on July 23 and
discussed briefly at the FAHSA Annual Meeting and
Convention last week. We also scheduled a conference
call with home health agency members this past
Tuesday to discuss the rule. No one participated.
In a letter to Ms. Menard, we asked for a definition
of "certified report." We also commented that the 16
point font print size for the name badge and photo
ID for home health agency employees is too large
since the ID must include the profession, license
number, and agency name. In addition, we asked about
the deletion of authority to use a rubber stamp
physician signature. We have since been told that
rubber stamp signatures are no longer permitted for
Medicare or Medicaid. Finally, at the request of a
FAHSA member, we commented that a $5000 fine for
failure to file a quarterly report within 15 days of
the due date is excessive. We were told that AHCA
does not have authority to change the amount since
it is mandated by statute. The fine is part of
efforts to fight fraud. For a copy of the letter to
Ms. Menard,
click here.
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Housing & Service Coordinator News
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Congratulations
AAHSA for HUD's FY11 Appropriation and Preservation
-- AAHSA's
housing team has done wonderful work on both
appropriations and preservation. The fiscal
year 2011 Transportation-Housing and Urban
Development (THUD) appropriations bill passed
the House on Thursday night allocating $825
million for Section 202 (including $491 million
for new development). This was despite the
president's proposal to strike funding for the
capital advance program and suspend development
until the program could be reformed.
The Senate THUD bill made it out of the full
appropriations committee with the $825 million
for housing also. However, it is unclear if or
when the Senate will take the bill to the floor.
Read the entire article and other news by
clicking on the Housing Alert, 10-22 website
link below.
Other Housing News:
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National Summit Urges Action for Seniors
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DOE Announces Partnerships to Improve Home
Energy Efficiency
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HUD Announces Housing Counseling Funding
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National Council on Aging Seeks Ideas on
Benefits Coordination
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2010 Ziegler 100 Additional Listings
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HUD Awards $19.5 Million for ALCP
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New Online Toolkit Available for Energy
Efficiency
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Legislative News
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Incoming Senate
President Holds Round Table Sessions on Health Care
Reform
-- This week, incoming Senate President Mike
Haridopolos toured the state with an entourage
of legislators and staff to talk about health
care. He was accompanied by his wife, Dr.
Stephanie Haridopolos, a primary care
physician. Mary Ellen Early, (FAHSA Senior Vice
President-Public Policy), and Dan Brady, (Miami
Jewish Health Systems) attended the round table
discussions held in Orlando and Miami,
respectively. Similar sessions were held in
Tampa and Brandon.
The VIP guests who had a more prominent role at
the meeting were physicians and individuals
associated with hospital health care systems,
health departments, and clinics. Although AARP
and two representatives of the Aging Network
were in the audience in Orlando, they were not
seated at the table with the legislators and VIP
guests.
Sen. Haridopolos began the meeting with a
historical view of Medicaid. When he took
office in 2000, Medicaid expenditures were
approximately $10 billion. At the same time,
1.7 million Floridians were dependent on
Medicaid for their care. Fast forward to 2010
when Medicaid expenditures will exceed $20
billion, and Medicaid recipients will number
slightly more than 3 million or 25% of the
state's population. He said that one of the
weaknesses in Florida's Medicaid program is the
lack of certainty about costs because of
fee-for-service programs. Sen. Haridopolos
indicated that the rate of Medicaid growth is
likely to catapult as a result of federal health
care reform which adds to the urgency of
addressing weaknesses in the system.
According to Sen. Haridopolos, the Senate held
17 committee meetings (40 hours of debate) on
health care issues during the 2010 Legislative
Session. Many of these discussions pertained to
health care fraud. This tour of health care
facilities and associated round table
discussions is yet another effort by the Senator
to get input.
The goals of the Senate are as follows:
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Create a patient-centered rather than
government-centered Medicaid program,
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Expand access to quality care by encouraging
and creating incentives for physicians to
participate in Medicaid,
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Eliminate fraud,
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Improve the use of technology such as
electronic medical records,
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Control costs, and
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Explore medical malpractice reform
initiatives for physicians who accept
Medicaid clients.
VIP speakers talked about the importance of
coordinated care with some advocating for
medical homes. They indicated that multiple
entry points into the health care system are
fine if they are coordinated. When there is a
lack of coordination, expensive emergency room
utilization becomes the preferred option of
uninsured individuals.
Dental care for the poor was mentioned as a very
important service that is lacking in many
communities. Speakers also emphasized the value
of school nurses as well as nurse practitioners
and physician assistants. The legislators who
were present were especially interested in
transportation services and the barriers that
exist in getting transportation to primary care
physicians. Another topic that got a lot of
attention was hospital readmissions that are
caused by a patient's inability to purchase
medicine or receive follow-up care.
Sen. Joe Negron who is expected to be the chair
of the Senate Health and Human Services
Appropriations Committee asked an intriguing
question of the health care providers at the
table. If the state were to divide the Medicaid
budget by the number of Medicaid recipients to
arrive at an annual capitated reimbursement,
would this be an acceptable model for health
care systems to serve Medicaid recipients? He
used $6,000 as an example of a capitated rate.
Only one person said it could work if high risk
patients were equally distributed among
participating systems. No one mentioned if
long-term care would be part of such a
hypothetical model.
Sen. Haridopolos ended the meeting by
encouraging the audience to send comments and
recommendations to him through his website. He
emphasized that just saying "No" is not an
option. He said that we must challenge the
system to make it work.
Senate Votes for
Increasing FMAP -- Yesterday, the Senate
returned vote of 61 to 38 to invoke cloture on H.R.
1586, an aviation bill that contains an amendment to
extend the federal Medicaid matching funds (FMAP).
While the measure would extend FMAP funding from
Dec. 31, 2010, to June 30, 2011, the actual funding
is at a lower amount than originally anticipated:
$16.1 billion over 10 years, decreasing in stages
through the fiscal year. For January - March, 2011,
the federal Medicaid matching rate would be
increased by 3.2 percentage points for all states,
and for April - June, 2011, the federal Medicaid
matching rate would be increased by 1.2 percentage
points for all states. For the same six-month
period, states with high unemployment would continue
to receive the additional percentage points, as they
do under current law.
Now that cloture has been invoked, the Senate can
proceed to a vote on passage of the FMAP
legislation, which will only require a bare majority
to pass. The Senate has voted to pass the six-month
extension of increased federal Medicaid funding. The
vote margin was the same as in yesterday's cloture
vote, with the two senators from Maine joining all
Democratic senators to provide 61 votes in favor of
final passage.
The package then will have to be passed by the House
before it can be signed into law. House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi announced in the following Twitter
message (tweet) that she has called the House back
into Session next week. Follow the conversations
about FMAP by clicking on the hashtag,
#FMAP Follow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi by
clicking here.
The prospects for the increased FMAP extension now
look very bright. AAHSA and FAHSA appreciate all of
the contacts you made and all of the encouragement
you gave your members to contact senators on this
vote. These contacts really made the difference.
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Nursing Home News |
AHCA Live Scan
Vendor Update -- AHCA has contacted
vendors from the FDLE site and will be posting
the
document on their web site. It contains
addresses and pricing for LiveScan sites for
those vendors who have provided information to
AHCA. We have also posted a resource document
on the
FAHSA website that lists the Florida
vendors.
We would encourage use of the LiveScan
option over the hard cards. The cards will
take longer to process and in some cases
cost more than other LiveScan options as
there is generally a fee to roll prints on
the cards. However, if providershave
difficulty locating a LiveScan site,
providers may continue to mail in
fingerprint cards for processing to: Cogent
Systems, 5450 Frantz Rd., Dublin, OH
43016. A fee of $58.25 ($43.25 for the FDLE
screening + $15.00 processing fee) is
required and the fingerprint card must be
obtained from the Agency. To request a
fingerprint card please contact the Agency's
Background Screening Section at
(850)412-4503 or email bgscreen@ahca.myflorida.com.
The fingerprint card may also be sent to any
LiveScan vendors authorized to provide
services in Florida as long as they are
equipped to transmit the images of the
fingerprints from the fingerprint card
electronically. This requires special
equipment and not all LiveScan vendors have
this ability.
Other Nursing
Home News:
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Preferred Business Associates News |
FASB Changes May Include Recording Leases as Debt --
Change is coming that will
have far-reaching effects on companies that
lease real estate or equipment. According to the
World Leasing Yearbook 2009, the annual volume
of leases in 2007 totaled $760 billion. However,
despite the massive size of this global
industry, quite often, the assets and
liabilities arising from these contracts are not
reported on balance sheets.
"This is a big deal because it will modify the
definition of debt," says Jim Davidson,
construction and real estate principal with
LarsonAllen.
The anticipated revision will alter several
critical financial statement ratios, which could
affect access to capital, so creditors need to
be informed and educated early on. A final
statement on this proposed model is expected to
be released in 2010 or 2011.
- Changes to financial statements
- Implications for the future
- What to do right now
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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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