Subject:
FAHSA LINK
|
|
| February 21,
2008 |
Vol 15, Issue
11 | |
 |
FAHSA
LINK | |
|
| |
Welcome to this
week's edition of the FAHSA Link.
TBRC to Resume
Meetings Next Week -- The
Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission and
associated committees did not meet this week. They are
scheduled to meet again on February 25 and
26.
At the last meeting of the Finance and Tax
Committee of the Commission, a vote was postponed
on two major proposals: CP0002, a Constitutional
Amendment to use revenue from the repeal of all
but a few classes of sales tax exemptions and
exclusions to eliminate the portion of the
property tax assessment for education; and CP0021,
a Constitutional Amendment to create a property
tax exemption for non-homestead improved
residential properties, increase the sales tax for
a time limited period by 1% and, lower the cap on
property assessment increases for non-homestead
properties from 10% to 5%. These two proposals
will be among those considered next week. Janegale
Boyd will be representing our association at the
meeting along with Roger Stevens (Senior Vice
President/COO, Westminster Communities) and a
delegation of residents from Georgia Belle
Apartments, an affordable senior housing community
in Tallassee, and Westminster Oaks, a continuing
care community also located in Tallahassee.
| |
 |
|
|
| CCRC /
Retirement Community News |
CCRC
Salary and Benefit Survey Begins -
Hospital and Healthcare
Compensation Service (HCS) in cooperation with the
American Association of Homes and Services for the
Aging (AAHSA) is conducting a salary and benefits
survey for Continuing Care Retirement Communities
(CCRCs). The eleventh annual AAHSA
Continuing Care Retirement Community Salary and
Benefits Reportwill report salary and
bonus data paid to 42 exempt positions and 41
nonexempt positions. Last year's Report contained
data from 449 CCRC's. Questionnaires were mailed
last week.
Salaries
and bonus payments will be reported according to
state, region, revenue size, and unit size.
Information on 22 fringe benefits will be reported
according to region. Percent increases planned for
the year 2007 will be reported separately for
management, non-management, RNs, LPNs, and CNAs.
Completed
CCRC questionnaires should be sent to HCS by March
14, 2008. The Report will be available in
June.
Participants
may purchase the survey results at a reduced rate
of $135, while nonparticipants pay $295. You may
download a QUESTIONNAIRE or call HCS
at (201) 405-0075.
|
| District
and Membership News |
|
New
York Times
Recognizes Palatka Health Care Center in Fight
against Pressure Ulcers --
FAHSA is proud of nursing home member, Palatka
Health Care Center for being mentioned this week
in the February 19, New York
Times article, Fighting Bedsores with a
Team Approach. Palatka Health Care staff
explained that they created a "skin-watch action
team" or SWAT to identify vulnerable
residents. This proved to be an effective
method in reducing pressure ulcers. For more
details, please read the article by clicking HERE.
It's
Not Too Late to Register for FAHSA's Upcoming
Regional Meetings -
Next week, FAHSA will be conducting three regional
meetings in Ft. Myers, Orlando and in
Jacksonville. If you
have not registered, there's still time. We look
forward to seeing you there! The
schedule and locations for the meetings are listed
below:
- February
27-
Southwest Florida Regional Meeting (Districts 9,
10, 11 and 12)
11:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.,
Shell Point Retirement Community, Ft.
Myers
- February
28-
Central
Florida Regional Meeting (Districts 4, 5, 6, and
13)
11:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., Village on the
Green, 500 Village Place, Longwood
- February
29-
North
Florida Regional Meeting (Districts 1, 2, 3, and
14)
11:00 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., River Garden
Hebrew Home for the Aged, Jacksonville
- March
4-Southeast
Florida
Regional Meeting (Districts 7 & 8)
11:00 a.m. to 3:15
p.m., John Knox Village of Florida, Pompano
Beach
FAHSA
Calendar of
Events |
| Education
News |
|
There's
Still Time to Sign Up for FAHSA's Occupancy
Challenges and Solutions Webinar -- The
presentation will be provided by Bonnie Blair,
Retirement Dynamics; Robert Love, Love and
Company; Lynn Scrivner, Love and Company; Bobby
Sumner, Retirement Dynamics; and Gayle
Welsh. Highlights include:
·
An
overview of current and future economic and
housing market trends-separating fact from media
hype;
·
Evaluating
your organization's performance and unique
marketing, operational strengths and
weaknesses;
·
Re-evaluating,
rethinking and re-tooling your product to make it
more appealing;
·
Motivating
your marketing staff so they see the sun through
the clouds;
·
Pricing
entrance and monthly fees - the pros and cons of
increasing fees to make up losses incurred as a
result of a sluggish market; and
·
Best
practices/solutions: What's
working?
Sign
up online on FAHSA's web site, and then clicking
on the Calendar web site page.
Upcoming
Educational Events:
-
February
25 - NEW DATE -- Webinar -
Use Current Marketing Challenges as an
Opportunity to Rethink and Retool your Product
and Rejuvenate Your Marketing Staff
at 2:00 p.m. EST. A panel
of marketing experts from Life Care Services;
Love and Company and Retirement Dynamics will
provide you and your staff with ideas that you
can use to revitalize your marketing efforts and
improve your occupancy rates.
-
March
18 -
Webinar - Paper Claim Training for Florida
Medicaid LTC Billing on UB04
-
April
14 -- FAHSA
Board of Trustees Meeting, Wingate by Wyndham,
Tallahassee
-
April
15-16
-- FAHSA Legislative Workshop, Leon County Civic
Center, Tallahassee
-
May
19 -
Webinar - Submitting Medicaid Claims Through
EDS's New Web Portal
-
July
27 -
FAHSA's 5th Annual Strategic
Visioning Workshop, Boca Raton
Resort
-
July
28-31
- FAHSA's 45th Annual Convention and
Exposition, Boca Raton
Resort
FAHSA Calendar
of
Events |
| General
News |
|
Governor
Establishes Task Force to Deal with
Foreclosures -- In
an effort to deal with the large number of
foreclosures, Governor Crist issued an executive
order this week creating "The Governor's Florida
Home Ownership Promotes the Economy (HOPE) Task
Force."
The 13-member task force will serve from
February 20, 2008 through April 18, 2008. The
Task Force is charged with developing a state plan
of action to address escalating foreclosure rates
and to identify effective ways to preserve home
ownership for Floridians.
|
| Home and
Community-Based Services
News |
Home
Health Roundtable Meeting Draws Large Crowd -
Last
week, over 150 people attended an Agency for
Health Care Administration-sponsored roundtable
discussion for home health agencies. The
meeting began with a PowerPoint presentation that
included statistics on the unprecedented increase
in the number of licensed home health agencies,
especially in South Florida. Between
1999 and 2007, the number of home health agencies
in Dade County increased 232 percent. Miami is
also a hotbed of fraud, ranking number three
nationally behind Los Angeles and
Houston.
Speakers reiterated AHCA's support
of SB 1374 by Senator Jeff Atwater. The bill
would limit the number of newly-licensed home
health agencies in an effort to free up surveyor
time to allow for more fraud detection.
If your organization is
contemplating opening a home health agency, it's
best to do it now.
If you did not attend the roundtable
and are interested in viewing the PowerPoint,
please go to FAHSA's Members Only Page
of our Website. The
presentation includes useful information on the
current Medicare certification process as well as
an insight into the problems that the agency and
Legislature are attempting to
address.
|
| Housing
News |
|
2008
Income Limits Released -- The
2008 income limits have been published and are
available for use as of February 13, 2008. As per
Revenue Ruling 94-57, the new income limits must
be implemented no later than 45 days after HUD
releases them, or HUD's effective date, whichever
is later. The last date to implement the new
limits will be no later than March 29, 2008.
To
download your income limits, go to the Data Set
portion of HUD's website located at http://www.huduser.org/datasets/il/il08/index.html Be sure to
calculate your new rents and implement any new
procedures on utility allowances.
Do Not Count 2008 Tax Rebates as
Income --
The
Tax Rebates received by tenants from President
Bush's economic stimulus program arenot to
be counted as income. The HUD Handbook
4350.3 Rev- 1 defines income inclusions and
exclusions. Specific reference that relates to the
tax rebate can be found in Chapter 5-6.F.3 and
Exhibit 5-1 Income Exclusions (9): "Temporary,
nonrecurring, or sporadic income (including gifts)
isnot
counted."
Other
Housing Alert Issues:
- Technical
Assistance Bulletin posted on Elevator/Local
Emergency Preparedness Plans
FAHSA
Housing Alert
Page
|
| Legislative
News |
|
Governor
Crist Identifies Top Three Legislative Priorities
- This
week, Governor Charlie Crist stated in a press
release that health care, education, and energy
and economic development top his list of
legislative priorities for 2008. In the
area of health care, the Governor is seeking
legislative support to make a very basic health
plan available to uninsured Floridians age 19 to
64 with cost sharing opportunities for employees.
He is also proposing a three year pilot program in
14 counties that creates a partnership among
hospitals, county health departments and health
care providers to deliver primary health care
services in neighborhoods with high rates of
uncompensated care and the uninsured. In addition,
the Governor wants to expand Florida's KidCare
Program so that all children in the state are
eligible to purchase health insurance through the
program. Crist is also proposing legislation that
encourages dentists to work in public health
settings by creating a licensure by credentials
process for dentists from other states to practice
in Florida's public health settings. Finally,
Crist wants to reform the state's certificate of
need law to foster more competition among health
care providers. The Florida Hospital Association
has publicly expressed concerns about this
proposal. FAHSA supports the CON for hospice and
nursing home beds. If Governor Crist's plan
includes an elimination of the CON for either of
these provider types, we will oppose it.
HB
0275 Relating to Pharmacy
(Garcia-R) passed favorably by Health Quality. It
passed with an amendment deleting a proposed
increase in the number of pharmacy technicians a
pharmacist may supervise. It also
eliminates registration requirement for pharmacy
technicians with the board. The bill proposed the
pharmacist may supervise from three to four under
guidelines approved by the Board of Pharmacy. It
passed 11 Yeas, 0 Nays. It is now in the
Healthcare Council.
SB 550
Relating to Elevator Safety / Alternative Power
Sources
(Jones-R), passed favorably by Regulated
Industries with technical changes in a committee
substitute. The bill would extend the deadline for
residential multifamily dwellings at least 75 feet
in height to operate at least one elevator on an
alternate generated power source from December 31,
2006, to December, 2010. In
addition, the bill extends enforcement action,
fines or other penalties from December 31, 2007,
to December 31, 2011.
HB
0189 Relating to
Federal Funding for Home Health Services for the
Elderly
(Bucher-D),
passed favorable by Healthy Seniors. It passed 8
Yeas, 0 Nays. It is now
in Healthcare Council. The bill
urges Congress to increase federal funding for
home health services for the elderly.
HB
0233 Relating to Elderly Persons and Disabled
Adults (Anderson-R),
passed favorable
by Safety & Security Council with 12 Yeas and
0 Nays.
It is now in Policy and Budget
Council.
This bill reclassifies offense of
aggravated abuse of elderly person or disabled
adult from second-degree felony to first-degree
felony; requires certified law enforcement
officers to complete training in identifying &
investigating elder abuse & neglect before
June 30, 2011.
|
| Nursing
Home News |
|
Gold
Seal Applications Due March 15 - If
you are interested in applying for a Gold Seal
designation for your nursing home, applications
are due on or before March 15 for the next review
cycle.
If you miss this Gold Seal review cycle,
applications for the next cycle are due on
September 15. Please
read the latest Nursing Home Alert (NH 08-08) for
details.
Time
to Verify Accuracy of Your Contact in the ESS
System - At the
Joint Training that took place in Orlando this
week, Molly McKinstry reminded attendees to verify
that the Emergency Status System (ESS) contact
information for their nursing home is
accurate.
Please log on to the ESS system using your
password.
If you misplaced your password, contact the
AHCA Long-Term Care Unit at: (850)
488-5861.
Other
Nursing Home Alert Issues:
FAHSA
Nursing Home Alert
Page
|
| Preferred
Business Associates News |
|
 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.
|
| Job-Mart |
| FAHSA is pleased to provide an
opportunity for you to advertise your "position
wanted" or "position available" through the
FAHSA Link newsletter and on our Web Page.
FAHSA members may use the Job Mart services at
no charge. A nominal fee of $25 will be charged to
nonmembers.
Your Job Mart advertisement will be displayed
on our Web site for approximately three months.
The FAHSA Link is published weekly and
distributed to our membership which is comprised
of nursing homes, CCRCs, HUD housing, assisted
living facilities, independent living facilities
and companies/firms.
To reserve advertisement space in our Job Mart
program, please complete the application
and fax it to FAHSA at (850) 671-3790 or E-mail
Erin Steele at esteele@fahsa.org
|
Copyright 2008 --
Publication of the Florida Association of Homes
and Services for the Aging (FAHSA).
- FAHSA Chair: Alma Ballard
- FAHSA President/CEO: Janegale Boyd
- Managing Editor: Gail Matillo
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. © 2008 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.
|
 | |
|
| |
|
|
Florida Association of
Homes and Services for the Aging | 1812 Riggins Rd |
Tallahassee | FL |
32308 | | |
