After significant debate, both chambers passed their respective budgets and related substantive bills (implementing and conforming bills).  There was only one, albeit a very significant change from last week's report.  The House passed an amendment that removes language that would have allowed the temporary staffing reduction to 2.6 CNA hours to occur on July 1, 2008.

Constitutional Proposal, (CP 0002), sponsored by John McKay remains in the Style and Drafting Committee, but the Committee should be finished with their comparisons and recommendations at the end of their meeting today.  The proposal will then be in a posture to go back to the full Taxation and Budget Reform Commission (TBRC) for a final vote on April 24, 2008.  As the proposal stands now, the Style and Drafting Committee is recommending a positive change to the "religious and charitable institution" position language, and recommends changing the wording to "religious; charitable organizations".  The change would make the definition either religious or charitable, and the word institution stricken and replaced with the word organization which is more of an encompassing term.  These changes will assist FAHSA nonprofit members.

In addition, both FAHSA and FLiCRA continue to work on getting the definition "health services" included in the final staff analysis so it will be included as Commission intent. The definition will include a reference to continuing care retirement communities and homes for the aged so the admission fees and housing and meals provided at such communities would be exempt from a sales tax exemption repeal.

FAHSA remains OPPOSED to CP 0002. 

Constitutional Proposal, (CP 0022), sponsored by Darryl Rouson, would place in the State Constitution two new affordable housing trust funds reserving funds solely for affordable housing. The funds would be derived from the documentary stamp tax and would require that the Legislature expend these funds only for the purpose of affordable housing.  By placing this Proposal in the Constitution, the Legislature would not be able to use doc stamp money in any other way. This bill will be voted on at the TBRC Meeting on Monday, April 14^th.

FAHSA SUPPORTS CP 0022.

Constitutional Proposal, (CP 0045) sponsored by Mike Hogan, is similar to the TABOR Constitutional Proposal passed in Colorado.  CP 0045 proposes an amendment to the State Constitution to limit spending increases to the state and other units of government to the rate of inflation adjusted by population or student enrollment changes.  Ad Valorem revenue increases are generally limited to the rate of inflation plus changes in property values due to changes, additions, reductions, or improvements.  Voter approval is necessary to exceed the fiscal year spending year limits and voters may approve the suspension of the spending and revenue limits, or approve new or additional revenues temporarily. The proposal also provides spending limits for the school districts, the state, special districts, and local governments.

According to the Staff Analysis, it does not exclude the state's Public Medical Assistance Trust Fund (PMATF) from the revenue limit.  Failure to exclude the PMATF may cause the state to have to shift funds from other sources to cover matching fund requirements for federal Medicaid programs, or reduce services provided to Florida citizens.  This will be a concern to members who care for residents with Medicaid benefits, as CP 0002, it has already held harmless reduction in school revenues.  

AARP, and most of the business community, as well as city and county governments, are adamantly opposed to this bill.  FAHSA is also OPPOSED due to the effect it will have on the PMATF funds.  It is to be voted on at the full Commission hearing on Monday, April 14^th.

FAHSA urges members to contact TBRC Commissioners before April 14^th to favor CP 0022 and oppose CP 0045.

CCRC Survey Deadline Extended -- 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 Report will detail salary and bonus data paid to 42 exempt positions and 41 nonexempt positions. Last year's Report contained data from 415 CCRC's.

Salaries and bonus payments will be reported according to county, state, region, revenue size, and unit size. Information on 22 fringe benefits will be reported according to region. Percent increases planned for the year 2008 will be reported separately for management, non-management, RNs, LPNs, and CNAs.

Completed CCRC questionnaires should be sent to HCS by April 25, 2008. The Report will be available in June.

A separate Report covering nursing homes will be published in July. The AAHSA Nursing Home Salary and Benefits Report will cover salaries and bonuses paid to nursing home employees according to city, state, region, revenue size, bed-size, and for-profit and not-for-profit status. Last year's Report contained data from 2,578 nursing homes.

Completed Nursing Home questionnaires should be sent to HCS by May 5. The Report will be available in July.

Participants may purchase either survey at a reduced rate of $135, while non-participants pay $295. Download a copy of the survey or call HCS at (201) 405-0075.

All IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers are open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Locations are listed at www.irs.gov . Click on "Contact IRS," then "Contact Your Local IRS Office." These sites offer free tax preparation and filing for individuals and families whose income is $40,000 or less.

As the filing deadline approaches, help is also available from IRS partners that operate 12,000 volunteer tax preparation sites nationwide. To find a nearby Volunteer Income Tax Assistance or Tax Counseling for the Elderly site, people can call 1-800-906-9887. Most VITA sites offer free services to individuals or families whose income is $40,000 or less. People who are 60 and older are eligible for free help at TCE sites operated by AARP.

Free File, the private-public partnership that offers free tax software and free electronic filing, is available at www.irs.gov for people whose income is $54,000 or less. Approximately 70 percent of the nation's taxpayers are eligible for Free File.

Several Free File partners also are offering free forms and filing for those retirees, disabled veterans and others who are filing a tax return solely to receive the economic stimulus payment. This help is available at Free File - Economic Stimulus Payment at www.irs.gov.

Taxpayers normally required to file who cannot meet the April 15 deadline should file a Form 4868 to obtain an extension to file until October 15. Taxpayers can use Free File to submit the Form 4868 electronically.

Other Housing Alert Issues:

·         Florida Times Union Prints Positive Article about Mt. Carmel Gardens

·         AAHSA Asks for $2 Billion in Section 202 Funding

·         Preparing for REAC Inspections

·         New Publications Available for Download

·      Question of the Week

FAHSA Housing Alert Page

State Rep. Don Davis Passes Away After Long Illness -- State Representative Don Davis, a Jacksonville Republican, who had been a member of the Legislature since 2000, died Thursday morning at 76.  Davis had been ill for more than a year, after brain surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in 2007. He last appeared on the House floor late in the 2007 session, where he was welcomed with a standing ovation. Well-liked by his colleagues, Davis was a champion of a state program to provide tax incentives to TV and movie companies to bring their productions to Florida. After House Speaker Marco Rubio announced Davis' death, Sergeant at Arms Ernest Sumner was quickly summoned to the House floor to place a black cloth over Davis' third-row desk, where it will remain for the rest of the session. Davis was a U.S. Army veteran and a vice president of Gate Petroleum Corporation.

Update on Medicaid Reform Expansion -- Late Wednesday night, the House defended an attempt to remove Miami-Dade from expansion, scheduled for 2010, of the state's controversial Medicaid reform program to nine additional counties. Medicaid Reform is one of the topics that will be discussed during FAHSA's Legislative Workshop next week.

Watch Your E-mail for Weekly Legislative Updates- Each week during session, FAHSA will publish an update on the week's legislative events. Please watch your e-mail on Fridays for the 2008 Legislative Session Weekly Update.  The Updates are also posted to the FAHSA Legislative Issues page of the Web site.

Subcommittee Passes Medicaid Moratorium Bill - A House subcommittee passed a bill Wednesday that would delay seven significant Medicaid regulations until April 1, 2009.  The regulations, which are set to take effect in coming weeks, would reduce Medicaid payments to government-owned facilities.  Read more on this and the issues listed below in the latest Nursing Home Alert, NH 08-11 dated 4/10/08.

Other Nursing Home Alert Issues:

·         Insurance to Cover Fraud: What Providers Need to Know

·         CMS Skilled Nursing Facility/Long-Term Care Open Door Forum Scheduled for April 15

·         MedWatch Alerts and Warnings

FAHSA Nursing Home Alert Page

MxManage Quality and Financial Stat Webinars -- Wouldn't you like to know which residents and F Tags are at risk for State Survey any day of the year? Are you striving to obtain the most appropriate Medicare rates? You are invited to join Kelton Swartz from MxManage for a 1-hour webinar where the MxManage tool will be demonstrated to reflect how providers currently use the tool to reach optimal Medicare rates and worry-free surveys. All webinars will be held at 10 EST and 1:30 EST on April 30^th, May 1^st, and May 8^th. FAHSA members are encouraged to sign up at mxmanage.plantemoran.com or members can call Ruth Wilcox at 1.800.791.6268 ext 3074 to register.

MxManage Quality and Financial Stat, a FAHSA Preferred Business Associate, will enable you to reach your quality and reimbursement goals all year long by serving the facility with instant, real-time MDS analysis that coordinates with any MDS software currently used in your facility. MxManage is the only MDS tool that has over 1,000 clinical and reimbursement 'links' to calculate user-friendly dashboard reports for Administrators, DONs, and MDS Coordinators, indicating reimbursement opportunities, Medicare benchmarks, and pinpoints staff to residents who are at risk for survey based on the unique MxManage calculations and correlating F Tag diagrams.

Quality Update: MxManage Quality and Financial Stat, a FAHSA Preferred Business Associate, is releasing an update to its Quality Stat module pertaining to F Tag and Survey Risks for FAHSA providers. The online tool will now provide a dashboard of residents (by name) and potential F Tags at risk for survey for the entire facility based on MDS submission batches (no data entry required). Based on 15 years of mock survey experience, the Quality Stat tool contains clinical links and unique queries that tie together a comprehensive root-cause analysis for each MDS completed. The end results are nine (9) quality domains of quality assurance data that link back to any and all potential F Tags with federal interpretive guidelines included as action steps going forward. Quality Stat also contains any MDS based critical element pathways currently used in the QIS. FAHSA members can email Kelton Swartz (Kelton.Swartz@plantemoran.com) to receive access to their very own F Tag and Survey Risk report. 

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