| July 10, 2008 |
Vol 15, Issue
30 | |
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FAHSA
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| Welcome to
this week's edition of the FAHSA Link.
Law Suit Filed to Remove Amendment 5 from
Ballot -- On July 3, a broad group of organizations
ranging from school officials to business owners filed suit in
Leon County Court to remove proposed Constitutional Amendment
5, known as the "Tax Swap", from the November ballot.
The group, represented by attorney Barry Richard, contends
that the amendment title "fails to adequately inform voters of
the chief purpose of the proposed amendment." A spokesperson
for one of the parties to the lawsuit stated that Amendment 5
"will force the largest tax increase in history upon the State
of Florida, in exchange for a property tax cut many will never
see. It also creates great uncertainty in the business
community because no one knows how much the sales tax will
increase, or what services will be
taxed."
Amendment 5 Will Not
Automatically Repeal Tax Exemptions -- A FAHSA member
asked if sales tax exemptions applicable to 501 (c)(3)
organizations and non-profit homes for the aged will be
repealed automatically if Amendment 5 passes in November. The
answer is "No." If the Amendment passes, the Florida
Legislature has the responsibility to determine how it will
offset the $9.8 billion revenue loss created by the Amendment.
Amendment 5 requires the Legislature to do the
following: repeal sales-tax exemptions that do not serve
public purpose, increase the state sales tax by up to 1%, and
make other programmatic and financial changes to fill the
revenue void. Amendment 5 does not preclude the creation
of a tax on services.
As a result of FAHSA's
efforts, there is an exception in Amendment 5 related to the
repeal of sales tax exemptions for several categories of
goods, services and entities, including "charitable
organizations." Unfortunately, " charitable " is not defined.
The Legislature and the Department of Revenue will be left to
define "charitable care" if the amendment passes. In many
states, the definition includes a percentage of free care.
The actual Tax Swap will not take affect until
fiscal year 2010-11, but legislators will probably begin
reviewing and repealing exemptions during the 2009 Legislative
Session which starts in March. It is very important for FAHSA
members to meet with legislators and candidates for the
Florida Legislature in the coming months to discuss Amendment
5 and why your organization deserves the sales tax exemptions
it now receives.
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| District and Membership News |
Life Care Services Establishes "LCS Friends
& Family Fund" for Flood Victims - Recently, the
Midwest was devastated by severe flooding, and the entire
state of Iowa was declared a disaster area. Clean up
will be an ongoing effort for quite some time, as communities
in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City are facing losses into the
hundreds of millions of dollars. Luckily, the corporate
headquarters for Life Care Services, in Des Moines (only two
blocks from the Des Moines River), was not flooded, but a
number of employees of Life Care Services in Iowa and Indiana
either lost their homes completely, or experienced serious
flood-related losses. The "LCS Friends & Family Fund" has
been established for the sole purpose of offering financial
assistance to employees of Life Care Services-managed
communities in Iowa and Indiana who have experienced
flood-related losses to their homes and property> Any money
remaining after all requests have been received and processed
will be donated to the American Red Cross for disaster relief
efforts. If you would like to offer support to other community
employees during a time of need, please send a check (payable
to LCS Friends & Family Fund) to: Life Care Services,
Attn: LCS Friends & Family Fund, 400 Locust St.,
Suite 820, Des Moines, IA 50309
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| Education News |
Senator Mike
Haridopolos to Speak During Convention - On
Wednesday, July 30, during the Annual Awards and General
Membership Luncheon, Senator Mike Haridopolos will share his
perspective on Amendment 5 and the economic impact it could
have on Florida. If you have not yet registered to
attend FAHSA's 45th Annual Convention & Exposition, please
register now, either online or by faxing
your registration form to (850)
671-3790. Hotel rooms are still available, but are going
fast! Make your reservations today by calling (561)
447-3000 or (888) 491-2622. Don't miss this opportunity
to hear Senator Haridopolos and learn more about Amendment
5. We will be looking for you!!
NHA
Renewals -- The Division of Medical Quality Assurance
recently mailed renewal reminders on bright yellow postcards
to all Florida-licensed nursing home administrators. The card
provides the amount of the renewal, the deadline to renew and
instructions for renewing. It also directs you to
log into online services and select to either renew online or
to print off your renewal notice and mail it in with
a cashier's check or money order. Renewing online is as
simple as going to www.FLHealthsource.com, clicking on the "Renew
My License" button on the homepage, and following the
instructions. If you do not know your UserID and
Password, the system will assist you in logging in
after you answer several specific validation
questions.
If you have any problems using online
renewal or other questions about your renewal, please contact
the Division's Customer Contact Center at (850) 488-0595 and
choose Option 3.
Three Education
Scholarships Still Available for the FAHSA Annual Convention
& Exposition from the Scott Boord Career Development
Scholarship - The Scott Boord Career Development
Scholarship enables FAHSA members to send eligible staff to
FAHSA or AAHSA educational conventions, workshops and
seminars. The maximum amount of funding available per
applicant is $500.00. The funds can be used to cover
registration fees, travel, or other conference-related
expenses. The selected recipients receive credit on the
FAHSA registration or reimbursement of expenses by submitting
an expense form with the attached receipts.
The
scholarship is funded by the Silent Auction held each year in
conjunction with FAHSA's Annual Convention and Exposition and
FAHSA's Annual Housing & Service Coordinator Workshops.
For more information, or to apply for a
scholarship, please click here.
Upcoming Educational Events:
FAHSA Calendar of
Events |
| Home
and Community-Based Services News |
Pricer Updates for Home Health Prospective
Payment -- Due to a required logic fix and revenue
code rate corrections with the HH PPS PC Pricer, the "Home
Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) PC Pricer" web page has
been updated with a required logic fix and corrected revenue
code rate factors. If you use the HH PPS PC Pricer, please go
to the web page above and download the latest version of the
PC Pricer. In addition, this web page has
recently been updated to provide the July 2008 OPPS PRICER
files. |
| Housing
News |
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Shawn
Steen Appointed New State Manager - Shawn Steen has
been appointed State Manager for the North Tampa Housing
Development Corporation. He replaces Mike Kramer, who accepted
the COO position with the El Paso Texas Housing Authority
recently. This is a well deserved promotion for Shawn
and we look forward to working with him in his new role.
Shawn will be speaking during FAHSA's 45th Annual Convention
& Exposition on Thursday, July 31, at the Boca Raton
Resort & Club. Please make plans to attend and
congratulate him in
person. |
| Nursing
Home News |
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Medicare Therapy Caps Exception Process
Reinstated - Congratulations AAHSA! -- HR 6331 passed
the U. S. Senate on Wednesday by a veto-proof majority
(69-30). As a result, the therapy cap exceptions process
is reinstated for 18 months. The bill now goes to the
President, who has threatened to veto - but both Houses have
veto-proof majority. Thank you for your letters and calls to
Congress.
Other Nursing Home
News:
- Use of Preferred Provider Agreements
- More on Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program
- AHCA Provides Clarification on Abuse and Neglect
Reporting
- Start Planning for MDS 3.0
- Mayo Clinic Web Site Offers Information on Pressure
Sores
- Draft Guidance Available on Medicare and Medicaid Fraud
Related to Poor Care
- AHCA Announces Fee Increases for Background
Screening
FAHSA Nursing Home
Alert Page
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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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| 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
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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.
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