Sign Up Now For The QIS Training - FAHSA has planned several QIS trainings beginning next week (October 2) at Joseph L. Morse Geriatric Center in West Palm Beach. Cynthia Pearse (Social Work Consultants of Florida) and Carmen Shell (Joseph L. Morse Geriatric Center, Inc.), both accredited QIS trainers and several FAHSA members will be the featured presenters and will be providing comprehensive training materials and guidelines on the survey process. We would like to ask you make plans to attend this training with several of your staff, including your MDS Coordinator. The training will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please register online by clicking here.

More than 425 new QIS surveys have already taken place in Florida and the rollout dates for the state are listed below:

• Jacksonville and Tallahassee areas - survey training completed by November 2008
• Alachua and Miami areas - survey training completed by January 2008
• Orlando and Ft. Myers - survey training completed by February 2008
• Delray, Tampa and St. Pete - survey training completed by July 2008

This training is too important to miss. Communities will need this training as soon as possible.

NPI Registry and Training Package Now Available - The National Provider Identifier (NPI) registry and downloadable file of the registry are now available for you to use. Finally, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed a tr aining package that describes how CMS will ensure that National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) data is available and the data that they are disclosing.

Have a Computer Lab? Use it to Help Seniors in Your Community With Medicare - The National Council on Aging (NCOA) recently launched the "My Medicare Matters" Navigator pilot project to help people with Medicare to learn more about Medicare, Part D and computers at organizations like yours. Organizations that participate will receive training and technical assistance.

Visit http://www.mymedicarematters.com to start your organization's application.

Upcoming Workshops:

• October 2 -- QIS Training, Joseph L. Morse Geriatric Center, West Palm Beach
• October 5 -- QIS Training, Fleet Landing, Jacksonville, FL
• October 9 & 10 -- Board of Trustees Meeting, Orlando, FL
• November 15 - FAHSA's Maintenance Workshop, Holiday Inn, Orlando, FL
• January 15 & 16, 2008 -- FAHSA's Dynamic Directions Advanced Nurse Leadership Workshop, Safety Harbor

Court Rejects Ballot Language for Proposed Property Tax Amendment - Florida's Second Circuit Court issued an opinion Monday declaring that the ballot summary for the legislature's proposed constitutional amendment regarding "Save Our Homes" and homestead property taxes is "misleading and inaccurate", and barring placement of the language on the ballot for the special election scheduled for January 29, 2008.

The court stated that the language failed to inform voters that the right to the Save Our Homes protection would be lost under the proposed amendment to anyone not entitled to a homestead exemption at the time the provision went into effect and anyone who sells or conveys title to the homestead after the effective date. The court stated that "nowhere in the ballot summary is the voter alerted to the elimination of these constitutional protections on homestead assessments. They are simply led to believe that they are preserved or revised."

Senate President Ken Pruitt sent a letter Wednesday to all Senate members, saying that he intends to appeal the circuit court's decision. House Speaker Marco Rubio hinted that the language in the amendment could be change during the upcoming special session.

AHCA Announces Reduction for Level 2 Background Screening - The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) reports that the fees for Level 2 screenings will be reduced due to the efficiencies in submitting fingerprint cards electronically. The new fee will be $42.25 per fingerprint card effective October 1, 2007. The fees were $47.00.

Level 2 Criminal History - consists of a search of the FDLE and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) databases for any criminal arrest information both state and nationally. The cost of this search is $47.00. The Agency may only process Level 2 screening requests as required by law. If you have questions regarding screening requirements please go to the AHCA Web site.

NIA Offers New Spanish-Language Web site - Accurate, up-to-date information on health issues affecting Hispanic seniors is now available online in Spanish from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health. The user- friendly Web site has information on a wide range of health topics, including diseases such as Alzheimer's, cancer and diabetes, which can be reprinted for the Spanish-speaking individuals served by your organization.

Section 202 Bill Adopted by Congressional Committee -- A bill, sponsored by Congressman Tim Mahoney and cosponsored by Congresswoman Brown-Waite, to make it easier to develop and preserve federally supported housing for low-income elderly residents was unanimously adopted by a congressional committee today. The bill would streamline the administrative process used in approving federal Section 202 housing projects; make it easier for nonprofit organizations such a religious groups to obtain outside funding; revise the system of rental assistance to cover emergencies such as spikes in utility costs; and allow property owners to obtain renovation loans without having to significantly increase rents.

"The housing crisis for our seniors is severe and this bill is a step in the right direction in giving our seniors the security they deserve," Mahoney said just before the bill was approved by the House Financial Services Committee.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the committee chairman, said the bill would make it easier for faith-based organizations to participate in the low-income elderly housing market.

A 2002 report commissioned by Congress predicted that 730,000 additional rent-assisted housing units would be needed for low income people 65 and older by 2020. A recent report by AARP estimated there are 10 elderly people waiting for every Section 202 unit that becomes available.

The bill is expected to be considered by the full House within the next few weeks.

Other Housing News:

• FAHSA's HCBS, HUD and Service Coordinator Workshops Successful
• HUD Releases 2008 List of Difficult Development Areas
• HUD Proposes Update of Environmental Regulation
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's Capacities for Multifamily Financing are Increased
• Join the Florida Homeless Coalition's Board of Directors
• More on the HAP Payment Shortfall
• List of Basic HUD Handbooks for Maximum Management
• Energy Training Web cast Available
• Comments Needed on HUD's Energy Assessment and New Form 9614
• SAVE System
• TRACS SSI Discontinuation
• FHFC Comments on Future of Affordable Housing
• Question of the Week

Inaugural HCBS Workshop a Success - At FAHSA's first Home and Community-Based Services Workshop, held last week in Jacksonville, nearly seventy participants learned about risk management, caregiver issues, and home safety. Attendees also participated in a dynamic roundtable session, which focused on barriers to accessing services for residents. Top barriers identified included funding, transportation and knowledge of available services. FAHSA would like to thank presenters Brian Bursa, Jeanette Brownstein and Dena Howard, as well as Margaret Lynn Duggar, who presented an excellent overview of community services, funding programs, and mechanisms through which services may be accessed to roundtable participants.

Care Giving in Rural America - The National Alliance for Care giving and Easter Seals have produced a report, Care giving in Rural America, to bring to light and support the demand to address the ever-increasing numbers and unmet needs of rural caregivers.

Care Giving in Rural America includes:

• A brief description of the state of care giving in the United States;
• An overview of rural care giving in the United States that highlights both similarities and differences between rural care giving and that in urban and suburban settings;
• Profiles of rural caregivers meeting care giving challenges head on;
• A Call to Action! Next steps to address specific rural care giving needs;
• Examples of programs in place to serve rural caregivers; and
• References and resources.

To download the report, visit www.easterseals.c om .

Three Percent Medicaid Cut Recommended for Nursing Homes -- This week, legislative committee meetings were held to develop recommendations for the upcoming special session on the budget which begins on October 3. The House and the Senate are both recommending a 3 percent reduction in the Medicaid nursing home budget ($37 Million) effective January 1. The $110 Million over- estimation in projected expenditures for nursing homes for FY 2007-08 was used to offset deeper cuts. If the cuts are adopted by the legislature, it is our hope that AHCA will be given the discretion to work with provider groups to determine where and how nursing home reimbursement will be affected.

Next Wednesday, affected parties will have the opportunity to testify about the recommended budget reductions. The budget committees will vote on the recommendations the next day, with a vote on the House and Senate floor schedule for Friday, October 5. The week of the 8th will be used to reconcile differences between the two chambers with the goal of passing a budget bill by October 12.

Survey Tips - Please share your survey experience with the FAHSA staff so we can pass helpful information on to other members. Below are a few tips from a recent survey on the southwest coast.

• Be sure that all staff is aware of your policies and procedures on abuse detection and reporting and that proper steps are taken to report the alleged incident, particularly when it occurs late Friday or over the weekend.
• Verify that medications such as nasal spray and inhalers are given pursuant to manufacturer's recommendations.
• Develop a system to double check that over-the- phone physician orders and changes in orders are documented.
• Be sure that annual internal and external disaster drills are held. The best time to hold the drills is in the spring, prior to hurricane season.
• If a resident is having difficulty using a sit to stand lift, explore other options such as a full body sling lift.

CMS Satellite Broadcast: Mental Illness in Nursing Homes - On Friday, September 28, 2007, CMS will air via satellite broadcast. "Mental Illness in Nursing Homes." This broadcast is Mandatory for Nursing Home surveyors.

These documents will be located at the CMS Survey and Certification Online Course Delivery System Web site.

If you require any assistance with any of the trainings and materials located at the Web site, send correspondence to cmse learning@altruistmedia.com .

Court Finds Nursing Home's 'Custodial' Care Ineligible for Reimbursement - The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin recently found that a nursing home is not entitled to reimbursement for the services it provided to a resident, because the care was later deemed medically unnecessary.

While the judge did find that the resident's care involved some medical monitoring that had to be performed by people with medical training, it held that the nursing home was primarily assisting her with activities of daily living that could be carried out by nonmedical personnel. Therefore, the 228-bed nursing home was not entitled to reimbursement under the self-insured health plan.

The resident was admitted for low blood sugar and seizures related to congestive heart failure, vascular disease and insulin-dependent diabetes. At that time, both the nursing home and the plan agreed that the admission was medically necessary under the plan, but after a month in the nursing home the plan found that the care she was receiving was not covered under the plan. While this decision does not set binding precedent for Florida courts, it is possible that the findings may be looked to as guidance by both federal and state courts having jurisdiction in Florida.

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. FAHSA members can also use the on- line directory to search for PBAs by specialty.

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