House Bill hb1605

    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1605

        By Representative Mayfield






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to certificates of need;

  3         amending s. 408.039, F.S.; revising conditions

  4         under which existing health care facilities may

  5         initiate or intervene in an administrative

  6         hearing to challenge the issuance or denial of

  7         a certificate of need; providing requirements

  8         for such facilities; requiring such facilities

  9         to pay specified costs under certain

10         circumstances; providing an effective date.

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12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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14         Section 1.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (5) of section

15  408.039, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

16         408.039  Review process.--The review process for

17  certificates of need shall be as follows:

18         (5)  ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS.--

19         (c)  In administrative proceedings challenging the

20  issuance or denial of a certificate of need, only applicants

21  considered by the agency in the same batching cycle are

22  entitled to a comparative hearing on their applications.

23  Existing health care facilities may initiate or intervene in

24  an administrative hearing only upon a showing that an

25  established program will be substantially affected by the

26  issuance of any certificate of need, whether reviewed under s.

27  408.036(1) or (2), to a competing proposed facility or program

28  within the same district will create a substantial likelihood

29  that an established program will be forced into imminent

30  closure. An existing facility seeking to initiate or intervene

31  in such proceeding shall be required to place in escrow an

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                HB 1605

    782-101B-02






  1  amount equal to the proposed project cost, but in no case less

  2  than $500,000. Should the challenge to a certificate of need

  3  application fail, and the application be approved by a final

  4  order not subject to appeal, the challenging existing facility

  5  shall pay all costs of litigation, including attorney fees, as

  6  well as the value of net revenues lost due to the delay in

  7  implementation of the proposed project caused by such

  8  litigation, to be determined by an administrative law judge of

  9  the Division of Administrative Hearings. Such amounts shall be

10  taken first from the escrow account established for this

11  purpose, the balance to be considered enforceable as an

12  obligation created by final order of the agency. The

13  challenging facility may satisfy the escrow requirement with a

14  bond of sufficient type and amount.

15         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.

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18                          HOUSE SUMMARY

19  
      Revises conditions under which existing health care
20    facilities may initiate or intervene in an administrative
      hearing to challenge the issuance or denial of a
21    certificate of need. Requires such facilities to place
      specified amounts in an escrow account and to pay the
22    costs of litigation, and revenues lost due to delay,
      should the challenge fail.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.