HB 1481

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to health care; amending s. 400.506, F.S.;
3	deleting the requirement that a registered nurse referred
4	by a nurse registry make monthly visits to a patient;
5	amending ss. 413.402 and 413.4021, F.S., and s. 3 of
6	chapter 2002-286, Laws of Florida; making the program for
7	personal care attendants for spinal cord injury victims
8	permanent; providing powers and duties of the Department
9	of Health with respect to the program; providing criteria
10	for participation in the program; providing for an
11	oversight workgroup; deleting obsolete provisions;
12	providing an effective date.
13
14	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16	Section 1.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (10) of section
17	400.506, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
18	400.506  Licensure of nurse registries; requirements;
19	penalties.--
20	(10)
21	(c)  A registered nurse shall make monthly visits to the
22	patient's home to assess the patient's condition and quality of
23	care being provided by the certified nursing assistant or home
24	health aide. Any condition which in the professional judgment of
25	the nurse requires further medical attention shall be reported
26	to the attending physician and the nurse registry. The
27	assessment shall become a part of the patient's file with the
28	nurse registry and may be reviewed by the agency during their
29	survey procedure.
30	Section 2.  Section 413.402, Florida Statutes, is amended
31	to read:
32	413.402  Personal care attendant pilot program.--The
33	Florida Association of Centers for Independent Living, in
34	conjunction with the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program in the
35	Department of Health, shall develop a pilot program to provide
36	personal care attendants to persons who are eligible pursuant to
37	subsection (1). The association and the Department of Health
38	shall jointly develop memoranda of understanding with the
39	Department of Revenue, the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program
40	in the Department of Health, the Florida Medicaid program in the
41	Agency for Health Care Administration, the Florida Endowment
42	Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Division of
43	Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Education.
44	(1)  Persons eligible to participate in the pilot program
45	must:
46	(a)  Be at least 18 years of age and be significantly
47	disabled due to a traumatic spinal cord injury;
48	(b)  Require a personal care attendant for bathing,
49	dressing, bowel and bladder management, and transportation; Have
50	been determined eligible for training services from the Division
51	of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Education; and
52	(c)  Require a personal care attendant to obtain or
53	maintain substantial gainful employment;
54	(d)  Be able to hire and supervise a personal care
55	attendant; and
56	(e)(c)  Either:
57	1.  Live in a nursing home; or
58	2.  Have moved out of a nursing home within the preceding
59	180 days due to participation in a Medicaid home and community-
60	based waiver program targeted to persons with brain or spinal
61	cord injuries; or
62	3.  Presently be employed but because of a loss of a
63	caregiver be in danger of losing employment and potentially
64	returning to a nursing home.
65	(2)  The association shall develop a training program for
66	training persons selected to participate in the pilot program
67	that will prepare each person to manage his or her own personal
68	care attendant.
69	(3)(a)  The association and the Department of Health, in
70	cooperation with the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational
71	Rehabilitation, shall develop a program to recruit, screen, and
72	select candidates to be trained as personal care attendants.
73	(b)  The services of a nurse registry licensed pursuant to
74	s. 400.506 may be utilized to recruit and screen candidates and
75	to operate as a fiscal intermediary through which payments are
76	made to individuals performing services as personal care
77	attendants under the pilot program. The Department of Health and
78	the Agency for Health Care Administration shall seek any federal
79	waivers necessary to implement this provision.
80	(4)  The association and the Department of Health, in
81	cooperation with the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational
82	Rehabilitation, shall develop a training program for personal
83	care attendants.
84	(5)  The association and the Department of Health, in
85	cooperation with the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational
86	Rehabilitation, shall establish procedures for selecting persons
87	eligible under subsection (1) to participate in the pilot
88	program.
89	(6)  The association and the Department of Health, in
90	cooperation with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of
91	the Department of Education, shall assess the selected
92	participants and make recommendations for their placement into
93	appropriate work-related training programs.
94	(7)  The association and the Department of Health, in
95	cooperation with the Department of Revenue, the Brain and Spinal
96	Cord Injury Program in the Department of Health, the Florida
97	Medicaid program in the Agency for Health Care Administration, a
98	representative from the state attorney's office in each of the
99	judicial circuits counties participating in the pilot program,
100	the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation,
101	and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department
102	of Education, shall develop a plan for implementation of the
103	pilot program.
104	(8)  The Department of Health shall establish a personal
105	care attendant program oversight workgroup to oversee the
106	implementation and administration of the program. The workgroup
107	shall be composed of one representative from the Brain and
108	Spinal Cord Injury Program in the Department of Health, one
109	representative from the Department of Revenue, one
110	representative from the Florida Medicaid Program in the Agency
111	for Health Care Administration, one representative from the
112	Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation, one
113	representative from the Florida Association of Centers for
114	Independent Living, one representative from the Division of
115	Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Education, and
116	two members who are persons with traumatic spinal cord injuries
117	or are family members of persons with traumatic spinal cord
118	injuries. No later than March 1, 2003, the association shall
119	present to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the
120	House of Representatives the implementation plan for the pilot
121	program, a timeline for implementation, estimates of the number
122	of participants to be served, and cost projections for each
123	component of the pilot program. The pilot program shall be
124	implemented beginning July 1, 2003, unless there is specific
125	legislative action to the contrary.
126	Section 3.  Section 413.4021, Florida Statutes, is amended
127	to read:
128	413.4021  Pilot Program participant county selection; tax
129	collection enforcement diversion program.--The Department of
130	Revenue, in coordination with the Florida Association of Centers
131	for Independent Living and the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys
132	Association, shall select judicial circuits four counties in
133	which to operate the pilot program. The association and the
134	state attorneys' offices in Duval County and the four pilot
135	program counties shall develop and implement a tax collection
136	enforcement diversion program, which shall collect revenue due
137	from persons who have not remitted their collected sales tax.
138	The criteria for referral to the tax collection enforcement
139	diversion program shall be determined cooperatively between the
140	state attorneys' offices in those counties and the Department of
141	Revenue.
142	(1)  Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 212.20, 50 25
143	percent of the revenues collected from the tax collection
144	enforcement diversion program shall be deposited into the
145	operating account of the Florida Endowment Foundation for
146	Vocational Rehabilitation, to be used to implement the personal
147	care attendant pilot program.
148	(2)  The pilot program shall operate only from funds
149	deposited into the operating account of the Florida Endowment
150	Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation.
151	(3)  The Revenue Estimating Conference shall annually
152	project the amount of funds expected to be generated from the
153	tax collection enforcement diversion program.
154	(4)  For the 2003-2004 fiscal year only and notwithstanding
155	the provisions of subsection (1), 50 percent of the revenues
156	collected from the tax collection enforcement diversion program
157	shall be deposited into the operating account of the Florida
158	Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation, to be used
159	to implement the personal care attendant pilot program and to
160	contract with the state attorneys participating in the tax
161	collection enforcement diversion program in an amount of not
162	more than $50,000 for each state attorney. This subsection
163	expires July 1, 2004.
164	Section 4.  Section 3 of chapter 2002-286, Laws of Florida,
165	is amended to read:
166	Section 3.  There is appropriated from the Brain and Spinal
167	Cord Injury Program Trust Fund to the Florida Endowment
168	Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation the sum of $250,000 in
169	nonrecurring funds for fiscal year 2002-2003 for development of
170	the personal care attendant pilot program under s. 413.402,
171	Florida Statutes. The initial $50,000 from each of the pilot
172	program judicial circuits counties and the Fourth Judicial
173	Circuit Duval County deposited with the Florida Endowment
174	Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation shall be used to repay
175	the $250,000 to the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program Trust
176	Fund.
177	Section 5.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.

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