Senate Bill sb0790e1

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    CS for SB 790                                  First Engrossed



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to certificates of need;

  3         transferring, renumbering, and amending s.

  4         651.1185, F.S.; extending the moratorium on

  5         certificates of need for additional community

  6         nursing home beds until July 1, 2011; providing

  7         an exception to the moratorium; amending s.

  8         408.036, F.S.; exempting a nursing home that is

  9         created by combining certain licensed beds from

10         requirements for obtaining a certificate of

11         need from the Agency for Health Care

12         Administration; amending s. 408.040, F.S.;

13         authorizing nursing homes in certain counties

14         to request a reduction in their annual Medicaid

15         patient days; requiring the Agency for Health

16         Care Administration to automatically grant such

17         a request if the nursing home meets certain

18         conditions; providing for future repeal;

19         providing an effective date.

20  

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

22  

23         Section 1.  Section 651.1185, Florida Statutes, is

24  transferred, renumbered as section 408.0435, Florida Statutes,

25  and amended to read:

26         408.0435 651.1185  Moratorium on nursing home

27  certificates of need.--

28         (1)  Notwithstanding the establishment of need as

29  provided for in this chapter 408, a no certificate of need for

30  additional community nursing home beds may not shall be

31  approved by the agency until July 1, 2011 2006.


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    CS for SB 790                                  First Engrossed



 1         (2)  The Legislature finds that the continued growth in

 2  the Medicaid budget for nursing home care has constrained the

 3  ability of the state to meet the needs of its elderly

 4  residents through the use of less restrictive and less

 5  institutional methods of long-term care. It is therefore the

 6  intent of the Legislature to limit the increase in Medicaid

 7  nursing home expenditures in order to provide funds to invest

 8  in long-term care that is community-based and provides

 9  supportive services in a manner that is both more

10  cost-effective and more in keeping with the wishes of the

11  elderly residents of this state.

12         (3)  This moratorium on certificates of need shall not

13  apply to sheltered nursing home beds in a continuing care

14  retirement community certified by the former Department of

15  Insurance or by the Office of Insurance Regulation pursuant to

16  chapter 651.

17         (4)(a)  The moratorium on certificates of need does not

18  apply and a certificate of need for additional community

19  nursing home beds may be approved for a county that meets the

20  following circumstances:

21         1.  The county has no community nursing home beds; and

22         2.  The lack of community nursing home beds occurs

23  because all nursing home beds in the county that were licensed

24  on July 1, 2001, have subsequently closed.

25         (b)  The certificate-of-need review for such

26  circumstances shall be subject to the comparative review

27  process consistent with the provisions of s. 408.039, and the

28  number of beds may not exceed the number of beds lost by the

29  county after July 1, 2001.

30  

31  


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    CS for SB 790                                  First Engrossed



 1  This subsection shall be repealed upon the expiration of the

 2  moratorium established in subsection (1).

 3         (5)  The moratorium on certificates of need does not

 4  apply for the addition of nursing home beds licensed under

 5  chapter 400 to a nursing home located in a county having up to

 6  50,000 residents, in a number not exceeding 10 total beds or

 7  10 percent of the number of beds licensed in the facility

 8  being expanded, whichever is greater. In addition to any other

 9  documentation required by the agency, a request submitted

10  under this subsection must:

11         (a)  Certify that the facility has not had any class I

12  or class II deficiencies within the 30 months preceding the

13  request for addition.

14         (b)  Certify that the prior 12-month average occupancy

15  rate for the nursing home beds at the facility meets or

16  exceeds 94 percent and the facility had not had any class I or

17  class II deficiencies since its initial licensure.

18         (c)  For a facility that has been licensed for less

19  than 24 months, certify that the prior 6-month average

20  occupancy rate for the nursing home beds at the facility meets

21  or exceeds 94 percent and that the facility has not had any

22  class I or class II deficiencies since its initial licensure.

23  

24  This subsection shall be repealed upon the expiration of the

25  moratorium established in subsection (1).

26         (6)  The moratorium on certificates of need does not

27  apply for the addition of nursing home beds licensed under

28  chapter 400 in a number not exceeding 10 total beds or 10

29  percent of the number of beds licensed in the facility being

30  expanded, whichever is greater, if the facility meets the

31  requirements of paragraph (a).


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    CS for SB 790                                  First Engrossed



 1         (a)  In addition to any other documentation required by

 2  the agency, a request for the addition of beds under this

 3  subsection must certify that:

 4         1.  The facility has not had any class I or class II

 5  deficiencies within the 30 months preceding the request for

 6  addition;

 7         2.  The prior 12-month average occupancy rate for the

 8  nursing home beds at the facility meets or exceeds 96 percent;

 9         3.  The occupancy rate for nursing home beds in the

10  subdistrict is 94 percent or greater; and

11         4.  Any beds authorized for the facility under this

12  subsection before the date of the current request for

13  additional beds have been licensed and operational for at

14  least 12 months.

15         (b)  A nursing home may request additional beds under

16  this subsection as an exemption from the provisions of s.

17  408.036(1). The timeframes and monitoring process specified in

18  s. 408.040(2)(a)-(c) apply to any exemption issued under this

19  subsection.

20         (c)  The agency shall count beds authorized under this

21  subsection as approved beds in the published inventory of

22  nursing home beds until the beds are licensed.

23  

24  This subsection shall be repealed upon the expiration of the

25  moratorium established in subsection (1).

26         Section 2.  Present paragraphs (f)-(s) of subsection

27  (3) of section 408.036, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as

28  paragraphs (g)-(t), respectively, and a new paragraph (f) is

29  added to that subsection, to read:

30         408.036  Projects subject to review; exemptions.--

31  


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    CS for SB 790                                  First Engrossed



 1         (3)  EXEMPTIONS.--Upon request, the following projects

 2  are subject to exemption from the provisions of subsection

 3  (1):

 4         (f)  For the creation of a single nursing home within a

 5  district by combining licensed beds from two or more licensed

 6  nursing homes within such district, regardless of subdistrict

 7  boundaries, where 50 percent of the beds in the created

 8  nursing home are transferred from the only nursing home in a

 9  county and its utilization data demonstrate that it had an

10  occupancy rate of less than 75 percent for the 12-month period

11  ending 90 days before the request for the exemption.

12         Section 3.  Subsection (1) of section 408.040, Florida

13  Statutes, is amended to read:

14         408.040  Conditions and monitoring.--

15         (1)(a)  The agency may issue a certificate of need, or

16  an exemption, predicated upon statements of intent expressed

17  by an applicant in the application for a certificate of need

18  or an exemption. Any conditions imposed on a certificate of

19  need or an exemption based on such statements of intent shall

20  be stated on the face of the certificate of need or in the

21  exemption approval.

22         (b)  The agency may consider, in addition to the other

23  criteria specified in s. 408.035, a statement of intent by the

24  applicant that a specified percentage of the annual patient

25  days at the facility will be utilized by patients eligible for

26  care under Title XIX of the Social Security Act. Any

27  certificate of need issued to a nursing home in reliance upon

28  an applicant's statements that a specified percentage of

29  annual patient days will be utilized by residents eligible for

30  care under Title XIX of the Social Security Act must include a

31  statement that such certification is a condition of issuance


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    CS for SB 790                                  First Engrossed



 1  of the certificate of need. The certificate-of-need program

 2  shall notify the Medicaid program office and the Department of

 3  Elderly Affairs when it imposes conditions as authorized in

 4  this paragraph in an area in which a community diversion pilot

 5  project is implemented.

 6         (c)  A certificateholder or an exemption holder may

 7  apply to the agency for a modification of conditions imposed

 8  under paragraph (a) or paragraph (b). If the holder of a

 9  certificate of need or an exemption demonstrates good cause

10  why the certificate or exemption should be modified, the

11  agency shall reissue the certificate of need or exemption with

12  such modifications as may be appropriate. The agency shall by

13  rule define the factors constituting good cause for

14  modification.

15         (d)  If a nursing home is located in a county where a

16  long-term care community diversion pilot project has been

17  implemented under s. 430.705 or in a county where an

18  integrated, fixed-payment delivery system for Medicaid

19  recipients who are 60 years of age or older has been

20  implemented under s. 409.912(5), the nursing home may request

21  a reduction in the percentage of annual patient days utilized

22  by residents who are eligible for care under Title XIX of the

23  Social Security Act, which is a condition of the nursing

24  home's certificate of need. The agency shall automatically

25  grant the nursing home's request if the reduction is not more

26  than 15 percent of the nursing home's annual

27  Medicaid-patient-days condition. A nursing home may submit

28  only one request every 2 years for an automatic reduction. A

29  requesting nursing home must notify the agency in writing at

30  least 60 days in advance of its intent to reduce its annual

31  Medicaid-patient-days condition by not more than 15 percent.


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    CS for SB 790                                  First Engrossed



 1  The agency must acknowledge the request in writing and must

 2  change its records to reflect the revised certificate-of-need

 3  condition. This paragraph expires June 30, 2011.

 4         (e)(d)  If the holder of a certificate of need or an

 5  exemption fails to comply with a condition upon which the

 6  issuance of the certificate or exemption was predicated, the

 7  agency may assess an administrative fine against the

 8  certificateholder or exemption holder in an amount not to

 9  exceed $1,000 per failure per day. Failure to annually report

10  compliance with any condition upon which the issuance of the

11  certificate or exemption was predicated constitutes

12  noncompliance. In assessing the penalty, the agency shall take

13  into account as mitigation the degree of noncompliance.

14  Proceeds of such penalties shall be deposited in the Public

15  Medical Assistance Trust Fund.

16         Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

17  law.

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