| Governor
Jeb Bush unveiled a Series of Elder-Friendly Initiatives |
During a three-city
tour today, Governor Jeb Bush unveiled a series of elder-friendly initiatives
to be included in his forthcoming budget and legislative recommendations
to the Legislature.
The Governor was
joined by Lt. Governor Frank Brogan, Elder Affairs Secretary Gema Hernandez
and Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Ruben King-Shaw to
promote elder-friendly programs during visits to the Miami Jewish Home
and Hospital, the Palm Beach Assisted Living Facility and the newly designated,
elder-friendly, soon to be elder-ready City of Dunedin.
"For the sake of
our greatest generation, it is my hope that we can build on our past successes
and make this year's Legislative session the most elder-friendly session
ever," said Governor Bush. "At the very least, we owe our elders
two things. We must help fight the war against loneliness for those elders
in the twilight of their lives, and we must provide an energetic and entrepreneurial
Florida for those who are just entering their golden years."
During the tour,
the Governor highlighted the administration's budget proposals for next
year that include an additional $52.4 million to provide expanded options
for elders to age in place - an increase of 15 percent over last year's
budget. In addition, the Governor's budget provides $46 million to
improve quality of care in nursing homes, and $30 million to provide prescription
drugs to low income elders.
The
Governor's Elder-Friendly Initiative includes:
LONG TERM CARE
REFORM:
The Governor has
supported several of the ideas generated by the Long Term Care Task Force
that was chaired by Lt. Governor Frank Brogan and is proposing new funding
and statutory changes that will enhance the quality and quantity of care
options for our aging Floridians.
NURSING HOME QUALITY
CARE IMPROVEMENT:
For those frail
elders who need the type of care that can no longer be provided in a community
alternative, the Executive Budget proposes $46 million in new funding to
improve the quality of nursing home care. Since Governor Bush took
office, funding for nursing home care has increased from $1.56 billion
in fiscal year 1999/2000 to a recommended amount of $1.77 billion in fiscal
year 2001/2002 - a 13.7 percent increase. These new funds will be
used to improve staff training, decrease staff turnover and increase staff-to-resident
ratios.
LONG TERM CARE
LITIGATION:
One of the more
serious threats to the continued availability of quality long term care
for Florida's senior and frail residents is the drastic increase in lawsuits
against nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Nursing homes
in Florida are three times more likely to be sued than nursing homes in
other states. The average amount of claims against nursing homes
in Florida is two and one-half times greater than the average amount of
claims in the other 49 states. The average cost of liability insurance
per nursing home bed in Florida is eight times the national average.
Within just the past several weeks, the Agency for Health Care Administration,
in accordance with the law, notified over thirty assisted living facilities
that they must either obtain liability insurance or close their doors.
This is unacceptable.
Florida's elderly
and infirm residents deserve special protection in the law. Certainly
when nursing home or assisted living facility residents are injured or
their statutory rights are violated, there must be an avenue for redress
in the courts. Unfortunately, the same law that protects is being
used to drive quality long-term care facilities from this state.
Lawsuits against nursing homes and assisted living facilities should be
subject to limitations similar to those that apply to nearly all other
legal actions.
Attorney's fees
should not automatically be recoverable. The amount of punitive damages
assessed against long term care facilities should not be limitless.
Caps on non-economic damages should apply in certain cases. The system
should be designed to encourage quick resolution of claims through arbitration,
much like in medical malpractice cases. The statute of limitations
should be reduced.
INCREASED FUNDING
FOR COMMUNITY CARE ALTERNATIVES:
The Governor's budget
includes an additional $52.4 million for community-based options in long-term
care for elders. A portion of these new funds will be used to expand
the Managed Long Term Care Pilot program by an additional 553 elders.
This brings the total
increase in community care funding for elders since Governor Bush took
office to $127 million - a growth of 63 percent. Contained within this
$52.4 million increase is $42.4 million in new funds to provide care to
elders in their homes or communities and $10 million in new funding to
assist family caregivers in their care giving responsibilities, including
respite care, assistance in gaining access to needed services, individual
counseling, and solving problems related to their care giving roles.
CREATION OF AN
INTEGRATED LONG-TERM CARE PILOT PROJECT IN DADE AND PINELLAS
COUNTIES:
Governor Bush is
seeking a better way to integrate all services required by Florida's elders.
To this end, the Governor has directed the Department of Elder Affairs
and the Agency for Health Care Administration to develop pilot projects
that will include in one program, the management of an elder's healthcare
and long-term care services. These services will include acute care
by Medicare and Medicaid as well as the management of Medicaid long-term
care services such as home and community-based care, assisted living and
nursing home services. These pilot projects, expected to be located
in Dade and Pinellas Counties, will maximize coordination of services and
increase flexibility to meet the consumer's needs.
HOME HEALTH FEE
INCREASE:
Also included in
the Governor's budget is $2.5 million to increase Medicaid fees for home
health agencies. This is the first such increase since 1987. A fee
increase for home health is important to elders since many are reliant
on in-home medical care to avoid admission to a hospital or nursing home.
Federal funding for home health services has decreased in recent years
making access to these services less certain for elders. If adopted
by the Legislature, the Governor's proposal will increase fees for a home
visit by a licensed nurse by 11 percent, and by a home health aide by 13
percent.
PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
FOR LOW-INCOME ELDERS:
The Governor's proposed
budget includes $30 million to fund a new program that began this month
to assist low-income elders in obtaining needed prescription drugs.
It provides prescription drug coverage to certain low-income elderly who
are dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare. Residents 65 and over with
an income between 90 and 120 percent of the federal poverty level will
receive monthly cash benefits for prescription drugs of up to $80. A 10
percent co-payment is required. In addition, the law requires pharmacies
that participate in Medicaid to provide discount drug pricing to all Medicare
beneficiaries who are Florida residents resulting in an average savings
of up to 10 percent per prescription, brand name or generic.
ELDER-READY COMMUNITIES:
Governor Bush is
encouraging communities and businesses to attain an "Elder-Ready" brand
from the state which will greatly improve the livability of a community
for elders. An elder-ready community has: easy access to drug stores,
reliable transportation to medical care, pedestrian-friendly traffic lights
and walkways, adequate lighting in public places, call boxes to enhance
safety, zoning for elder-friendly housing, adequate health providers with
gerontological training and much more.
The City of Dunedin
today is presenting an assessment of their status as an "Elder-Ready" Community
to Governor Bush and Secretary Hernandez. After seven months of surveying
the community's accessibility to elders, city planners and volunteers will
now develop a plan to improve Dunedin's
elder-friendly atmosphere.
At least 11 other counties and cities across Florida are working with the
Department of Elder Affairs to attain "Elder-Ready" status.
SENIORS AND SAVERS
TAX RELIEF:
The Governor recommends
this year that the Seniors and Savers Tax, otherwise known as the Intangibles
Tax, be reduced by an additional $277 million on an annual basis, removing
almost 500,000
taxpayers from the
rolls. This is the third step of a four-year plan to completely phase out
the tax. This insidious tax burdens the elderly, diminishing the only source
of current income for many retirees living in Florida and posing an excessive
burden for those depending on a modest life savings to support them in
their later years. Among non-business taxpayers, senior citizens pay 72
percent of the tax.
VETERANS' NURSING
HOMES:
Last year Governor
Bush and the Florida Legislature supported $8.9 million for the staffing
and operation of a new 120 bed, state-of-the-art, veterans' nursing home
in Pembroke Pines. Additionally, $12 million was appropriated as the first
half of the state's share of the construction money necessary for the next
two new nursing homes; one in Charlotte County and one in Bay County.
The Pembroke Pines home will be dedicated by Governor Bush on January 29
and will begin accepting its first residents shortly thereafter. The Governor's
Budget priorities for next year include an additional $12 million to complete
the state's share of the construction funds for the new homes in Charlotte
and
Bay Counties.
This will bring the number of veterans' homes in Florida to five when these
two new facilities open next year. Only two veterans' homes were operational
in Florida when Governor Bush took office. Combined, these five nursing
homes will serve 600 veterans annually in addition to the 150
veterans who reside
in the veterans' domiciliary.
During his visits,
the Governor noted many of the recent accomplishments of the Bush/Brogan
Administration and the Legislature on behalf of elders including:
· Completely
eliminating the list of elders waiting for Community Care for the Elderly
services.
· Historically
increasing funding for programs to serve elders in their homes and communities
by $127 million, a 63 percent increase since taking office, thus avoiding
the need for hospital or nursing home care,
· Implementing
the Managed Long Term Care Pilot program. During his 1998 campaign,
Governor Bush noted that a pilot program to divert elders from nursing
homes into community care settings had still yet to be implemented after
two years. Implementation of this diversion program became a top
priority for the Governor when he took office, and to date this program
has diverted 815 elder Floridians in Orange and Palm Beach Counties from
nursing home care by providing intensive services to them in their homes.
· Creating
a prescription drug benefit for low-income elders and a prescription drug
discount for all Medicare-eligible seniors.
· Implementing
the Consumer Directed Care Project, which allows elder consumers to receive
cash rather than direct services.
· Working
with the Legislature to create the Statewide Public Guardianship Office.
This office facilitates the establishment of local public guardianship
offices and provides training, uniform standards, and
statewide oversight
of community-based public guardian programs. Public guardians assist incapacitated
elders and others in making medical and financial decision. |
