$69.2B budget would boost schools, cut Medicaid
\n(Orlando Sentinel © 02/02/2012) (Registration Required)\n
TALLAHASSEE — Florida House and Senate budget writers are crafting a $69 billion-plus spending plan that would deliver most of Gov. Rick Scott's top priorities, from tax incentives for corporat");
document.write("ions to Medicaid cuts and a $1.1 billion boost in classroom spending.\n\nThe state budget taking shape near the midpoint of the 60-day session would accomplish those goals by relying on higher tuition, l...\n
House votes to repeal part of 2010 health care law
\n(WDBO AM-580 (Orlando) © 02/02/2012)
The Republican-led House on Wednesday ");
document.write("voted to repeal a financially troubled part of the 2010 health care law that was designed to provide affordable long-term care insurance.\n\nThe House vote comes months after the Obama administration suspended the Community Living Assistance Services and Support program, known as the CLASS Act.\n\nHealth and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in October sa...\n
");
document.write("Scott wants to renew effort to reform ALFs
\n(Miami Herald © 02/01/2012) (Registration Required)\n
As Florida lawmakers debate the biggest overhaul of assisted living facilities in a generation, Gov. Rick Scott has sent a clear signal: He wants the reform movement to stay alive.In a brief statement Tuesday, Scott said he’ll ask members of his Assisted Living Work Group to convene again this year to come up with more ways to improve conditions in the state’s 2,850 assisted living f...\n
Government health spending seen hitting $1.8 trillion
\n(Orlando Sentinel © 01/31/2012) (Registration Required)\n
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Gvernment spending for Medicare, Medicaid and other healthcare programs will more than double over the next decade to $1.8 trillion, or 7.3 percent of the country's total economic output, congressional researcher");
document.write("s said on Tuesday.\n\n In its annual budget and economic outlook, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said that even under its most conservative ...\n
Health care district leaders break ground on $25 million nursing home
\n(Palm Beach Post © 01/31/2012) (Registration Required)\n
RIVIERA BEA");
document.write("CH – Leaders from the Palm Beach County Health Care District and the City of Riviera Beach hoisted golden shovels Tuesday to mark the ceremonial groundbreaking for a $25 million public nursing home in the Pointe West development across from the VA Medical Center.\n\nThe three-story, 120 bed nursing home was designed to give residents more privacy, more amenities, and easier access to...\n
Florida's shift to private managed care means longer Medicaid waiting lists, study finds
\n(St. Petersburg Times © 01/31/2012) (Registration Required)\n
When the Legislature decided last year to cap Medicaid funding and turn long-term care over to private managed care companies, some experts warned that growing waiting lists would drive people into expensive nursing homes.\n\nA study released Tuesday by the Legislature's own policy analysts underscores that fear.\n\nFlorida has three main Medicaid programs that div");
document.write("ert people from nursing homes by prov...\n
Q of L: Providers say they cannot absorb Medicaid cuts
\n(Citrus County Chronicle © 01/29/2012) (Registration Required)\n
INVERNESS — Potential cuts to Medicaid could have an impact at Citrus Memorial hospital far beyond the poor that the program serves.\n\n\n\n\n Go");
document.write("v. Rick Scott proposed a $2.1 billion cut in Medicaid. Citrus Memorial would see a $5.9 million drop in state funding next year, putting an unknown number of services, programs and jobs on the potential chopping block.\n\n\n\n\n Hospital chief financial offic...\n
How Treasure Coast legislators faired this week: Jan. 29
\n(Stuart News © 01/29/201");
document.write("2)
Here's a look at what Treasure Coast legislators did last week and how issues pertinent to the region played out:\n\n? \n\nSen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, might not get to release his health and human services budget draft for another week or so, but he gave some hints last week who might get the budget ax. Negron said he wants his spending plan to keep nursing homes' Medicaid reimbursement rates the same ...\n
Negron's budget will spare nursing homes but cut other programs
\n(Saint Petersblog? © 01/26/2012)
Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron, R-Stuart, said Wednesday he will propose a budget that would not cut Medicaid payment rates for nursing homes and also plans to try to shield hospitals from such cuts, reports the News Service of");
document.write(" Florida. But the proposed spending plan, which could be released next week, likely will include deep cuts in other programs. NegronR...\n
Alzheimers Disease: Fund the Research Now
\n(Sunshine State News © 01/26/2012)
Nancy Smith\nHow sad is it that Florida, the state with the largest per-capita population over age 65, invests zer");
document.write("o dollars in Alzheimer's research?\n\nZero.\n\nAn estimated 523,000 Floridians have Alzheimer's disease today. And you know what? By 2025, with the \"silver tsunami\" of baby boomers rolling toward retirement, that number is expected to leap 40 percent.\n\nThis mysterious thief of a disease tha...\n
Most Florida seniors have income other than Social Security");
document.write("
\n(Orlando Sentinel © 01/25/2012) (Registration Required)\n
A majority of Florida's retirees have other income to supplement their Social Security, whether it is pensions, jobs, their savings or a combination, according to AARP tallying up Social Security Administration numbers.\n\nStill, most -- 60 percent -- of Florida's retirees rely on Social Security for at least half or more of their income.\n\nOnly about 7 percent have substantial other income so that S...\n
90-plus population expected to skyrocket
\n(Florida Jewish Journal © 01/24/2012)
Living to age 90 is a worthy goal Americans are increasingly meeting. The number of people age 90 and older almost tripled from 720,000 people in 1980 to 1.9 million in 2010, according to a new Census Bureau report. And the 90-plus population is expected to more than quadruple between 2010 and 2050.\n\n\n\n\n\nHere's a look at what life is like in ");
document.write("the United States after age 90:\n\n\n\n\n\n•More women. ...\n
House health care subcommittee proposal a strike to Gov. Scott's budge plan
\n(Naples Daily News © 01/24/2012) (Registration Required)\n
A state House subcommittee Tuesday proposed minimal cuts to health and human services, a blow to \na.inline_topi");
document.write("c:hover {\n background-color: #EAEAEA;\n}\n\nGov. Rick Scott's budget plan, which sought billions in health reductions to pay for increases in K-12 education.\n\nInstead of nearly $2 billion in cuts to Medicaid reimbursements, the Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee budget leaves much of th...\n
House starts looking at Medicaid cuts
\n(Orlando Sen");
document.write("tinel © 01/24/2012) (Registration Required)\n
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida\n\n\nTALLAHASSEE — The House released an initial health and human-services budget proposal Tuesday that would chop hospital Medicaid rates by $291 million next year and trim a series of benefits for low-income Floridians.\n\n\nBut the $29.8 billion proposal also would take steps such as increasing funding for child-protection investigators, stabilizing ...\n
For Florida voters, Medicare drug coverage is critical issue
\n(Sarasota Herald-Tribune © 01/24/2012) (Registration Required)\n
ST. PETERSBURG\n\n\nMitt Romney has called Newt Gingrich an “influence peddler” for pushing the expansion of Medicare to cover prescription drugs a decade ago.\n\n\nWhile denying he actually lobbied for the proposal, Gingrich said he is proud of his role in extending the federal health ");
document.write("care program for the elderly to cover prescription drugs.\n\n\nBut while Gingrich has defended his support for...\n
BUSINESS PEOPLE
\n(Sarasota Herald-Tribune © 01/23/2012) (Registration Required)\n
BUSINESS PEOPLE\n\n \n \n \n \n\n \n Life Care Physicians Services LLC recently hired Dr. Joe Walsh as a full-time");
document.write(" on-site physician at Life Care Center of Sarasota. \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\nHe provides patient assessment, diagnosis and treatment, and his presence in the nursing home enhances physician accessibility to patients and families. He aids in hospital transitions...\n
Legislature May Not Pass Scott''s Medicaid Budget
\n(La");
document.write("keland Ledger © 01/22/2012) (Registration Required)\n
TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Rick Scott''s controversial plan to cut $1.9 billion in Medicaid payments to Florida hospitals may not win backing in the Legislature this year.\r\n \r\n \r\n\r\nBut legislative leaders and the governor agree they need to overhaul the way hospitals are paid to take care of Florida''s poorest and sickest residents. And ultimately it will mean less money for the hospitals, which were...\n
Hope for Alzheimers patients
\n(Tampa Bay Online © 01/22/2012)
Discussions about Alzheimer's disease are inevitably dreary, as anyone knows who has dealt with a loved one slipping into its cruel fog.\n\nThe incurable affliction robs individuals of their memory and sense of self.\n\nBreakthroughs are at hand that should allow Floridians to confront Alzheimer's with hope, even optimism.\n\nBut state leaders need to be serious about confronti");
document.write("ng this scourge. The numbe...\n
House Republican budget to seek Medicare reforms
\n(Orlando Sentinel © 01/21/2012) (Registration Required)\n
BALTIMORE (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives will put forward a budget plan this year that will seek substantial reforms to health benefits for the ");
document.write("elderly and make aggressive strides toward reducing deficits, a senior lawmaker said on Friday.\n\n House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said he wanted his budget plan to offer voters an alternative vision to the \"c...\n
Senator won't take \"the easy way out\" to balance budget
\n(Florida Tribune © 01/20/2012)
Gov. Ric");
document.write("k Scott's proposed budget trimmed reimbursements to hospitals by $1.8 billion but there are growing signs that the Legislature is loathe to cut institutional providers that hard.\n\nSen. Joe Negron, chairman of the Senate health care budget committee, said on Thursday he's tired of \"taking the easy way out\" and doesn't plan on making flat across the board percentage cuts to facilities.\n\nThou...\n
Assisted living facilities under the gun
\n(Lehigh News Star © 01/20/2012)
Prompted by reports of substandard care and abuse, the Senate is poised to pass much tougher standards for Florida?s assisted living facilities, but the initial reaction from key House members and lobbyists remains unclear as bills began to move Thursday.\n\nThere was no opposition Thursday as two Senate panels passed committee bills that would tighten Florida?s oversight of ALFs. The Senate Childre...\n
David Sylvester reveals post-acute care challenges, innovations
\n(Orlando Business Journal © 01/20/2012) (Registration Required)\n
David Sylvester\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n \n \n \n \n Abraham Aboraya Reporter - Orlando Business Journal\n \n Email\n ");
document.write(" \n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n \n\nMost people working at a hospital worry about what happens to a patient inside its walls. But David Sylves...\n
House leaders indicate non-support of Scott's plan to cut Medicaid
\n(Ft. Myers News-Press © 01/19/2012) (Registration Required)\n
Giving");
document.write(" a first glimpse of their budget plans, House leaders signaled Thursday they do not support Gov. Rick Scott's proposal to overhaul --- and slash --- Medicaid funding for hospitals.\n\nBut health and human-services programs still likely face hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts during the upcoming 2012-13 fiscal year. As an indication, Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Chairman...\n
Florida lawmakers consider tough law to protect assisted living facilities
\n(St. Petersburg Times © 01/19/2012) (Registration Required)\n
After years of stripping away critical protections at assisted living facilities, Florida lawmakers are radically changing course in what could lead to one of the toughest laws in the nation against abusive caretakers.\n\nWith rampant abuse across the state, key lawmakers are calling for homes to be shut down when residents die from shoddy care and caretakers banned from");
document.write(" the industry, in the biggest...\n
How many would drop out if they had to pay a Medicaid premium?
\n(Gainesville Sun © 01/16/2012) (Registration Required)\n
Asked if she could afford $30 a month to keep her three children current on the state’s insurance for low-income Floridians, Andrea Powers said she");
document.write(" was uncertain.\n \n \n\n \n \n \n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n“Sometimes I can, sometimes I can’t,” said the Gainesville stay-at-home mom.\n\nAn academic exercise from Georgetown University that was released last month suggest...\n
Medical groups pushing Legislature to reduce liability of emergency doctors
\n(Lehigh Acres Ci");
document.write("tizen © 01/16/2012)
Dr. Larry Hobbs remembers when current governor Rick Scott used to visit the emergency room of a Fort Myers hospital once owned by the hospital chain, Columbia/HCA, which Scott ran in the 1990s.\n\nScott's insights into emergency-room costs and to the malpractice perils of the physicians may lead him to be sympathetic, suggested Hobbs, a longtime emergency-room physician in Lee County.\n\nThe hope is ...\n
Fla. Legislature could give Gov. Rick Scott more power
\n(Bradenton Herald © 01/15/2012)
Associated Press\n \n\nGov. Rick Scott, the outsider who at one point railed against the political establishment, may soon start getting the kind of control that was never bestowed on Florida's previous chief executives.\n\nIt's still early in the 2012 session but the Republican-controlled Legislature is starting to move ahead with proposals that would give Scott more hands-on power to shape the jud...\n");
document.write("
Robbing Medicaid to pay schools
\n(Sarasota Herald-Tribune © 01/12/2012) (Registration Required)\n
Robbing Medicaid to pay schools\n\n \n \n \n \n\n \n Gov. Rick Scott's \"state of the state\" address reiterated 2-for-1 deal in his proposed budget: Make $2 billion in Medicaid cuts in order to pump $1 billion ");
document.write("in \"new\" money into public education.\n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\nScott's description of education funding as \"the single most important\" investment for the state will re...\n
Florida files challenge to Medicaid provisions
\n(Tampa Bay Business Journal © 01/11/2012)
Florida and 25 other states on Tuesday filed a");
document.write(" brief with the U.S. Supreme Court, challenging Medicaid provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.\n\n\nBy threatening states with the loss of all federal Medicaid funding, Congress abuses its spending power and unconstitutionally coerces the states into massively expanding their Medicaid programs and spending billions of dollars more ...\n
2012 Le");
document.write("gislative Session: Health Providers Scramble, Bracing For Possible Cuts
\n(Lakeland Ledger © 01/07/2012) (Registration Required)\n
TALLAHASSEE | By now, it's a familiar scene: As Florida lawmakers deal with a budget shortfall, hospitals, nursing homes and other health providers scramble to fend off — or brace for — funding cuts.\n \n \n\nThe 2012 legislative session will be no different.\n\nAlready, Gov. Rick Scott has proposed deep cuts in Medicaid payments to hospitals, as he tries to free up money to boost spendi...\n
Scott calls for more ed money at the expense of Medicaid
\n(WFSU Newsroom © 01/07/2012)
As part of his 2012 budget proposal, Governor Scott urged the Florida Legislature to cut the Medicaid budget by about two-billion dollars, which makes up almost half of Scott's recommended cuts. The money saved is supposed to help with Scott's new foc");
document.write("us on education. But, as Sascha Cordner, though some say it's a step in the right direction, others argue the cuts will have a harmful impact on the ...\n
Education, business development top list of budget priorities facing state legislators
\n(Stuart News © 01/06/2012)
Amid another budget shortfall in the billions, Florida lawmaker");
document.write("s will make spending decisions over the next two months that could boost Treasure Coast schools, further cut care for local low-income patients and affect a slew of other residents because of Florida's bleak budget picture.\n\n\n\nGov. Rick Scott held firm to a \"no-new-taxes\" mantra in his proposed $66.4 billion 2012-13 budget, but pulled ...\n
Florida Nursing Faciliti");
document.write("es Rise Above Challenging Times
\n(Provider Magazine © 01/05/2012)
Staff Work Creatively To Get Around Reductions\r\n\r\nby Patrick Connole\r\n\r\nFlorida has suffered deeply from the effects of the Great Recession and its aftermath, with once booming housing and construction markets gone bust and even the 12-month-a-year tourism trade unable to prop up an otherwise weak economy that has left nearly 1 million without work. \r\n \r\nIn a state known for its older-skewing popu...\n
Federal Report Claims Scott?s Administration Violates Federal Law
\n(Orlando Advocate © 01/04/2012)
\n\n Even though Governor Scott has hired a new Chief of Staff, Steve MacNamara for $189,000, there are still questions if this is changing our governor?s image. Governor Scott campaigned against special interest and insiders, but when his job performance rating hit 29%, he hired a ?longtime Capitol insider.?\n \n\n As a resu");
document.write("lt of this new Chief of Staff, the governor began to reach out to more d...\n
Judge deals blow to advocates for old, disabled
\n(St. Augustine Record © 01/04/2012)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. ? A federal judge struck a blow Tuesday to advocates for the elderly and disabled, removing class-action status from a lawsuit that had argued Flori");
document.write("da illegally forces people into nursing homes when they are capable of living elsewhere.\r\nU.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled in favor of one of the institutionalized Medicaid patients who sued the state of Florida in 2008, sa...\n
Nowhere to Go, Patients Linger in Hospitals, at a High Cost
\n(Sarasota Herald-Tribune © 01/03/2012) <");
document.write("font color=\"gray\">(Registration Required)\n
Nowhere to Go, Patients Linger in Hospitals, at a High Cost\n\n \n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n \n Hundreds of patients have been languishing for months or even years in New York City hospitals, despite being well enough to be sent home or to nursing centers for less-expensive care, because they are illegal immigrants or lack sufficient insurance or appropriate housing.\n \n \n\n \n \n \n\n\nYu Kang Fu was...\n
Give mentally ill high-quality care in assisted-living homes
\n(Miami Herald © 01/02/2012) (Registration Required)\n
In response to The Miami Herald’s Neglected to Death exposé of neglect, abuse and substandard care in Florida’s “assisted living” communities, a workgroup established by Gov. Rick Scott has recently completed its work and published its recommendations. If the recommendations are implemented it will ");
document.write("put the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) on a path bac...\n
Leaders taking knife to budget
\n(Pensacola News Journal © 01/02/2012)
TALLAHASSEE ? It's almost an annual rite in Tallahassee: Another year, another billion-dollar plus budget shortfall.\n\nFlorida lawmakers head into their new session this month confronted by a ");
document.write("nearly $2 billion gap. This time around, it is primarily caused by a combination of growing expenses in safety net programs such as Medicaid and a sluggish economic recovery that is expected to keep tax dollar...\n
Think Tank: Managed-Care Medicaid Program Giving Inadequate Service
\n(Lakeland Ledger © 12/13/2011) (Re");
document.write("gistration Required)\n
TALLAHASSEE | Florida's experimental, five-county Medicaid managed-care program is providing such poor service that the state should suspend plans for expanding it statewide, according to a report released Monday by a liberal-leaning think tank.\n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\nA spokeswoman for the state agency that oversees Medicaid responded in an email that the report \"provides...\n
Grand jury demands Florida get tough on ALF operators
\n(Miami Herald © 12/09/2011) (Registration Required)\n
A Miami-Dade grand jury blasted the state for allowing troubled assisted living facilities to stay open instead of reaching into its arsenal to crack down on the worst abusers, including imposing steeper fines, shutting down troubled homes and weeding out rogue operators.The report, released Thursday, put the blame squarely on the Agency for Health Care Admini");
document.write("stration for permitting dangerous home...\n
Scott aides defend Medicaid cuts
\n(Miami Herald © 12/09/2011) (Registration Required)\n
Gov. Rick Scott’s proposal to pay less to hospitals to control spiraling Medicaid costs drew skepticism from some lawmakers and hostility from hospitals Thursday.Scott&#x");
document.write("2019;s plan is central to his $66 billion budget proposal, and ensures that his own history as CEO of a for-profit hospital chain that paid a record $1.7 billion in fines for Medicare fraud would attract new attention.Expla...\n
Study: Fla. Medicaid premiums too high
\n(Crestview News Bulletin © 12/08/2011)
MIAMI (AP) — New pr");
document.write("emiums and copay proposals for Florida Medicaid beneficiaries, including $100 for every non-emergency ER visit, are among the highest in the country and a new study warns it could cause hundreds of thousands to drop out because they can't afford to pay them, according to a report released Wednesday by Georgetown University.\n“This is a very radical proposal which ...\n
Huge deficit-cutting bill sails through GOP House
\n(Tampa Bay Online © 07/20/2011)
WASHINGTON — Defying a veto threat, the Republican-controlled House voted Tuesday night to slice federal spending by $6 trillion and require a constitutional balanced budget amendment to be sent to the states in exchange for averting a threatened Aug. 2 government default.\nThe 234-190 vote marked the power of deeply conservative first-term Republicans, and it stood in contrast to calls a...\n
\n(McKnight's Long Term Care News & Assisted Living © 07/11/2011)
A new federal initiative aims to cut hospitalizations among nursing home residents receiving both Medicare and Medicaid, the Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday. \r\n\r\nThe Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center and the CMS Medicare-Medi");
document.write("caid Coordination Office will launch a demonstration project in the fall to improve the coordination of care in nursing homes...\n
HHS announces nursing home care coordination initiative
\n(Unknown © 07/11/2011)
......\n
Nursing Home Cuts Wrong
\n(Lakeland Ledger © 07/01/2011) (Registration Required)\n
In a Ledger article published June 25, it was reported that the Florida Legislative Budget Commission rejected millions — as much as $38 million — in federal money [\"Florida Legislative Panel Rejects Federal Aid for Nursing Home Diversions\"].\n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\nThe funds were designated to help remov");
document.write("e or keep patients from nursing homes by providing them with...\n
Floridean Nursing & Rehab Hosts Media Event
\n(Univision © 06/22/2011)
Staff, residents, family members urge Congress to protect Medicare/Medicaid funding through petition-signing event....\n
Clay Today | Local woman is statewide CNA of the Year
\n(Unknown © 06/21/2011)
......\n
Quality of life for the elderly should be a priority for all
\n(Saras");
document.write("ota Herald-Tribune © 06/03/2011) (Registration Required)\n
Groundbreaking ceremonies were held recently at The Glenridge on Palmer Ranch, where plans call for a 28-bed expansion. Earlier this year, Florida Living Options started construction on its 120-bed, skilled-nursing center on DeSoto Road. Since Florida currently has a moratorium on additional nursing home beds, both local projects were made possible by the purchase of rights from facilities that we...\n
My Word: Nursing homes offer quality
\n(Orlando Sentinel © 05/24/2011)
By J. Emmett Reed\r\n\r\nMay 24, 2011\r\n\r\nScott Maxwell's column, \"State takes elderly down a dark, deadly path,\" on May 15 is another unfortunate example of how Florida's nursing homes and assisted-living facilities are often misrepresented in the press. It paints a misguided picture of Florida's oversight process for nursing homes, a process that has resulted in");
document.write(" significant improvements to quality...\n
My Word: Nursing homes offer quality
\n(Unknown © 05/24/2011)
......\n