HB 0797

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.; making permanent
6	the program for personal care attendants for spinal cord
7	injury victims; providing powers and duties of the
8	Department of Health with respect to the program;
9	providing criteria for participation in the program;
10	providing for an oversight workgroup; increasing the
11	percentage of revenues collected from persons who fail to
12	remit sales tax which shall be deposited into the Florida
13	Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation for the
14	purpose of administering the program; providing an
15	effective date.
16
17	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19	Section 1.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (10) of section
20	400.506, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
21	400.506  Licensure of nurse registries; requirements;
22	penalties.--
23	(10)
24	(c)  A registered nurse shall make monthly visits to the
25	patient's home to assess the patient's condition and quality of
26	care being provided by the certified nursing assistant or home
27	health aide. Any condition which in the professional judgment of
28	the nurse requires further medical attention shall be reported
29	to the attending physician and the nurse registry. The
30	assessment shall become a part of the patient's file with the
31	nurse registry and may be reviewed by the agency during their
32	survey procedure.
33	Section 2.  Section 413.402, Florida Statutes, is amended
34	to read:
35	413.402  Personal care attendant pilot program.--The
36	Florida Association of Centers for Independent Living, in
37	conjunction with the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program in the
38	Department of Health, shall develop a pilot program to provide
39	personal care attendants to persons who are eligible pursuant to
40	subsection (1). The association and the Department of Health
41	shall jointly develop memoranda of understanding with the
42	Department of Revenue, the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program
43	in the Department of Health, the Florida Medicaid program in the
44	Agency for Health Care Administration, the Florida Endowment
45	Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Division of
46	Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Education.
47	(1)  Persons eligible to participate in the pilot program
48	must:
49	(a)  Be at least 18 years of age and be significantly
50	disabled due to a traumatic spinal cord injury;
51	(b)  Require a personal care attendant for bathing,
52	dressing, bowel and bladder management, and transportation; Have
53	been determined eligible for training services from the Division
54	of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Education; and
55	(c)  Require a personal care attendant to maintain
56	substantial gainful employment;
57	(d)  Be able to hire and supervise a personal care
58	attendant; and
59	(e)(c)  Meet one of the following requirements Either:
60	1.  Live in a nursing home; or
61	2.  Have moved out of a nursing home within the preceding
62	180 days due to participation in a Medicaid home and community-
63	based waiver program targeted to persons with brain or spinal
64	cord injuries; or.
65	3.  Presently be employed but, because of a loss of a
66	caregiver, will lose employment and potentially return to a
67	nursing home.
68	(2)  The association shall develop a training program for
69	training persons selected to participate in the pilot program
70	that will prepare each person to manage his or her own personal
71	care attendant.
72	(2)(3)(a)  The association, in cooperation with the
73	Department of Health and the Florida Endowment Foundation for
74	Vocational Rehabilitation, shall develop a program to recruit,
75	screen, and select candidates to be trained as personal care
76	attendants.
77	(b)  The services of a nurse registry licensed pursuant to
78	s. 400.506 may be utilized to recruit and screen candidates and
79	to operate as a fiscal intermediary through which payments are
80	made to individuals performing services as personal care
81	attendants under the pilot program. The Department of Health and
82	the Agency for Health Care Administration shall seek any federal
83	waivers necessary to implement this provision.
84	(3)(4)  The association and the Department of Health, in
85	cooperation with the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational
86	Rehabilitation, shall develop a training program for personal
87	care attendants.
88	(4)(5)  The association, in cooperation with the Department
89	of Health and the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational
90	Rehabilitation, shall establish procedures for selecting persons
91	eligible under subsection (1) to participate in the pilot
92	program.
93	(6)  The association, in cooperation with the Division of
94	Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Education, shall
95	assess the selected participants and make recommendations for
96	their placement into appropriate work-related training programs.
97	(5)(7)  The association, in cooperation with the Department
98	of Revenue, the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program in the
99	Department of Health, the Florida Medicaid program in the Agency
100	for Health Care Administration, a representative from the state
101	attorney's office in each of the judicial circuits counties
102	participating in the pilot program, the Florida Endowment
103	Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Division of
104	Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Education, shall
105	develop a plan for implementation of the pilot program.
106	(6)(8)  The Department of Health shall establish an
107	oversight workgroup for the personal care attendant program to
108	oversee the implementation and administration of the program.
109	The workgroup shall be composed of one representative from the
110	Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program in the Department of
111	Health, one representative from the Department of Revenue, one
112	representative from the Florida Medicaid Program in the Agency
113	for Health Care Administration, one representative from the
114	Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation, one
115	representative from the Florida Association of Centers for
116	Independent Living, one representative from the Division of
117	Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Education, and
118	two members who are persons with traumatic spinal cord injuries
119	or are family members of persons with traumatic spinal cord
120	injuries. No later than March 1, 2003, the association shall
121	present to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the
122	House of Representatives the implementation plan for the pilot
123	program, a timeline for implementation, estimates of the number
124	of participants to be served, and cost projections for each
125	component of the pilot program. The pilot program shall be
126	implemented beginning July 1, 2003, unless there is specific
127	legislative action to the contrary.
128	Section 3.  Section 413.4021, Florida Statutes, is amended
129	to read:
130	413.4021  Pilot Program participant county selection; tax
131	collection enforcement diversion program.--The Department of
132	Revenue, in coordination with the Florida Association of Centers
133	for Independent Living and the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys
134	Association, shall select judicial circuits four counties in
135	which to operate the pilot program. The association and the
136	state attorneys' offices in Duval County and the four pilot
137	program counties shall develop and implement a tax collection
138	enforcement diversion program, which shall collect revenue due
139	from persons who have not remitted their collected sales tax.
140	The criteria for referral to the tax collection enforcement
141	diversion program shall be determined cooperatively between the
142	state attorneys' offices in those counties and the Department of
143	Revenue.
144	(1)  Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 212.20, 50 25
145	percent of the revenues collected from the tax collection
146	enforcement diversion program shall be deposited into the
147	operating account of the Florida Endowment Foundation for
148	Vocational Rehabilitation, to be used to administer implement
149	the personal care attendant pilot program.
150	(2)  The pilot program shall operate only from funds
151	deposited into the operating account of the Florida Endowment
152	Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation. The Florida Endowment
153	Foundation for Vocational Rehabilitation shall select the entity
154	to administer the personal care attendant program.
155	(3)  The Revenue Estimating Conference shall annually
156	project the amount of funds expected to be generated from the
157	tax collection enforcement diversion program.
158	(4)  Fifty For the 2004-2005 fiscal year only and
159	notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), 50 percent of
160	the revenues collected from the tax collection enforcement
161	diversion program shall be deposited into the operating account
162	of the Florida Endowment Foundation for Vocational
163	Rehabilitation, to be used to administer implement the personal
164	care attendant pilot program and to contract with the state
165	attorneys participating in the tax collection enforcement
166	diversion program in an amount of not more than $50,000 for each
167	state attorney. This subsection expires July 1, 2005.
168	Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.

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