Florida Senate - 2011                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1736
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 489288                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/22/2011           .                                
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       The Committee on Health Regulation (Latvala) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Between lines 1344 and 1345
    4  insert:
    5         Section 36. Subsection (15) of section 400.506, Florida
    6  Statutes, is amended, present subsection (17) of that section is
    7  renumbered as subsection (18), and a new subsection (17) is
    8  added to that section, to read:
    9         400.506 Licensure of nurse registries; requirements;
   10  penalties.—
   11         (15)(a) The agency may deny, suspend, or revoke the license
   12  of a nurse registry and shall impose a fine of $5,000 against a
   13  nurse registry that:
   14         1. Provides services to residents in an assisted living
   15  facility for which the nurse registry does not receive fair
   16  market value remuneration.
   17         2. Provides staffing to an assisted living facility for
   18  which the nurse registry does not receive fair market value
   19  remuneration.
   20         3. Fails to provide the agency, upon request, with copies
   21  of all contracts with assisted living facilities which were
   22  executed within the last 5 years.
   23         4. Gives remuneration to a case manager, discharge planner,
   24  facility-based staff member, or third-party vendor who is
   25  involved in the discharge planning process of a facility
   26  licensed under chapter 395 or this chapter and from whom the
   27  nurse registry receives referrals. A nurse registry is exempt
   28  from this subparagraph if it does not bill the Florida Medicaid
   29  program or the Medicare program or share a controlling interest
   30  with any entity licensed, registered, or certified under part II
   31  of chapter 408 that bills the Florida Medicaid program or the
   32  Medicare program.
   33         5. Gives remuneration to a physician, a member of the
   34  physician’s office staff, or an immediate family member of the
   35  physician, and the nurse registry received a patient referral in
   36  the last 12 months from that physician or the physician’s office
   37  staff. A nurse registry is exempt from this subparagraph if it
   38  does not bill the Florida Medicaid program or the Medicare
   39  program or share a controlling interest with any entity
   40  licensed, registered, or certified under part II of chapter 408
   41  that bills the Florida Medicaid program or the Medicare program.
   42         (b) The agency shall also impose an administrative fine of
   43  $15,000 if the nurse registry refers nurses, certified nursing
   44  assistants, home health aides, or other staff without charge to
   45  a facility licensed under chapter 429 in return for patient
   46  referrals from the facility.
   47         (c) The proceeds of all fines collected under this
   48  subsection shall be deposited into the Health Care Trust Fund.
   49         (17) An administrator may manage only one nurse registry.
   50  However, an administrator may manage up to five nurse registries
   51  if all five registries have identical controlling interests, as
   52  defined in s. 408.803, and are located within one agency
   53  geographic service area or within an immediately contiguous
   54  county. An administrator shall designate, in writing, for each
   55  licensed entity, a qualified alternate administrator to serve
   56  during the administrator’s absence.
   57  
   58  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   59  And the title is amended as follows:
   60  
   61         Delete line 108
   62  and insert:
   63  
   64         schedule of home health agency inspection violations;
   65         amending s. 400.506, F.S.; providing that a nurse
   66         registry is exempt from certain license penalties and
   67         fines otherwise imposed by the Agency for Health Care
   68         Administration on a nurse registry under certain
   69         circumstances; authorizing an administrator to manage
   70         up to five nurse registries under certain
   71         circumstances; requiring an administrator to
   72         designate, in writing, for each licensed entity, a
   73         qualified alternate administrator to serve during the
   74         administrator’s absence;