Section II. Summaries of Bills Selected for Vote Recording
Budget General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2014-2015: HB 5001 General Appropriations Act 2014 by House Appropriations Committee; HB 5003 Implementing 2014-2015 General Appropriations Act by House Appropriations Committee; HB 5201 Medicaid by House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee, PASSED. The bills are now Chapter No. 2014-51/ Chapter No. 2014-53/ Chapter No. 2014-57, Laws of Florida, effective July 1, 2014. The companion bills were SB 2500 Appropriations by Senate Appropriations Committee; SB 2502 Implementing the General Appropriations Act 2014 by Senate Appropriations Committee; and SB 2512 Medicaid by Senate Appropriations Committee. AARP monitored the budgetary process and participated when appropriate. The Florida Legislature passed a $77.1 billion budget for Florida’s Fiscal Year 2014- 2015. Some impacts from the appropriations act include: • Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long Term Care (SMMC LTC): The budget allocates an increase in $12,576,966 to serve elders classified with a priority score of five or higher on the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long Term Care waitlist, which means they are the frailest potential recipients in most need of service. This will serve approximately 823 persons with home- and-community-based services. The State began to implement the SMMC LTC in August 2013 and completed its statewide rollout in March 2014. The program is designed to provide home-and-community-based services to indigent Medicaid recipients who require nursing facility level of care and who are 65 years of age or older or who are age 18 or older and disabled. • Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long Term Care Program (SMMC LTC): Quality of Services and Cost Effectiveness Study/ Evaluation: The budget provides $200,000 in nonrecurring funds from the Medical Care Trust Fund to complete the federally required assessment of services, quality of services, and cost effectiveness of the SMMC LTC.
• Assistive Care Services (ACS): The budget appropriates a rate increase of $8,378,684 towards Assistive Care Services. ACS is a Medicaid-based, state administered program that provides care for eligible low- income residents enrolled in a qualified assisted living facility or adult family-care home. These services are for residents who demonstrate functional limitations. ACS include, but are not limited to, assistance with activities of daily living, medication administration, and health support. • Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE): The budget provides an increase of $12,983,557 in funding to serve 600 additional individuals (slots) in the following counties: Palm Beach (200), Lee (30), Collier (10), Charlotte (10), Miami-Dade (125), Broward (125), and Pinellas (100). PACE provides HCBS for individuals who would otherwise qualify for Medicaid nursing home placement. • Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative (ADI): Alzheimer’s respite care services will receive an increase of $4,000,000 in General Revenue funding to serve 392 individuals, i.e. 41.2% of those waiting to receive services. Following the allocation of these funds, the Department of Elder Affairs (DOEA) may authorize a pilot project within Broward County to establish a 24-hour emergency Alzheimer’s respite care demonstration project. Also, $1,500,000 of funding for ADI will go towards the following projects: Alzheimer’s Memory Mobile, Alzheimer’s Project, Inc., Alzheimer’s Community Care Association, and Lucanus Development Center. The Governor vetoed funding to the Mt. Sinai Community Center Brain Bank. • Alzheimer’s Research: The budget allocates $3,000,000 to establish the new Ed and Ethel Moore Alzheimer’s research program to competitively award peer review grants to Alzheimer’s disease research projects (see “Alzheimer’s Disease” below for more details). • Adult Day Training Providers: The budget appropriates a rate increase of
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