Legislators are leading a bicameral effort to require Florida nursing homes to be more transparent about how they spend their funds—particularly Medicaid funds. Advocates say funds for staffing recruitment and caregiver pay should be prioritized to help respond to the diminishing care quality in Florida’s long-term care facilities resulting from its health care workforce crisis. … Read more
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) recently received spending authority for its $1.1 billion budget for home and community-based services (HCBS), allowing eligible providers to begin applying for the funding this month. AHCA opened applications for provider funding earlier this month, allowing a 60-day submission period before the Feb. 22, 2022 … Read more
Over one million Floridians have enrolled in Medicaid over the course of the pandemic. However, this large influx of beneficiaries may shift as the federal public health emergency (PHE) declaration — and the accompanying Medicaid disenrollment freeze — could end as early as mid to late January 2022. The latest enrollment numbers from … Read more
Three agencies — the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), the Florida Department of Health, and the Department of Children and Families — presented their legislative budget requests (LBR) for fiscal year (FY) 2022 to the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee for consideration on Monday. Recurring requests among the agencies included health care workforce support … Read more
Debates over COVID-19 vaccine mandates are intensifying in Florida nursing homes and other health care settings. Some employers, including several Medicaid plans, are using incentives such as gift cards to encourage vaccinations among members, in an attempt to reach the state goal of vaccinating 50% of beneficiaries age 50 and older, according to Health News … Read more