Florida Senior Living Association is consistently in the forefront of public policy issues facing senior living communities. As a member of FSLA, you can expect the association to advocate on your behalf, support and protect the profession, and continuously work to achieve positive changes in the industry.
We work extensively with legislators, their staff, and the executive branch; we develop relationships with stakeholders and the media; and we engage our members in grassroots contacts with their legislators. In today’s fast-paced political and policy climate, you can trust that the association staff is passionate, dedicated, and willing to work tirelessly to influence public policies that best meet your long-term goals and interests.
2022 Legislative Session
The 2022 Florida Legislative Session convened on January 11, 2022 and adjourned on March 11, 2022.
FSLA was actively engaged and advocating for our members’ priority interests this Session:
- Extending the COVID-19 limitation of liability sunset until June 1, 2023.
- Pursuing policy changes and available funding opportunities to address long-term care workforce issues.
- Advocating that health care staffing rates to be subject to Florida’s price gouging statutes during declared states of emergency.
- Advocating for policy changes to deter staffing agencies from taking undo advantage of ALFs that are struggling to find and retain staff.
- Reviewing staff training needs for Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.
- Educating the legislature about the ever-increasing liability insurance premiums and the need to reduce meritless claims.
Read our summary of the 2022 Legislative Session here.
ALF MODERNIZATION BILL PASSES
CS/CS/HB 767 Modernizes, Empowers and Strengthens Senior Living
Florida Senior Living Association thanks the Florida Legislature for passing CS/CS/HB 767, Assisted Living Facilities. The bill was sponsored in the Florida House of Representatives by Rep. Michael Grant (R-75) and in the Senate by Sen. Gayle Harrell (R-25). The bill provides policy-driven direction that modernizes seniors’ assisted living experience, empowers seniors with stronger consumer protections to better manage their care, and strengthens facilities’ ability to serve seniors as residential models with a heath care overlay in a nationally competitive service industry. The bill received unanimous support from the House (119-0) and the Senate (39-0).
FSLA’s Policy Statement
To the extent allowed by law and consistent with its 501(c) 6 tax-exempt purposes, the role of FSLA in government relations, public policy, and advocacy is to:
- Communicate the association’s position to elected or appointed officials and their staffs in the legislative, judicial and / or executive branches of government at a local, state, or national level;
- Keep members aware of information related to public policy initiatives; and
- Assist policymakers and their staff by providing working knowledge, sharing expertise and serving as a valuable resource to provide accurate and timely information.
FSLA’s ACCOMPLISHMENTS
We strive to create a regulatory environment that maximizes flexibility and allows senior living providers to offer a variety of quality care options and choices to consumers. Regulations should recognize and promote operational excellence in communities throughout the state. We represent our members’ interests at the local, state and federal levels.
- In 2022, FSLA sought, and successfully received, $500,000 for ALFs to provide on-the-job certified nursing assistant (CNA) training free of charge to existing and new staff seeking CNA certification.
- In 2022, FSLA negotiated and ultimately supported passage of legislation that codified visitation and essential caregiver practices resulting from leassons learned during COVID-19, helped clarify home health aide duties in ALFs, advocated for relief from the workforce crisis, and continued to reinforce the need to reduce increasing insurance premiums.
- In 2022, FSLA was a leader in efforts to extend the limitation of COVID-19 liability for health care providers for 14 additional months, until June 1, 2022.
- In 2021, FSLA passed legislation limiting COVID-19 liability to prevent meritless claims and ensured ALFs were excluded from the ban on “COVID-19 passports”.
- In 2020, FSLA passed legislation that allowed assistive devices to be used in ALFs. Up until this time, ALFs could not take advantage of many of these new medical technologies. Now, ALF residents can use the latest technologies to help them remain independent and safe from harm.
- In 2019, FSLA assisted with passage of a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) bill which improved early indicators of CCRC financial distress; gave the Office of Insurance Regulation authority to remove management, and revised minimum liquid reserves and withdrawals from reserve accounts.
- In 2019, FSLA negotiated additional provisions and flexibilities specifically for ALFs in the generator statutes and rules.
- In 2018, FSLA was successful in working with the regulatory agency, the Agency for Health Care Administration, in passing legislation that gives the state more tools to crack down on unlicensed assisted living facilities, reduces regulatory burdens on assisted living providers and reduces litigation impacts from residents’ rights.
- FSLA successfully negotiated reasonable revisions to the proposed emergency generator rule (removed references to resident rights, reduced the amount of fuel storage, reduced the square footage required to be cooled, expanded the implementation date, and inserted a waiver process to go beyond the stated implementation date if necessary).
- In March 2018, FSLA was successful in negotiating the removal of Constitutional Proposal 88 which would have removed the cap on punitive damages and effectively eliminated the use of arbitration agreements in assisted living communities.
- In Fall 2017, FSLA successfully challenged an emergency rule requiring the installation of generators by Nov. 15, 2017.
- In Summer 2017, FSLA filed a challenge to burdensome and costly assisted living operating rules that ultimately resulted in the rules being withdrawn.
- In 2016, we passed state legislation to update a decades’ old fire and life safety code in statute, allowing communities to choose to use newer codes.
- In 2015 and 2016, FSLA worked to update regulations to ensure state agencies do not impose burdensome costs on providers or exceed their jurisdiction when interpreting new laws.
- In 2015, FSLA passed state legislation that brought significant reforms to assisted living communities, including more services for unlicensed staff to assist with self-administration of medications and the ability for nurses in LNS communities to practice to their full scope, among other improvements.
- In 2014, FSLA increased state funding for Medicaid Assistive Care Services by $5 million.
- In 2013 and 2014, FSLA prevented passage of major legislation that would have hit the profession with costly registration fees and fines.
Looking for information about Florida’s regulatory structure for senior living communities? Click here.