St. Petersburg, Fla. – Leaders of Pinellas County nursing homes were joined by residents, families and advocates from around Pinellas County today at a press conference to voice concern over a prospective payment system (PPS) plan that is being considered by the Florida Senate. There are 69 nursing homes in Pinellas County. Of the 69, 39 homes (57 percent) lose money under the plan in the Senate budget – a total of more than $13 million.
“On average, our facility has a Medicaid census of close to 70 percent, which translates into 172 seniors, and under the proposed PPS system, we would lose $1.7 million –this is a cost we simply cannot afford and one that would be devastating to our core mission of caring for the sick and dying,” said Kip Corriveau, director of Mission at Bon Secours St. Petersburg Health System. “I ask lawmakers to prioritize quality care for our state’s most vulnerable and fragile seniors, whose families have entrusted their care to us by deferring the proposed PPS system until a fair solution that truly cares for seniors can be reached.”
Bon Secours, Mease Manor and Menorah Manor oppose the PPS model included in the budget recommendation adopted by the Florida Senate, as it would negatively affect Pinellas County nursing homes by shifting resources from high-quality nursing home communities to primarily lower-quality facilities.
“Menorah Manor is a mission-driven, charitable, nonprofit, faith-based organization that strives to provide the highest standards of care, and our doors are open to everyone – regardless of ability to pay, which means our Medicaid census on average is roughly 65 percent,” said Rob Goldstein, CEO of Menorah Manor. “Yet, under the PPS plan included in the Senate budget, our facility will lose nearly $1 million when the transition funding runs out. Moreover, this proposed PPS plan lacks any requirement that providers who receive new money under the plan have to spend it on care, programs or services. I respectfully ask, on behalf of the residents we are committed to caring for, that the legislature rejects this plan.”
“Mease Manor is focused on the delivery of high-quality nursing home care and we oppose the proposed PPS plan, as it will have a negative impact on the quality of care we provide to our residents,” said Kent McRae, president and CEO of Mease Manor. “Under the plan in the Senate budget, Mease Manor stands to lose nearly a quarter of a million dollars each year. Losses like this will negatively affect our nursing home, staff, residents and their families.”
Finances
CFO Atwater’s Office Teams Up with Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) to Protect Foster Youth from Financial Mistakes
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Office of Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater today hosted a webinar in partnership with the Florida Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) to help protect current and former foster youth from ending up in financial trouble. The live webinar, entitled “Your Future, Your Finances,” included topics about budgeting, saving, credit scores and credit safety that are tailored to the experience of aging out of foster care.
“Florida’s foster youth deserve the same opportunities for success as every other child in our state, and we must work together to make sure that happens,” said CFO Atwater. “Financial literacy is one way to set youth up for success from the start.”
Foster youth and alumni are at increased risk for financial hardship once they reach adulthood. According to the Florida Department of Children and Families’ 2015 survey of youth ages 18-22 who have been in foster care:
- 21% do not have money for living expenses after they pay for housing;
- 72% have been homeless;
- 26% have children;
- 56% of those not enrolled in school or educational programs say they do not do so for financially-related reasons;
- 72% are not employed in full or part-time positions.
Webinar attendees first analyzed how needs and wants differ from person to person, and then determined their own needs and wants and how those items are prioritized in their lives. Later, they viewed a completed, sample spending plan and were challenged to create one of their own using the downloadable blank spending-plan worksheet. Attendees learned what a credit score is and how to create a good credit score or improve a poor one. Finally, there was a discussion of credit and identity safety as it pertains to youth in foster care, whose personal information is more vulnerable to theft and misuse.
QPI Florida is a web-based service that supports the foster care community and provides resources and training webinars to foster youth and their caregivers. The live aspect of this webinar provided an opportunity for real-time interactions with a question and answer period after the presentation. The webinar will also be accessible in video form on QPI’s website for future viewing in both English and Spanish. Caregivers who take a quiz after watching the video may be able to receive hours for relicensing credit.
CFO Atwater and the Florida Department of Financial Services are committed to helping citizens achieve financial literacy. It is important that foster youth and caregivers understand how personal finances help shape a responsible life.
For more information and resources related to financial literacy, visit the Department’s Your Money Matter$ website.
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Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Jeff Atwater, a statewide elected official, oversees the Department of Financial Services, serves as Florida’s State Fire Marshal, and is a member of the Florida Cabinet. CFO Atwater’s priorities include fighting financial fraud, abuse and waste in government; reducing government spending and regulatory burdens that chase away businesses; and providing transparency and accountability in spending.
Nursing Homes Warn State Lawmakers that Approving Senate PPS Proposal will Cost Pinellas County Homes $13 Million; Threaten High-Quality Care
WHO: Kip Corriveau, Director of Mission at Bon Secours St. Petersburg Health System
Peter Crosa, Bon Secours Board Member
Monsignor Robert C. Gibbons, St. Paul Catholic Church
Rob Goldstein, Chief Executive Officer, Menorah Manor
Kent L. McRae, President/CEO, Mease Manor
WHAT: Nursing Homes Warn State Lawmakers that Approving Senate PPS Proposal will Cost Pinellas County Homes more than $13 Million; Threaten High Quality Care
WHERE: Bon Secours Maria Manor
10300 4th Street North
St. Petersburg, FL 33716
WHEN: Thursday, April 20, 2017
10 a.m. EDT
WHY: Bon Secours Maria Manor, with other nursing homes from around Pinellas County, will gather to warn lawmakers against approving the Prospective Payment System (PPS) model that is currently included in the Florida Senate budget.
In Pinellas County, there are 69 nursing homes and 39 of them will lose money under the proposed PPS model, collectively costing those homes roughly $13 million, including:
· Bon Secours loses $1,738,412 or 8.97 percent;
· Bernard L Samson Nursing Center loses $999,155 or 9.87 percent; and,
· Mease Manor loses $218,751 or 7.31 percent;
These losses would negatively affect high-quality nursing homes, threatening the quality of care that is currently delivered by Pinellas County’s nursing homes and devastating many of the state’s four- and five-star providers. Under the plan 152 four- and five-star nursing homes will lose critical funding, while 97 one- and two-star facilities receive additional funding. In addition, this proposal would shift $44 million from direct resident care to property.
