Florida providers could see fewer inspections and reduced fines under legislation currently being considered by state lawmakers.
Under Senate Bill 1726 and House Bill 731, Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration would only be required to do one additional inspection at nursing homes that have received a Class 1 or multiple Class 2 violations, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. The agency’s inspection fines would also be cut from $6,000 to $3,000.
The changes would apply to all nursing homes in the state. While opponents have warned less inspections could mean worse outcomes for residents, the agency said the legislation would allow it to focus on struggling providers.
Agency Secretary Mary Mayhew and other leaders argued the agency’s “resources are increasingly strained as the state’s population and the number of health care providers increase,” according to the report. The number of healthcare providers the agency inspected from fiscal year 2015 to 2019 increased from 18,107 to 19,601.
“We wanted to make sure that as we look at our workload, that we are able to have a clear focus on higher-risk and poor performing providers,” Mayhew said.
AHCA Deputy Secretary Molly McKinstry added that the agency would be required to “go back with a full inspection team every six months for two years while we have other facilities that have a more chronic history that we’re not spending as much time in because they didn’t have a Class 1 (violation).”
