ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
nursing care institutions;
incentive grants
Appropriates, subject to
availability of monies, $3 million in FY 2001-2002 from the medically needy
account to the Department of Health Services (DHS) to award quality rating
financial incentive grants to nursing care institutions.
Statute requires DHS to
issue each licensed nursing care institution a quality rating based on an
evaluation of the quality of services provided by the institution (A.R.S.
§36-425.02). The quality rating score
is based on the institution’s compliance with specific standards prescribed in
the Arizona Administrative Code and reflects the institution’s performance as
excellent, standard or substandard.
Statute allows the Director
of DHS to use the quality-rating category in determining the period of time an
institution’s license is valid up to a period of three years. Currently, there are 155 licensed nursing care
institutions in Arizona with a total of 18,035 beds. According to DHS, 40 percent (or 62) of those institutions have a
quality rating of excellent. S.B. 1302
provides incentive grants for institutions that achieve an excellent rating,
thus the delivery of higher quality care in nursing care facilities.
Provisions
1. Appropriates, subject to availability of monies, $3 million in FY 2001-2002 from the medically needy account to DHS to award quality rating financial incentive grants to nursing care institutions. Exempts the appropriation from lapsing.
2. Specifies the grants be awarded to nursing care facilities that receive a quality rating of excellent on the annual facility compliance and licensure survey.
3. Specifies individual incentive grants equal the amount that results from dividing $3 million by the total number of census days for all the qualified nursing care facilities, and then multiplying that amount by the number of census days for each particular facility.
4. Prohibits DHS from awarding grants to nursing care institutions that were placed on a provisional license in the twelve months prior to the award of the grant or that ceased operation before the annual grant money distribution date.
5. Defines a “census day”.
6. Provides for a general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Staff
February 2, 2001