Tag: ahca

At the end of last week, Florida TaxWatch announced “five taxpayer priorities” for the 2021 Legislative Session, which will begin on March 2 and adjourn on April 30.

On Friday. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the appointments of Simone Marstiller as secretary of the Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) and Shevaun Harris as secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF).

AAA released a report this week which expects 50.6 million Americans--down from 56 million last year--will travel this Thanksgiving, including around 2.76 million residents of the Sunshine State, down from 2.91 million in 2019. 

With Mary Mayhew leaving after less than two years to take over as president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, on Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis tapped Shevaun Harris to serve as acting secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA).

Bilirakis weighed in after the discussion which also includes leaders Baycare, Tampa General, HCA West Florida, AdventHealth and long-term care facilities.

These recommendations follow AHCA’s recent announcement of a $135 million bid award to Deloitte Consulting for the agency’s Medicaid Enterprise Data Warehouse project. Prior to this bid award announcement, Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered an investigation into Deloitte Consulting and its management of Florida’s unemployment system back in May. The investigation is ongoing and led by the Office of the Chief Inspector General.

Crist’s letter to AHCA’s Secretary Mayhew comes as COVID-19 infections in long-term care facilities across Florida continue to spike and caregivers report having to reuse PPE such as mask and gowns for days and sometimes weeks at a time.

Following a recent request from Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new federal flexibility to allow hospitals to bill Medicare for a lower acuity hospital stay or establish a rate that may be used in these instances such as an inpatient rehabilitation facility rate.

These rules require nursing homes and assisted living facilities to grant access to the Florida Department of Health or their authorized representative for the purpose of infection prevention and control, including mandated COVID-19 testing of both on-duty and off-duty staff when arranged by the Department.

This statewide resource is comprised of real-time, self-reported bed availability by all Florida hospitals. The dashboard provides Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Department of Health, healthcare providers and emergency management operators with critical, real-time information to better inform state and local planning and response to the need for more hospital beds as they confront COVID-19 in Florida.

In light of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak across the nation and in Florida, this week, the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation’s (FHKC) Board of Directors adopted and recognized benefit and eligibility adjustments to help ensure children face fewer barriers in accessing the care they may need during this emergency.

DeSantis and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Sec. Alex Azar teamed up to annouce “HHS issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) and draft guidance for the plan” to import the drugs.