Gabrielle Russon
A final Senate committee OK’d a bill that removes some of the red tape to help veterans and their families get space in skilled nursing facilities.
The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee approved the measure (SB 788) with little debate before the 16-0 vote, clearing the legislation to go to the Senate floor.
“Florida leads the nation in supporting our veterans, but a shortage of 4,000 beds is unacceptable,” said Sen. Keith Truenow, an Air Force veteran who sponsored the bill, in a press release. “Our veterans deserve better, and with SB 788, we will do better by ensuring they receive the specialized care they’ve earned.”
Under the bill, Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs Director would be allowed to approve requests “to create or modify veteran- and spouse- designated nursing home beds at a facility so long as any such beds operate in the VA Community Nursing Home Program” and other criteria are met, according to the Senate staff analysis.
The change means a Certificate of Need would no longer be needed first from the Agency for Health Care Administration.
“The legislation supports specialized nursing home care for veterans, their spouses, and surviving spouses by streamlining access to dedicated beds in qualified nonprofit retirement communities,” Truenow’s office said in a press release shortly before the vote.
The changes would not fiscally affect the state government although the “bill may have an indeterminate positive fiscal impact on a licensed skilled nursing facility,” according to staff Senate analysis.
Truenow’s bill previously cleared two Senate committee stops with unanimous support.
The Senate’s Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, Space, and Domestic Security Committee, and Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services already advanced Truenow’s bill.
A House companion (HB 797) is also moving through the Legislature. That bill was originally filed by Rep. Chip LaMarca, a Lighthouse Point Republican. It has also reach the floor in that chamber.
