STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS26735
The proposed legislation would give the operators of Assisted Living Facilities the option to use a private
sector accrediting organization to perform inspections or surveys as they are referred to in the industry. The
surveys ensure that the Assisted Living Facilities are safe and in compliance with state laws. Currently, the
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is the only provider of these inspection services, and they are behind
schedule. As of February 7, 2019, the Department had 56 surveys that were at least one to four months
behind schedule and three facilities that were seven months behind schedule. The proposed legislation would
help relieve this backlog by allowing Assisted Living Facilities to contract with a private sector inspection
provider that has been pre-approved by the Department. The accreditation standards shall meet or exceed
the state requirements, and all inspection reports shall be available to the public. Assisted Living Facilities
can still choose to use the Department to conduct inspections if they so choose. The proposed legislation
simply gives the Assisted Living Facilities an additional option.
FISCAL NOTE
There will be a one-time cost of $10,000 for the Department vendor to make changes to the Department's
Facility Licensing and Regulator System (FLARES). FLARES tracks facility surveys, and it will have to
be revised to accommodate tracking of those facilities with accreditation, including dates of accreditation,
evidence of the accreditation, expiration dates, and ensuring those not requiring a survey due to accreditation
are removed. The cost to upgrade FLARES will be off set by the reduced number of surveys the Department
will have to conduct. The average time it takes the Department to do one survey is approximately 75 hours,
at a cost of approximately $50.00 per hour for a total of $3,750.00 per survey. For every facility that chooses
to use an accrediting organization instead of the Department's survey system, the Department will be able
to utilize those resources to address the backlog. For example, just three surveys conducted by a private
accreditor will allow the Department to utilize $11,250.00 for other surveys or reduce their cost by this
amount. The OPE report identified the potential need for licensing fees to keep up with growing number of
assisted living facilities. This is an alternative to licensure fees as all private sector surveys will be paid by
the facilities.
Contact:
Kris Ellis
Idaho Health Care Association
(208) 250-3132
DISCLAIMER: This statement of purpose and fiscal note are a mere attachment to this bill and prepared by a proponent
of the bill. It is neither intended as an expression of legislative intent nor intended for any use outside of the legislative
process, including judicial review (Joint Rule 18).
Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Note S1096


Statutes affected:
Bill Text: 39-3302, 39-3355, 63-701