TALLAHASSEE, Fla. �� The Florida state House voted with almost no discussion Friday to require that assisted-living facilities have generators, ratifying a rule pushed by Gov. Rick Scott in the days after Hurricane Irma.
The Department of Elder Affairs rule, spurred by the deaths of a dozen residents who were overheated in a Hollywood nursing home after the storm, had been passed by the Senate but was waiting for action by the House. Lawmakers in both chambers earlier this week passed a similar rule for nursing homes from the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
But the assisted-living facilities rule _ unlike the nursing home rule _ was not considered by any House committee before it was brought to the floor from the Senate.
The rules require backup power sources that could maintain cooling systems in the event of a power outage, and require power sources that can be portable but provide at least 30 square feet of cool space for each resident. Nursing homes and larger assisted-living facilities must have 72 hours of fuel at those locations. Assisted-living facilities with fewer than 17 beds would be required to have only 48 hours of fuel on site. Nursing homes will also be required to have equipment that can control indoor temperatures for 96 hours after an outage and maintain an ambient temperature of no higher than 81 degrees.
"We're glad to finally have some clarity on the requirements for our members," Gail Matillo, president of the trade group Florida Senior Living Association, said in a statement. "We'll work closely with our members to make sure they can comply in the best way possible."
Scott had proposed stricter rules for long-term care facilities after the storm, but industry groups and his administration compromised after months of dispute.
House lawmakers then pushed the nursing-home rule through a committee last month but did not bring up the rule for assisted-living facilities. The head of the committee, Republican state Rep. Travis Cummings, at the time expressed concern over the cost the rule might impose on smaller operators.
A staff analysis estimated that the rule would cost about $243 million for all the facilities in the state. Nursing homes, by the same analysis, would have to spend more than $121 million to comply with the generator rule over the next five years, though about $66 million could come from Medicaid and $25 million of that from the state.
