9 Actions Florida Should Take to Help Taxpayers Impacted by Hurricane Ian

1.     Postpone tax notices and waive penalties or interest for late tax filings in affected areas

2.     Extend the date for residents to take advantage of the tax discounts they would normally receive for paying property taxes and special assessments in November and postpone or defer the deadline for property tax installment payments

3.     Protect individual and business taxpayers from the risks for notices that they will likely not receive because their home or business addresses is not accessible anymore

4.     Issue no new audits in severely impacted areas, extend the statute of limitations and postpone existing audits that haven’t reached the assessment stage because these can’t be responded to while entire communities are still recovering

5.     Create procedures for fairly estimating taxes which can’t be calculated because records have been destroyed by the storm, moving away from the current method which significantly overestimates activity if no records are available

6.     Initiate procedures to offer payment plan assistance for late taxes, rather than resorting to the standard collection methods, like liens, levies, or bank freezes

7.     Retroactively apply the recently passed law that provides property tax refunds for residential property rendered uninhabitable as a result of a catastrophic event

8.     Provide tangible personal property relief and allow n on-residential properties rendered uninhabitable to receive property tax refunds

9.     Get Congress to pass a Disaster Tax Relief Act that includes provisions from past packages, including elements such as an Employee Retention Credit, an enhanced casualty loss deduction, and other relief provisions

Download the Recommendations

Other Resources

Florida Disaster.biz
FEMA
Florida Department of Financial Services
Florida SBDC
Disaster Contractors Network
Florida Disaster Fund

Florida TaxWatch Statement on Hurricane Ian Recovery

Community Involvement

/ Categories: Releases

Florida TaxWatch Emphasizes Value and Recommends Continuation of Florida’s Hospice Certificate of Need (CON) Program

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thurs., May 11, 2023
CONTACT: Aly Coleman Raschid, aly@on3pr.com, 850.391.5040

 

Florida TaxWatch Emphasizes Value and Recommends Continuation of Florida’s Hospice Certificate of Need (CON) Program

 

Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) released Florida’s Certificate of Need Program Delivers High Quality Hospice Care, a report emphasizing the value and recommending the continuation of Florida’s hospice Certificate of Need (CON) program. The program, which is intended to increase statewide access to hospice care, allows for the addition of providers only if an area’s growth rate suggests there will be an unmet need – as determined by a population-based formula – for those services.

 

Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic M. Calabro said, “Florida TaxWatch maintains our position that Florida’s hospice Certificate of Need, or CON, program is in the best interests of terminally ill patients and their families, as well as hard-working taxpayers. It promotes proportional and manageable growth of hospice providers, ensuring they have a sufficient number of patients to sustain their businesses, and most importantly, that the state has the capacity to monitor the quality of the services they offer. 

 

“With a rapidly increasing and aging population, the CON program also allows Florida to be intentional with its expansion of hospice care, making certain each addition will meet a demonstrated need. This avoids creating unnecessary competition among providers that may increase fraud and other unethical, or perhaps even illegal, practices that harm patients.

 

“While the Florida Legislature hasn’t considered repealing the hospice CON since 2019 – and lawmakers ultimately removed those provisions before passing House Bill 21 – evidence continues to suggest that this would limit access to hospice care in many areas of the state, especially rural and low-income areas, and also increase the cost of services in those areas. It’s crucial, for all Floridians, that this program be retained in statute moving forward.”

 

Building on a 2018 report, FTW notes that Florida’s 27 service areas are assessed twice a year through the hospice CON program. A service area is only granted a CON if the projected number of hospice patients for the upcoming year surpasses the total capacity of all existing programs by 350 or more. Then, providers may enter a competitive selection process to meet the need for care in that area. 

 

According to FTW, Florida is one of 13 states and the District of Columbia that utilizes the CON program for the development of hospice care. As such, from 2010 to 2020, the state’s number of hospice providers grew by 9.3 percent, closely resembling its population growth (7.4 percent). However, despite the state having the second highest number of hospice patients nationwide – approximately 154,500 in 2021 – it ranks 30th in terms of the number of providers.

 

Still, FTW asserts Florida is equipped to serve a similar number of patients as larger states, as its providers are experienced and maintain high utilization rates. California, for instance, has nearly 22 times the number of hospice providers as Florida, but it only served less than one percent more patients than were served in Florida in 2021.

 

FTW also claims the quality of hospice care in Florida surpasses that demonstrated by other states, with the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Hospice and Palliative Care Composite Process Measure ranking sixth and the Hospice Care Index Overall Score tied for third nationally.

 

Moreover, FTW cites that live discharge and long patient stays are common indicators of fraud, yet Florida’s live discharge rate is at the national average of 10 percent – still lower than larger states like California (16 percent) and Texas (12 percent). In 2021, the length of patient stays in Florida was 71 days, two days lower than the national average of 73.

 

For more information and to access the full report, please click here.    

 

About Florida TaxWatch
As an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit government watchdog and taxpayer research institute for more than forty years and the trusted eyes and ears of Florida taxpayers, Florida TaxWatch works to improve the productivity and accountability of Florida government. Its research recommends productivity enhancements and explains the statewide impact of fiscal and economic policies and practices on citizens and businesses. Florida TaxWatch is supported by its membership via voluntary, tax-deductible donations and private grants. Donations provide a solid, lasting foundation that has enabled Florida TaxWatch to bring about a more effective, responsive government that is more accountable to, and productive for, the citizens it serves since 1979. For more information, please visit www.floridataxwatch.org.

 

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