AN ACT relating to health services.
     Amend KRS 216.555 to require the cabinet to report to the Legislative Research Commission on the number and type of citations issued to long-term care facilities; amend KRS 216.557 to allow a facility assessed a federal civil monetary penalty to be subject to a Type A or Type B citation; increase the civil penalty for Type A citations to not less than $5,000 nor more than $25,000; increase the civil penalty for Type B citations to not less than $500 nor more than $1,000; amend KRS 216.560 to increase the civil penalty to $1,000 for Type A citations that are not corrected within the time specified for correction; delete the application for an extension of time to be granted by the cabinet when a licensee has made arrangements to correct a Type A or Type B citation; treble Type A and Type B citations when the subject matter was caused by or relates to a failure by the facility to maintain sufficient nursing or direct care staff; require any trebled fine to be reported by the facility's administrator to the facility's governing entity; require a Type A citation to be reported by the facility's administrator to the family members or guardian of the resident who is the subject of the citation; replace the Kentucky nursing incentive scholarship fund with the long-term care facility education and improvement fund as the recipient of civil penalties collected; establish parameters of the fund; require all civil penalties for which a final order of the cabinet has been issued to be immediately due and payable; amend KRS 216.565 to further define the factors the cabinet shall consider in determining the amount of the initial penalty imposed under KRS 216.537 to 216.590; amend KRS 215.567 to require hearing officers to issue findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a recommended order upon appealed decisions; prohibit the appeal of a citation or penalty from staying enforcement or correction of a citation or payment of a penalty; amend KRS 216.577 to conform; amend KRS 314.027 to officially create the Kentucky nursing incentive scholarship fund; delete nursing facilities and skilled and intermediate care nursing homes from funding the Kentucky nursing incentive scholarship fund; and, repeal KRS 216.563.

     (Prefiled by the sponsor(s).)

     Jan 8-introduced in House
     Jan 11-to Health & Welfare (H)