The Department of Health, Certificate of Need Unit and Construction Review Services has provided Aging Services with a pre-rule filing briefing on proposed fee increases.
On 11/3/11, the Health Department convened a meeting to provide a description and an explanation of proposed fee increases. Exact fee amounts and alignments to various cost ranges of construction projects were not yet known. Aging Services has requested data supporting the costs of the two program areas relative to usage by and of long term care providers, as proposed fee increases are to date, system-wide. We have indicated that long term care should not be paying for more than their proportional share of the program's utilization.
The proposed fee increases for CON, found at WAC 246-310-990, are attributable to the department covering litigation costs they continue to incur in order to defend their need decisions.
The fee increases for CRS, found at WAC 246-314-990, are to support full FY12 staffing levels. They intend, with full staff, to streamline the review process and reduce responses times to, on average, no more than twenty-eight days from application. The department also indicated that unlike previous years where staff reviewers “specialized” in the types of projects each reviewed, they will in future months shift to a more generic review wherein all staff cover all provider types.
They shared that we should look for these proposed draft rules early February 2012, with adoption scheduled for May 2012.
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