PROPOSED RULES
SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
(Aging and Adult Services Administration)
Original Notice.
Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 02-11-126.
Title of Rule: WAC 388-97-550 Initial nursing home license and 388-97-555 Nursing home license renewal.
Purpose: The department is amending these rules to increase nursing home licensing fees from $127 a bed to $275 a bed.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 18.51.050.
Statute Being Implemented: RCW 18.51.050.
Summary: The state legislature, in the "Final Budget - Agency Summary Detail" to ESSB 6387 (chapter 371, Laws of 2002), stated its intent that, "Nursing home licensing fees are to be increased from their current level of $127 (per bed) per year to $275, so that those fees will fully cover the cost of the licensing and inspection function, as required by RCW 18.51.050."
Reasons Supporting Proposal: See Summary above.
Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting, Implementation and Enforcement: Patricia Hague, AASA, 640 Woodland Square Loop S.E., Lacey, WA 98503, (360) 725-2447.
Name of Proponent: Department of Social and Health Services, governmental.
Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.
Explanation of Rule, its Purpose, and Anticipated Effects: The state legislature, in the "Final Budget - Agency Summary Detail" to ESSB 6387 (chapter 371, Laws of 2002), stated its intent that, "Nursing home licensing fees are to be increased from their current level of $127 (per bed) per year to $275, so that those fees will fully cover the cost of the licensing and inspection function, as required by RCW 18.51.050." These proposed rules will implement the legislature's directive.
Proposal Changes the Following Existing Rules: Nursing home licensing fees are to be increased from their current level of $127 per year to $275 per year.
No small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW. Under RCW 18.85.020(1) a small business is defined as one with fewer than fifty employees and whose purpose is to make a profit. The revisions to chapter 388-97 WAC only impact businesses with fifty or more employees and approximately one third the businesses are nonprofit. Also the proposed revisions to chapter 388-97 WAC are exempt from a small business economic impact statement under RCW 19.85.025(2) and 34.05.310 (4)(f), rules that set or adjust fees or rates pursuant to legislative standards.
RCW 34.05.328 does not apply to this rule adoption. The proposed rules are exempt under RCW 34.05.328 (5)(b)(vi), "rules that set or adjust fees or rates pursuant to legislative standards." Amendments to chapter 388-97 WAC are to raise nursing home license fees from $127 to $275 per bed according to standards described in RCW 18.51.050.
Hearing Location: Blake Office Park East (behind Goodyear Tire), Rose Room, 4500 10th Avenue S.E., Lacey, WA 98503, on September 24, 2002, at 10:00 a.m.
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Andy Fernando, DSHS Rules Coordinator, by September 20, 2002, phone (360) 664-6094, TTY (360) 664-6178, e-mail fernaax@dshs.wa.gov.
Submit Written Comments to: Identify WAC Numbers, Andy Fernando, Rules Coordinator, Rules and Policies Assistance Unit, P.O. Box 45850, Olympia, WA 98504-5850, fax (360) 664-6185, e-mail Fernaax@dshs.wa.gov, by 5:00 p.m., September 24, 2002.
Date of Intended Adoption: Not earlier than September 25, 2002.
August 16, 2002
Brian H. Lindgren, Manager
Rules and Policies Assistance Unit
3112.1(a) Submitted at least sixty days prior to the proposed effective date of the license on forms designated by the department;
(b) Signed by the proposed licensee or the proposed licensee's authorized representative;
(c) Notarized; and
(d) Reviewed by the department in accordance with this chapter.
(2) All information requested on the license application must be provided. At minimum, the nursing home license application will require the following information:
(a) The name and address of the proposed licensee, and any partner, officer, director, managerial employee, or owner of five percent or more of the proposed licensee;
(b) The names of the administrator, director of nursing services, and, if applicable, the management company;
(c) The specific location and the mailing address of the facility for which a license is sought;
(d) The number of beds to be licensed; and
(e) The name and address of all nursing homes that the proposed licensee or any partner, officer, director, managerial employee, or owner of five percent or more of the proposed licensee has been affiliated with in the past ten years.
(3) The proposed licensee must be:
(a) The individual or entity responsible for the daily operation of the nursing home;
(b) Denied the license if any individual or entity named in the application is found by the department to be unqualified.
(4) For initial licensure of a new nursing home, the
proposed licensee must submit the annual license fee with the
initial license application. The nonrefundable nursing home
license fee is ((one)) two hundred ((twenty-seven)) seventy-five
dollars per bed per year.
(5) If any information submitted in the initial license application changes before the license is issued, the proposed licensee must submit a revised application containing the changed information.
(6) If a license application is pending for more than six months, the proposed licensee must submit a revised application containing current information about the proposed licensee or any other individuals or entities named in the application.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 18.51.070 and 74.42.620. 00-06-028, § 388-97-550, filed 2/24/00, effective 3/26/00.]
(2) License renewals must be:
(a) Submitted at least thirty days prior to the license's expiration date on forms designated by the department;
(b) Signed by the current licensee or the current licensee's authorized representative;
(c) Notarized; and
(d) Reviewed by the department in accordance with this chapter.
(3) The current licensee must provide all information on the license renewal form or other information requested by the department.
(4) The application for a nursing home license renewal must be:
(a) Made by the individual or entity currently licensed and responsible for the daily operation of the nursing home;
(b) Denied if any individual or entity named in the renewal application is found by the department to be unqualified.
(5) The nursing home license renewal fee must be submitted
at the time of renewal. The nonrefundable nursing home license
renewal fee is ((one)) two hundred ((twenty-seven)) seventy-five
dollars per bed per year.
(6) In unusual circumstances, the department may issue an interim nursing home license for a period not to exceed three months. The current licensee must submit the prorated nursing home license fee for the period covered by the interim license. The annual date of license renewal does not change when an interim license is issued.
(7) A change of nursing home ownership does not change the date of license renewal and fee payment.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 18.51.070 and 74.42.620. 00-06-028, § 388-97-555, filed 2/24/00, effective 3/26/00.]