Long-term Care Reform and Property Taxes Top '08 Legislative Session
By: States: Florida Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2008-01-22 13:44:21.845256-05:00
Legislators will begin Florida's 2008 Legislative session with $2.5 billion less in state revenues. AARP is concerned that programs supporting Florida's most vulnerable residents may be at risk. Long-term care reform and property taxes—two issues that have plagued Florida—remain top issues for the 2008 Legislative session although solutions may be hard to find.
Long-Term Care Reform
AARP will emphasize the importance of improved home and community based services since the majority of individuals would prefer to remain in their homes as long as possible. Florida's current long-term care system can create confusion for elders, caregivers, and service providers due to multiple waivers, differences between covered populations, and the range of eligibility standards. AARP will encourage Florida to move toward consolidating programs and funding in order to achieve a system that enables access to the most appropriate care in the desired setting.
Medicaid Reform
Medicaid reform of 2005 required Medicaid recipients under the age of 65 to receive care through managed care entities. Advocates who have expressed concern that this limits the access and availability of quality care are supported by independent studies and AHCA's Inspector General. Both cite a decrease in the number of physicians providing service to Medicaid patients and the difficulty recipients face when trying to secure access to needed prescription drugs. AHCA's Inspector General noted the lack of an efficient complaint tracking system and advised against expansion of Medicaid reform. AARP will oppose any expansion until the Medicaid acute care program proves beneficial to both beneficiaries and the state.
Health Care Transparency
Most consumers are unsure of health care costs and are more likely to guess the price of a new Honda Accord within a $300 range. Publicly available pricing for health care services benefits both consumers and businesses. Informed consumers combined with timely availability of pricing information increases competition, in turn lowering prices. AARP will continue to advocate for the timely and accessible release of information about both health care costs and quality information.
Affordable Housing
In 2007 the Florida Affordable Housing Trust Fund was capped at $243 million, leaving $300 million in the fund that cannot be used towards Florida's pressing needs for affordable housing. Florida housing costs and income have both increased since 2002, but at differing rates—77 percent and 1.4 percent respectively—causing an increase in the number of individuals needing assistance to afford housing. AARP supports repeal of the housing trust fun cap, which would produce significant economic stimulation for Florida and will help keep essential trained professionals in Florida.
Property Taxes
During 2007's Special Legislative Session - B, which dealt with property taxes, the Legislature enacted provisions that rolled back 2007-2008 property tax levies to 2006-2007 levels. Counties were also required to reduce property taxes by an additional 3-9%. October's Special Legislative Session passed an amendment that will double the current homestead exemption, provide portability of homeowners Save Our Homes benefit to a new homestead, provide $25,000 tangible personal property exemption and institute a 10% assessment cap on non-homestead properties, which will sunset after ten years.
AARP will continue to advocate for true reform of Florida's tax structure while supporting reasonable property tax relief for all Floridians including state and local tax systems that are flexible enough to adapt to unforeseen change and adequate to support needed services.
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