Did you know texting might be a better option after a natural disaster? Meteorologist Chris Warren has some simple things you can do to keep your cell phone going when you need it the most.
Hurricane Irene
August 29th, 2011
Coastal Reconstruction Group deployed a team up the Eastern seaboard to prepare properties in the path of Irene!
Today Marks Sixth Anniversary Of Hurricane Katrina
August 29th, 2011
By Ashleigh Coran
NEW ORLEANS, Lousiana – Today marks the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall on the Gulf Coast.
The force of the hurricane wiped out entire communities in the region. Then, the levees broke in New Orleans, setting off catastrophic flooding.
Thousands of displaced families sought shelter at the Superdome.
More than 1,700 people were killed in the storm.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency called Katrina “the single most catastrophic natural disaster in U.S. history.”
(Original Source: http://www.kionrightnow.com/story/15350170/sixth-anniversary-of-hurricane-katrina)
Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale
August 24th, 2011
All Hurricanes are dangerous, but some are more so than others. The way storm surge, wind and other factors combine determines the hurricanes destructive power. To make comparisons easier and to make the predicted hazards of approaching hurricanes clearer to emergency managers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s hurricane forecasters use a disaster-potential scale which assigns storms to five categories. This can be used to give an estimate of the potential property damage and flooding expected along the coast with a hurricane.
The scale was formulated in 1969 by Herbert Saffir, a consulting engineer, and Dr. Bob Simpson, director of the National Hurricane Center. The World Meteorological Organization was preparing a report on structural damage to dwellings due to windstorms, and Dr. Simpson added information about storm surge heights that accompany hurricanes in each category.
For a more detailed chart from NOAA, CLICK HERE.
NARPM Central Florida Volunteers at Habitat for Humanity
August 16th, 2011
Volunteers from NARPM Central Florida spent time last Saturday helping out at the local Habitat for Humanity! Thank you to everyone who took the time to assist this worthy cause!
FALA Conference 2011
August 11th, 2011
Join us at the annual FALA Conference and Trade Show! Scott is speaking TODAY at 3pm and we would love to have you! Plus… someone WILL win an iPad 2!
Click HERE for details!
Congrats to Scott McCurdy for being elected to the Florida Assisted Living Association Board of Directors for another term!
‘Typical’ Caregiving Scenario Defined in New Report
August 3rd, 2011
A new Gallup poll aims to describe the life of an average caregiver and shines light on the vast amount of time family caregivers spend each month caring for a loved one.
The Gallup poll is part of a three part series, which aims to describe what it means to be caregiver. Researchers surveyed 2,805 adults, aged 18 and older, who self-identified as caregivers and were working at least 15 hours per week. Most respondents reported caring for someone 75 or older, and 72 percent of these caregivers were providing care for a parent. A majority of these caregivers did not live with the person to whom they provided care, but 66% of individuals not living with the person they cared for lived within 10 miles.
The poll finds that caregiving is generally a long-term commitment and is often a major time commitment, with more than 19 days per month devoted to providing care. 13 or these days were spent with tasks such as shopping, food preparation, housekeeping, laundry, transportation, and taking medicine, while 6 of these days were spent assisting with personal tasks such as toilet visits, eating, dressing, grooming, and bathing. Caregivers also spent 13 hours per month coordinating physician visits, managing financial matters, and researching care services for their loved one and an average of 5 hours per day in which they provide care devoted to companionship.
CLICK HERE to read the full results and Gallup’s methodology.
(Original Source: http://www.alfa.org/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=1895)
CMS Issues Final Rule on Medicare Payments to Skilled Nursing Facilities
August 2nd, 2011
Late Friday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued the Final Rule addressing Skilled Nursing Facility payment for federal fiscal year 2012. After months of effort by advocates for long term care, CMS is moving forward with their plan for significant reductions in SNF payment rates effective October 1, 2011.
In the Final Rule, CMS estimates that the aggregate impact for the FY 2012 updates would be a net decrease of $3.87 billion in payments to SNFs, resulting from a $600 million increase from the update to the payment rates and a $4.47 billion reduction from the recalibration (12.6%) of the case-mix adjustment.
The recalibration adjustment is offset by the update of 1.7 percent, consisting of the market basket increase of 2.7 percentage points, reduced by the 1.0 percentage point Multifactor Productivity (MFP) adjustment. CMS projects that aggregate payments will decrease by 11.1 percent, assuming that facilities do not change their care delivery and billing practices in response.
American Health Care Association is conducting a more thorough analysis of the 300-plus page final rule, which we will share with you once completed. Additionally, AHCA/NCAL President Gov. Mark Parkinson, as well as AHCA Chair Robert Van Dyk and NCAL Chair Nicolette Merino, will be on hand at the FHCA Annual Conference at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek on Monday, August 15th, so you can expect to hear more about what this means for the profession moving forward.
Federal Agency Drastically Reduces Skilled Nursing Facility Payments
J. Emmett Reed, Executive Director of Florida Health Care Association (FHCA), issued the following statement in response to the release of the Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System final rule for FY 2012 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS):
“In its Final Rule, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will cause long term care facilities to see a significant reduction in Medicare funding for skilled nursing care of nearly $4 billion beginning October 1, 2011. Facilities in Florida are already experiencing a drastic $187.5 million cut to state Medicaid funding that went into effect July 1. The CMS reductions will threaten our facilities’ ability to continue delivering quality care to Florida’s seniors and puts thousands of long term care jobs at risk, particularly since Medicare funding helps to prop up Medicaid, which has historically underfunded nursing home care. FHCA will continue advocating on behalf of Florida’s long term care facilities in hopes that lawmakers at the state and federal level will see the importance of preserving much-needed funding so seniors can have access to quality long term care both today and in the future.”
(Original Source: http://fhcacapitolconnection.blogspot.com/2011/08/cms-issues-final-rule-on-medicare.html)
