When assisted-living facility owner Linda Cole phoned another owner in the hope of buying his Internet domain name, the man told her he found new residents the old-fashioned way: He paid for them.
“You do realize that’s illegal,” Cole said she told the man.
But his response was blunt: He was forced to pay for bodies, otherwise he wouldn’t fill his beds, she recalled.
During the final meeting of the state’s ALF work group Monday afternoon, owners and advocates for residents — many from South Florida — said the practice of paying kickbacks to fill their homes was rampant throughout the state, even though so-called “patient brokering” has been illegal in Florida since 1996.
The problem was among dozens recounted during the packed session at Florida International University before the task force members, who are expected to offer solutions to an industry that has been under fire with revelations of squalor and abuse in assisted-living facilities across the state.
Full Article and Source:
Some ALF's Pay Kickbacks for Residents,Task Force Told
The "K" word? They're actually using the "K" word?
ReplyDeleteThank you Miami Herald -- keep at it!
ReplyDeleteYes, thank you Miami Herald and also thank you, NASGA.
ReplyDeleteThis issue has been heard by the Senate Aging Committee. Now let's see what they do which will probably be nothing.