Wisconsin Statutes, Chapter 50, Revisions Relating to
State Violations, Appeal Provisions, Forfeitures and Enforcement Action
PDF Version
of DQA 11-034 (PDF, 80 KB)
Wisconsin Statutes, Chapter 50, Revisions Relating to State
Violations, Appeal Provisions, Forfeitures and Enforcement Action
As many of you are aware, Governor Scott Walker signed 2011 Wisconsin Act
70 into law on November 16, 2011, effective December 2, 2011. The new law
makes changes to Wisconsin Statutes affecting the regulation of nursing
homes including facilities serving people with developmental disabilities.
The purpose of this memo is to provide information to providers regarding
the effect this law has on providers. Certain provisions in the law apply
only to federally certified nursing homes; other provisions apply to all
nursing homes and to facilities serving people with developmental
disabilities. The complete text of 2011 Wisconsin Act 70 can be found at: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2011/related/acts/70
Federally certified nursing homes only
Section 50.04 (4) (am), Wis. Stats., outlines provisions pertaining to
dual citations of federal and state violations in federally certified
nursing homes. Under the new law, the Department of Health Services/Division
of Quality Assurance (DQA) is prohibited from issuing a state violation if
the Department has served a federal deficiency for the same facts. The only
state violations that will be served are violations based on facts that have
not been cited under 42 CFR 483, the federal regulations relating to the
operation of a nursing home. This section of the law does not pertain to
facilities serving people with developmental disabilities or to nursing
homes that are not federally certified.
2011 Wisconsin Act 70 amends several sections of the statute to allow the
Department of Health Services (DHS) to use violations of federal regulations
to support state licensure actions taken against nursing homes. Under the
new law DHS has the authority to consider certain violations of federal
nursing home regulations in determining whether to issue a probationary or a
conditional license, transfer the ownership of a facility, place a monitor
in a facility, appoint a receiver, suspend admissions, suspend or revoke a
license or take over operations of a nursing home. Additionally, s. 50.04
(8), Wis. Stats., was created and allows DHS to use federal civil money
penalties (CMP) moneys to fund innovative projects that are designed to
improve the quality of life, care and treatment of nursing home residents.
Similar provisions are currently available in the Administrative Code for
Nursing Homes, Chapter DHS 132. Since creating the quality assurance and
improvement committee in 2007, DHS has awarded hundreds of thousands of
dollars to support the development of innovative care practices in nursing
homes.
All nursing homes and facilities serving people with developmental
disabilities
Section 50.04 (4) (a) 2.b., Wis. Stats., was amended and expands the
circumstances under which DHS has discretion to not cite a violation. The
previous law limited the Department's discretion to self-reported violations
which the facility had made every reasonable effort to prevent and correct
the violation, but the violation occurred and remained uncorrected due to
circumstances beyond the facility's control. Under the new law, the
Department is also not required to cite a violation if the facility brings
the violation to the Department's attention and the facility has corrected
the violation.
The new law expands the amount of time allotted to contest a notice of
violation or an assessed forfeiture. Nursing homes and facilities serving
people with developmental disabilities now have 60 days to file an appeal of
a violation or a forfeiture to the Wisconsin Division of Hearings and
Appeals, instead of 10 days as previously required by law.
Section 50.04 (5) (c), Wis. Stats., imposes a completion date on the
issuance of a forfeiture assessment by DHS. If the Department does not issue
a notice of forfeiture within 120 days after the date the facility receives
the violation, DHS may not assess a forfeiture for the violation.
Questions regarding this information should be directed to the Regional
Field Operations Director for the region in which your facility is located.
Regional contact information is located at: http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/rl_DSL/Contacts/reglmap.htm
PDF: The free Acrobat Reader®
software is needed to view and print portable document format (PDF) files. Learn
more.
Last Updated: December 12, 2011
|
