AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES.

Plain English Breakdown

The exact details and implications of the exemptions for nonprofit corporations and pre-effective date actions are not fully specified in the provided official source material.

Act for Long-Term Care Facility Ownership Disclosure

This act changes how long-term care facilities in Delaware must disclose ownership information and other details about their operations to residents and the public.

What This Bill Does

• Changes the definition of 'facility owner' to match federal rules.
• Requires long-term care facilities to put a list of owners on their website instead of including it in marketing materials, with a statement directing people to the website for more information.
• Limits how long a facility has to tell residents about a proposed change in ownership after getting approval from the Department to no more than 30 calendar days.
• Clarifies what current and new owners must do when transferring ownership to inform residents or their representatives.
• Updates rules on disclosing disciplinary actions by limiting them to incidents that threatened resident health, safety, or welfare.

Who It Names or Affects

• Long-term care facilities in Delaware
• Residents of long-term care facilities and their authorized representatives

Terms To Know

Facility owner

The person or group that owns a long-term care facility.

Disciplinary actions

Actions taken against a facility for breaking rules, which may affect resident health and safety.

Limits and Unknowns

• Nonprofit corporations are exempt from some disclosure requirements.
• Certain actions that started before the act's effective date are not covered by its new rules.

Official Summary Text

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES.
This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 196. Like Senate Bill No. 196, this Act requires long-term care facilities to fully disclose ownership information for the facility and disclose ownership information to residents prior to the transfer of ownership of a facility. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 196 in the following ways:
1. It changes the definition of "facility owner" to align with federal regulations.
2. It modifies the requirements for a long-term care facility to include a list of facility owners on marketing and promotional materials, instead requiring that the list of facility owners be found on the long-term care facility's website, and that any marketing or promotional materials include a statement directing recipients of the materials to the facility's website for a list of owners.
3. It amends the timeline for a long-term care facility to disclose a proposed transfer of ownership to no more than 30 calendar days after receiving approval of required modification of ownership and control paperwork from the Department.
4. It clarifies the requirements of both current and proposed new facility owners in disclosing a transfer of ownership to residents and, if applicable, authorized representatives of residents of the long-term care facility.
5. It modifies the requirement that the disclosure of disciplinary actions against the facility to be limited to those actions resulting from incidents that threatened the health, safety, or welfare of a resident.
6. It removes an explicit statement of the Department's authority to delay or deny the transfer of a license due to previous disciplinary actions.
7. It exempts nonprofit corporations from having to disclose certain information.
8. It explicitly exempts the requirements of this Act from applying to certain actions that began prior to the effective date of this Act.