Florida requires assisted living homes to license memory care

Assisted living facilities must get a memory care license to serve memory care residents or advertise memory care services. Memory care residents are people with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia whom a facility says it supports with specialized care, services, or activities. Facilities offering only optional supportive services available to all residents are exempt if they follow the agency’s advertising rules. The agency must adopt the required rules by June 1, 2027. Facilities licensed after the rules take effect must get a memory care license before providing or advertising memory care; earlier-licensed facilities have six months after the rules take effect.

The state health agency must set minimum standards for memory care licenses. The standards govern assisted living facilities with memory care licenses, including requirements for what they may say in advertisements. The standards must cover care, services, activities, staff training, safety, buildings, and resident contracts. They must require at least one awake staff member on duty at all hours. The agency must adopt the standards by June 1, 2027.

Some facilities may keep serving certain current residents without a memory care license if they meet the listed requirements. This applies only to memory care residents accepted before the agency’s required rules take effect. The facility must show the agency it cannot reasonably get a license, tell residents and caregivers about the license requirement and option to move, and help find another facility if asked. It may not accept new memory care residents without a license. If a resident or caregiver chooses for the resident to stay, the facility must put the services in the contract, keep records of when and how they were provided, and share those records on request. Other applicable requirements still apply. The exception applies to residents accepted before the agency adopts the required rules.

Two provisions about Alzheimer’s-related disclosures and special care are repealed when the agency adopts the new standards. The repeal concerns sections 429.177 and 429.178, which the bill identifies as relating to Alzheimer’s-related disclosures and special care. The repeal takes effect upon adoption of the agency’s minimum standards for memory care licenses.