36-446.14. Referral agencies; assisted living facilities; requirements; civil penalty; definitions

A. A referral agency shall disclose to any prospective resident or representative of a prospective resident at the time or before any referral is made for care at an assisted living facility both of the following:

1. The existence of any current business relationship between the referral agency and the assisted living facility, including any common ownership or control and any other financial, business, management or familial relationship that exists between the referral agency and the assisted living facility.

2. That the assisted living facility pays a fee to the referral agency in connection with the referral.

B. The referral agency shall disclose to a new resident or the resident's representative either before or at the time of the resident's admission date the amount of the fee or a good faith estimate of the fee to be paid by the assisted living facility to the referral agency.

C. Both the referral agency and the prospective resident or the prospective resident's representative shall sign and date or electronically acknowledge and date the disclosures required by subsections A and B of this section. The referral agency shall provide the prospective resident or the prospective resident's representative a copy of the disclosures either electronically or in a hard copy. The referral agency shall provide the assisted living facility a copy of the signed and dated or electronically acknowledged and dated disclosures at the same time the resident receives the disclosures, and the assisted living facility shall maintain a copy of the disclosures on file at the facility.

D. The assisted living facility may not pay any referral fee associated with a resident until the assisted living facility receives the disclosures required by subsections A and B of this section.

E. A referral agency that violates this section is subject to a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars for each violation. The attorney general or a county attorney may institute a proceeding in superior court to recover the civil penalty under this subsection and to restrain and enjoin a violation of this section. Any civil penalty recovered pursuant to this subsection shall be deposited in the general fund of the jurisdiction that prosecuted the violation.

F. For the purposes of this section:

1. " Electronically" includes an audio recording that conforms with the Arizona rules of evidence, that is maintained by the referral agency and that is transmitted to the assisted living facility and the resident or the resident's representative in a format that can be downloaded.

2. " Referral agency" :

(a) Means a person or entity that provides referrals for a fee that is collected from either the patient or the assisted living facility.

(b) Does not include either:

(i) An assisted living facility or its employees.

(ii) A resident, a resident's family member or a patron of an assisted living facility who refers a prospective resident to an assisted living facility and receives a discount or other remuneration from the assisted living facility.