Week 3: Healthcare Highlights

Fraser Cobbe and Joe Daraskevich bundle up for this week's episode as they try to stay warm amid a frigid cold front in the third week of the 2026 legislative session.

Fraser spends time breaking down a bill that focuses on surgery suites and some potential regulatory changes. The bill would provide an alternative to safety design standards for specific locations and defines the specific portion where the surgery is performed as an "office surgery suite." With plenty of bills filed before session, it can be hard to say which ones will gain momentum early in session. That appears to be what's happening with this bill. Fraser also gives the latest update on the Big Beautiful Health Care Frontier Act and what sort of chances the legislation has in the Senate.

The final headline of the week turns to medical records and patient access to those records before Joe and Fraser look ahead to some bills that will be on the radar in the coming days.

The following update is provided by Toni Large, Large Strategies, INC.

Capitol Update: Quick highlights of health care issues discussed this week and a look ahead to Week 4.

NOTE: Click below on any of the bill numbers for more in-depth analysis of the proposed legislation.

Passing Committee This Week

SB 1756 - Medical Freedom

Requires informed consent for vaccinating minor children, grants immunity for prescribing and dispensing ivermectin to adults, and broadens immunization exemptions and procedures during communicable disease emergencies.

SB 1082 - Statewide Provider and Health Plan Claim Dispute Resolution Program

Specifies additional circumstances under which disputed claims are excluded from the statewide provider and health plan claim dispute resolution program.

SB 1480 - Temporary Certificates for Practice in Areas of Critical Need

Authorizes continuing primary care under a temporary certificate after an area loses its critical need designation, subject to annual board review and compliance.

HB 1175 - Safety Design Standards for Office Surgery Suites

Requires the Florida Building Commission and State Fire Marshal to establish alternative safety design standards for office surgery suites by October 1, 2026.

Creates s. 395.3045, F.S., requiring these new standards within the Florida Building Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code.
Permits office surgery suites to concurrently treat up to six patients on an outpatient basis who are unable to self-preserve under emergency conditions.
Provides an alternative to safety design standards for ambulatory health care occupancies.
Defines an “office surgery suite” as the portion of a physician’s office where surgery is performed.

SB 1156 - Ambulatory Surgical Centers

Establishes new licensure and regulatory requirements for ambulatory surgical centers under a newly created chapter separate from hospital regulations, strengthening standards, reporting, and oversight.
Creates chapter 396 to govern ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), removing their licensing from chapter 395.

HB 1207 - Ambulatory Surgical Centers

Clarifies daily fine for ambulatory surgical centers that fail to provide a required good faith estimate on time and ties the effective date to final federal rule adoption.

Modifies to $250 the daily fine, capped at $2,500, for ambulatory surgical centers that do not provide a timely good faith estimate of prospective charges.
Retains the existing $1,000 daily fine for hospitals but clarifies separate penalties for different facility types.
Requires the Agency for Health Care Administration to notify the Division of Law Revision once federal agencies adopt final rules related to good faith estimates.

SB 1668 - NICA

HB 1291 - NICA

Requires the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association to reimburse Medicaid expenses and ensure financial stability while updating benefit coverage and plan governance.

HB 237 - Use of Professional Nursing Titles

Authorize nurses with certain doctoral degrees to use appropriate professional titles and require them to clarify their profession when using the title “doctor.”

SB 382 - Electric Bicycles

HB 243 - Electric Bicycles

Mandates safer operation of electric bicycles, create a task force to recommend improvements, and require law enforcement agencies to track related crashes.

Imposes new electric bicycle operational requirements, including yielding to pedestrians on shared pathways and enforced speed limits on sidewalks when pedestrians are nearby.
Establishes a noncriminal traffic infraction for failure to comply with these safety requirements.
Creates the Electric Bicycle Safety Task Force to examine and recommend improvements to state laws and regulations governing electric bicycles, with monthly meetings and a final report due before October 1, 2026.
Requires the Florida Highway Patrol and local police and sheriff’s offices to record all electric bicycle-involved crashes and submit related data for inclusion in a statewide report.

HB 47 - Specific Medical Diagnoses in Child Protective Investigations

Expands circumstances for delaying law enforcement referrals, requires specialized pediatric consultations, and allows parents to request second medical opinions during child protective investigations.

HB 1553 - Admissibility of Evidence in Civil Cases

Clarifies how evidence of medical expenses in personal injury and wrongful death cases may be proved or rebutted.

Adds language allowing any party to rebut evidence of past or future medical expenses, rather than limiting it to proving those expenses.
Specifies the categories of evidence, including amounts actually paid, insurance obligations, and standardized Medicare or Medicaid rates, that may be used to show or contest the necessity and cost of medical treatments.
Clarifies that no duty is imposed to reduce billed charges or produce particular evidence, and that private insurance contracts remain confidential.

HB 783 - Coordinated Access Model Pilot Program

Establishes a pilot program to improve timely access to behavioral health services using a single point of entry in specified counties.

Requires the Department of Children and Families to contract with an entity to establish and operate the Coordinated Access Model Pilot Program in Clay, Duval, and St. Johns Counties.
Specifies the contracted entity’s required experience in building resource networks, providing coordinated care, and maintaining a referral platform with robust metrics.
Mandates subcontracting with a non-preeminent state university to supply allied health staff and training for social work and health professions students.
Creates a coordinated access model featuring a single, electronic referral system, standardized screening tools, real-time provider directories, and followup support.

HB 901 - Diabetes Research

SB 816 - Diabetes Research

Establishes the University of Florida Diabetes Institute as a centralized resource for diabetes research, screening, prevention, treatment, and education.

HB 1121 - Aging and Disability Services

Streamlines pre-enrollment for Medicaid long-term care services, renames and expands aging and disability resource centers, strengthens oversight of area agencies on aging, and revises professional guardianship requirements.

Replaces “wait-lists” with pre-enrollment lists for the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long-term Care program and directs aging and disability resource centers (ADRCs) to manage them.

HB 733 - Department of Health

Revises multiple health care provisions, including dental loan repayment, medical marijuana regulations, and early intervention services.

HB 1201 - Student Health and Safety

Expands Department of Health responsibilities and revises school requirements for educating, training, and informing staff and students about epilepsy and seizure disorders.

Requires the department to include the new epilepsy and seizure training requirements in its educational program.
Mandates that a student’s individualized seizure action plan (ISAP) be developed and signed by a medical professional, in a form determined by that professional, in consultation with the student’s parent.
Expands the list of school employees who must complete seizure care training to include those who transport students, and makes this training valid for five years.
Requires schools to display a specified poster outlining steps to respond to a person having a seizure.

SB 1168 - Background Screenings

Expands level 2 background screening requirements, add new disqualifying offenses, and revise clearinghouse procedures for determining eligibility.

SB 980 - Nicotine Dispensing Devices

Strengthens regulations on the sale and display of certain nicotine dispensing devices by introducing new definitions, inspection requirements, and penalties.

Creates the defined term “non-FDA-authorized nicotine dispensing device.”

HB 867 - Dry Needling by Occupational Therapists

Defines dry needling and myofascial trigger points for occupational therapists and establishes new education, supervision, and reporting requirements for performing dry needling.

SB 984 - Firefighter Cancer Benefits and Prevention

Changes starting point for when $25,000 cancer-related cash payout for firefighters is available after their employment and eliminates the State Fire Marshal’s rulemaking requirement for cancer prevention measures.

SB 1286 - First Responders

Expands the existing law enforcement recruitment bonus program to include firefighters and establish a statewide institute for posttraumatic stress disorder research and support.

PASSING committee this week OF CONCERN

HB 693 - Health and Human Services

"Big Beautiful Health Care Frontier ACT," revising licensure, eligibility, and scope of practice provisions across multiple health professions.

Authorizes expanded scope of practice for physician assistants, autonomous advanced practice registered nurses, and dental hygienists, clarifying supervision requirements and prescribing authority.

HB 1443 - Parkinson's Disease Registry

NOTE: As written, the bill is very broad and would require every physician to report, not just when treating for Parkinson's related care.
Establishes a statewide Parkinson’s disease registry requiring physicians to report performance measures and expands the Parkinson’s Disease Research Board to improve data collection and patient outcomes.

HB 173 - Parental Rights

Strengthens parental consent requirements for minors seeking certain health, mental health, and educational services.

Requires a parent or guardian’s consent for minors to receive contraceptive services unless the minor is married, a parent, or pregnant, removing the physician’s discretion to provide care without consent.
Allows minors to be examined for sexually transmissible diseases but requires parental or guardian consent for treatment.
Repeals minors’ rights to independently access outpatient crisis intervention services, removing references to such services without parental involvement.
Requires parental consent for mobile response teams’ continuing services to minors following an immediate on-site crisis intervention.
Eliminates provisions allowing minors to consent to substance abuse treatment on their own, shifting responsibility for consent and costs to parents or guardians under most circumstances.
Mandates school districts to provide parents with specified questionnaires or forms in full and offer an opt-out option before administering them to students in kindergarten through grade 12.
Clarifies exceptions to parental rights for health and medical decisions, but broadly reinforces the requirement of parental consent before administering most health care services or launching certain interventions for minors.
Grants parents new rights such as prior review and written consent for surveys containing sensitive topics, as well as written consent for using biofeedback devices on their minor children.

HB 1309 - Patient Access to Records

Modifies patient access to medical records by imposing new timelines for record delivery, permitting electronic formats, and clarifying who may request records.

SB 164 - Civil Liability for the Wrongful Death of an Unborn Child

Includes unborn children under wrongful death claims while prohibiting actions against mothers and medical providers providing lawful care.

HB 697 - Drug Prices and Coverage

NOTE: The proposed legislation has provisions that will benefit patients (highlighted below in bold), but concern remains on how price setting for medications will impact patient access, whether via a pharmacy or via buy-and-bill models used by physician practices.

Establishes new prescription drug reference pricing standards to lower costs and restrict insurance formulary changes.

Creates the Prescription Reduction Incentives and Competition Enhancement Act, requiring the Agency for Health Care Administration to contract with an entity to designate source countries and set reference prices for prescribed drugs based on international data.
Requires pharmacies to charge cash-paying customers no more than the established reference price for prescribed medications and compels drug manufacturers to report their international pricing data or face fines and potential permit suspension.
Prohibits pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from favoring affiliated manufacturers’ drugs when interchangeable generics or biosimilars are available, and disallows reimbursement practices that pay certain pharmacies less than affiliated ones.
Caps health insurer reimbursements at the reference price and directs any resulting savings to reduce premiums and cost sharing for consumers, with required annual reporting of compliance and financial impact.
Limits mid-year removal or reclassification of drugs in insurance and HMO formularies, ensuring stable coverage for enrollees except in narrow circumstances such as recalls or over-the-counter transitions.

Bills on UPCOMING Agendas Week 4

Note: This listing is of the health care bills being tracked and noticed for a committee hearing as of today. More bills will be placed on committee agendas as the week progresses and those committees hit their notice deadline.

Week 4 AGENDA CALENDAR

View LIVE Committee Schedules HERE