Florida Legislative

SESSION 2023

Last Week:

Countdown to Sine Die May 5th

Weekly summary of health care legislation being considered by the Florida Legislature. Be on the look-out next week for a comprehensive review of all health care bills that PASSED.

The House's 55th Day rule dictates that after the 55th day (April 30) of a regular session: no House bills on second reading may be taken up and considered by the House.

Senator Jason Brodeur

SB 1550 - Prescription Drugs

CS/CS/HB 1509 establishes a PBM regulatory program in Florida. Specifically, the bill:  Amends the PBM regulatory structure from registration to a certificate of authority as an insurance administrator under part VI of ch. 626, F.S., regulated by OIR.  Requires PBMs to submit to examinations and investigations, make available certain documents and records, and comply with recordkeeping requirements.  Regulates PBM contracts with pharmacy benefit plans and programs (insurers, HMOs, self-insured employers, etc.).  Regulates PBM contracts with pharmacies, including claims payment requirements, and prohibits many current practices.  Imposes specific pharmacy network standards on PBMs.  Requires drug manufacturers and nonresident drug manufacturers to notify the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and the Agency for Health Care Administration of drug price increases and submit forms and reports for public availability.

Rep Demi Busatta Cabrera

HB 1471- Health Care Provider Accountability

The bill amends ss. 408.809 and 435.04, F.S., relating to background screening of specific health care providers regulated by the Agency for Health Care Administration, to add additional crimes to the list of offenses that will disqualify a person from employment after undergoing a background screening. The bill also amends nursing home residents’ rights to specify that a nursing home resident has the right to be free from sexual abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The bill amends s. 408.812, F.S., to create a new cause of action to pursue an injunction against unlicensed activity by persons or entities who are providing services for which a license is required under ch. 408, F.S. The bill also creates registration requirements and standards of practice for physician offices registered with the Department of Health (DOH) for the performance of office surgeries. 

Rep JC Porras

HB 1387- Department of Health

CS/CS/HB 1387 makes numerous changes to programs under the Department of Health (DOH) and health care professions regulated by the Division of Medical Quality Assurance within DOH. Gain-of-function research involves experimentation that may produce an enhanced potential pandemic pathogen (PPP). An enhanced PPP is a potential pandemic pathogen which has been modified to increase transmissibility or virulence. The bill prohibits any such research from being conducted in the state. The bill also requires researchers applying for state or local funding must disclose in the application for funding whether the research involves enhanced PPPs.

DOH is responsible for ensuring medical marijuana products are safe for human consumption, not attractive to children and that medical marijuana treatment centers (MMTC) meet all background screening requirements, among others. The bill prohibits MMTCs from advertising or producing products that are attractive to children or that promote recreational use. The bill also revises background screening requirements for MMTCs and certified medical marijuana testing laboratories. 

The bill allows vital records to be filed electronically with DOH’s electronic registration system, and specifies the timeframe by which the courts must electronically transmit certain records to DOH. The bill also raises the age at which birth certificates become public record from 100 to 125 years. 

The bill authorizes autonomous advanced practice registered nurse practitioners to certify brain death if they are the patient’s treating health care practitioner. In such cases, brain death must also be certified by two specialist physicians. 

The bill revises the application process for EMTs and paramedics, and deletes obsolete language regarding DOH administration of certification exams. The bill revises requirements for EMTs and paramedics performing health care tasks in a nonemergency environment.

Senator Jonathan Martin

SB 768 - Referral of Patients

SB 768 amends s. 456.053, F.S., regulating financial arrangements between referring health care providers and health care service providers, to alter a safe harbor provision for permitted referrals from a health care provider to another provider for designated health services that solely serves patients of the referring health care provider. The bill removes the direct supervision requirement and the requirement that the physician be present in the office suite, allowing general supervision of such services from locations outside of the office where the services are provided.

The bill allows self-referring health care providers to avoid the cost of having a physician present while health care services are provided. The change in state law also aligns with federal Stark law provisions regarding self-referrals by a health care provider to another provider in which the referring physician has a financial or other pecuniary interest.

Rep Kim Berfield

HB 825 - Assault or Battery on Hospital Personnel

SB 568 amends s. 784.07, F.S., which reclassifies the misdemeanor or felony degrees of assault and battery offenses if such offenses are knowingly committed against a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or other specified persons. The bill defines the term “hospital personnel” and adds such personnel to the list of specified persons protected under that section of statute. The reclassification of the offense has the effect of increasing the maximum sentence that may be imposed for the offense

Rep Juan Fernandez-Barquin

HB 897 - Group Health Plans

An association health plan (AHP) is a group purchasing arrangement in which members of a trade group or professional association jointly obtain health insurance for employees. These arrangements differ from traditional group insurance by their unique structure, since they involve the purchase of insurance products across multiple employers. Current Florida law incorporates the now stricken federal rule by reference, applicable to multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs). CS/CS/HB 897 removes the reference in the MEWA statute to the federal rule regarding AHPs that was struck down by a federal district court in 2019, and incorporates the requirements from the stricken rule relating to a bona fide group for purposes of establishing a MEWA. Incorporating the requirements to be considered a bona fide group from the stricken rule maintains an expanded pathway for more groups or associations to form MEWAs. 

Rep Michelle Salzman

HB 487 - Department of Financial Services

Among other things-  the bill ratifies the 2020 Workers’ Compensation Health Care Provider Reimbursement Manual; eliminating the need for future Reimbursement Manual ratifications.

Senator Jay Trumbull

SB 1580 - Protections of Medical Conscience

CS/SB 1580 establishes rights of conscience for health care providers and payors. The bill provides legislative intent and provides that a health care provider or payor has the right to optout of participation in or payment for a health care service on the basis of a conscience-based objection (CBO). The bill establishes notification requirements for opting-out and prohibits a payor from opting-out of paying for a service it is contractually obligated to cover during a plan year. The bill also specifies that CBOs are limited to specific health care services, that the bill may not be construed to waive or modify any duty a provider or payor may have for other health care services that do not violate a provider’s or payor’s conscience, and that nothing in the bill allows a health care provider or payor to opt-out of providing health care services to any patient or potential patient because of that patient’s or potential patient’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The bill prohibits health care providers from being discriminated against or suffering adverse action for declining to participate in a health care service based on a CBO. The bill also provides whistle-blower protections for providers or payors in specific situations and specifies that the bill may not be construed to override any requirement to provide emergency medical treatment in accordance with federal or state law. The bill allows health care providers or payors to file complaints of violations to the Attorney General (AG) and authorizes the AG to bring a civil action for appropriate relief. The bill also provides civil immunity for health care providers and payors solely for declining to participate in a health care service on the basis of a conscience-based objection, with some exceptions.

Additionally, the bill prohibits the Department of Health (DOH) from taking disciplinary action against a health care practitioner solely because he or she has spoken or written publicly about a health care service or public policy, including on a social media platform, as long as the speech or written communication does not provide advice or treatment to a specific patient or patients and does not separately violate any other applicable law or rule. The bill also authorizes a board within the DOH to revoke approval of any specialty board for revoking the certification of an individual for the same reason.

Rep Dean Black

HB 299- Education & Training for Alzheimer’s Disease & Dementia

CS/CS/SB 1182 creates s. 430.5025, F.S., to establish the Florida Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Training Act. The bill establishes universal Alzheimer’s disease and related disorder (ADRD) training requirements to be used by nursing homes, home health agencies, nurse registries, companion or homemaker service providers, health care services pools, assisted living facilities (ALF), adult family-care homes (AFCH), adult day care centers (ADCC), and ADCCs that provide specialized Alzheimer’s services to replace each license type’s individual training requirements on that topic.

Rep Dee Hart

HB 1045 - Certified Peer Specialist Gateway Pilot Program

Research has shown that social support provided by peers is beneficial to those in recovery from a substance use disorder or mental illness. The Department of Children and Families’ (DCF) Florida Peer Services Handbook defines a “peer” as an individual who has life experience with a mental health or substance use condition. A peer specialist is a person who:  Self-identifies as a person who has direct personal experience living in recovery from mental health or substance use conditions;  Has a desire to use their experiences to help others with their recovery;  Is willing to publicly identify as a person living in recovery for the purpose of educating, role modeling, and providing hope to others about the reality of recovery; and  Has had the proper training and experience to work in a provider role.

CS/CS/HB 1045 creates the Certified Peer Specialist Gateway Pilot Program (Program) within the Department of Corrections (DOC). The purpose of the Program is to provide participating inmates with a path to become certified peer specialists by offering such inmates the necessary training hours and experience needed for certification while incarcerated, assisting participants with completing any examinations necessary to become a certified peer specialist, and assisting inmates who complete the Program with post-incarceration employment. The bill requires DOC to develop criteria for selecting qualified applicants for the Program, including prohibiting a person from participating in the Program if he or she has been convicted of any offense that would prohibit the person from becoming a certified peer specialist under s. 397.417(4)(e), F.S.

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