Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The air ambulance balance billing prohibition is poised to pass the Legislature this Session. On February 20, 2020, the House passed its air ambulance bill (HB 747) with a vote of 117-0. The Senate passed their bill (SB 736) out of its last committee on March 2, 2020 with…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel After lengthy testimony and debate, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Senate pharmacist test and treat bill on February 27, 2020. This was the last committee stop for the bill. Some Senators expressed concern for patient safety and misdiagnosis by pharmacists and wondered if the bill would lead…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House passed their organ transplant discrimination bill this week and sent the bill to the Senate for approval. On February 27, 2020, the Senate organ transplant discrimination bill cleared its last committee and the bill will next be heard on the Senate floor. Thus, the bill is…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 1205 deals with disclosures from health care providers to patients when the cash price for a covered medical service is cheaper than the patient’s cost sharing obligation under health insurance. After hearing the bill on Special Order and rolling it to third reading and a vote, the full…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel After hearing the bill on Special Order and rolling it to third reading and a vote, the full House approved HB 1179, their organ transplant discrimination bill, on February 26, 2020 with a vote of 111-0. The bill now goes to the Senate for approval. The Senate organ transplant…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Committees in the House and Senate both approved the Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) agency bill during meetings this week after approving amendments to conform the bills and to add the shared savings bill to them. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services approved the AHCA package,…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House Health and Human Services Committee greatly expanded the pharmacist test and treat flu and strep bill during its meeting on February 25, 2020 when it adopted a strike all amendment to allow pharmacists to test and treat minor, nonchronic health conditions rather than only flu and strep…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The goal of SB 1516 is to increase the number of organ donors in Florida. The Senate bill contains one health insurance related provision. That provision prohibits health insurance policies from excluding coverage under a preexisting condition provision solely because the insured is a living organ donor. This…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel With Senators and the bill sponsor, Sen. Wright (R), expressing disappointment that the Senate PBM bill did not go further to regulate PBMs, the Senate moved their PBM bill out of its second (of three) committee on February 25, 2020 when the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 1094 expands the scope of practice for consultant pharmacists. A similar bill passed the House last year, but died in the Senate when it was never heard in committee, presumably because the doctors opposed the bill. This year, however, the pharmacists and doctors have worked together and have…