Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The goal of SB 1516 is to increase the number of organs available for transplant in Florida and to ensure more organ transplants are successful. To help increase the number of organs available for transplant, the Senate Health Policy Committee adopted a strike all amendment (705054) to add language…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel House and Senate committees advanced bills prohibiting balance billing by air ambulances during meetings on January 21, 2020. Under current law, air ambulances are still allowed to balance bill consumers. In contrast, balance billing by out-of-network health care providers for emergency or nonemergency services was abolished in 2016. Senate…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Issues related to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and other drug issues appear to be a hot issue for the 2020 Legislative Session with nine bills filed on this topic, some of which conflict with each other and most of which are detrimental to health plans even though the alleged…
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. The bill is one of a large number of House health care reform bills designed to further Speaker…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A bill mandating health insurance coverage for children with hearing loss from birth through 21 years of age passed its first committee on January 21, 2020 when the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee approved SB 1006 without amendment. According to the bill sponsor, Sen. Baxley (R), the bill affects…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 599 by Rep. Anna Maria Rodriguez (R) 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. This year’s consultant pharmacist bill was approved by its first committee of reference…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House Health Quality Subcommitee approved HB 955 during its meeting on January 15, 2020 with an 11-2 vote. The bill curtails physician referrals to hospitals where the physician holds an investment interest. Specifically, the bill prohibits a health care provider from referring patients to any hospital in…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 389 passed its second committee on January 15, 2020 when the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee approved the bill. The bill has one committee left. The Senate companion bill, SB 714, has not yet been heard in committee. The bill expands the scope of practice for pharmacists by…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On January 15, 2020, the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee passed SB 116 with one amendment. The bill requires individual and group health insurance policies and health maintenance organization (HMO) contracts that provide coverage for prescription insulin drugs for the treatment of diabetes to cap the cost sharing of…