Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On April 24, 2019, the Senate combined three health insurance bills on the floor to line up the bill with the House measure. SB 322 which originally dealt with only health policies with no preexisting condition exclusions was amended to add provisions relating to association health plans, short term…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 673, the bill to equalize payment for long term care insolvencies by the Florida Life & Health Guaranty Association (FLAHIGA), passed the House on April 24, 2019 with a vote of 114-0. It will now be sent to the Senate for consideration and approval. We anticipate the Senate…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate frozen formulary bill (SB 1180) by Sen. Mayfield (R) passed its last committee on April 23, 2019 with an amendment and an amendment to the amendment. The House bill is still in committee, so it is unclear how a frozen formulary bill will pass this Session. Under…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 673, the bill to equalize payment for long term care insolvencies by the Florida Life & Health Guaranty Association (FLAHIGA), will be voted on by the full House on April 24, 2019. It was heard on the House floor for the first time and rolled to third reading…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 1422 revises provisions relating to short-term limited duration insurance policies and the regulation of association health plans (AHPs). The bill passed its last committee on April 23, 2019 and will next be heard on the Senate floor. Senate Democrats questioned the bill sponsor, Sen. Gruters (R), about the…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 7078 is a health care omnibus bill. It is a compilation of many healthcare issues, including a few health insurance related issues, and began as a committee bill by the Senate Health Policy Committee. It was approved by its last committee on April 18, 2019 with a…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate shared savings program bill, SB 524, was amended in its last committee on April 18, 2019 to add formulary management for the state group health insurance program. Some health insurers and HMOs may find the provision requiring formulary management concerning as it could set a precedent for…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel In an interesting turn of events, the Senate amended their telehealth bill (SB 1526) on April 18, 2019 to add back in payment parity, a provision they removed just two days prior. Other, more minor changes, were made in the amendment adopted on April 18, 2019. Sen. Harrell (R),…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 1520 expands direct primary care. The bill changes all statutory references of “direct primary care” to “direct health care” which authorizes direct care to be for medical services, including dental services, that are not only primary care. It maintains current law that direct health care agreements are not…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 935 dealing with price transparency in health care contracts with providers is a priority of the House for the 2019 Session. The House passed the bill on April 17, 2019 by a vote of 114-0 after the House heard the bill for the second time and waived the…