Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 626, the bill to equalize payment for long term care insolvencies by the Florida Life & Health Guaranty Association (FLAHIGA), passed its second Senate committee on March 19, 2019. The vote on the bill was 9-0. A strike all amendment filed by Sen. Brandes (R), the bill…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 7078 was filed as a committee bill by the Senate Health Policy Committee on March 15, 2019 and was approved by the Committee on March 18, 2019 with one amendment on patient records. The bill is a compilation of many healthcare issues, including a few health insurance related…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate Banking and Insurance approved the frozen formulary bill (SB 1180) by Sen. Mayfield (R) during its meeting on March 18, 2019 with one amendment by the bill sponsor. According to the bill sponsor, the amendment allows a consumer to stay on a drug during the contract…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On March 18, 2019, the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee passed health insurance mandates for enteral formulas and hearing aids for children. The enteral formula mandate passed (SB 358) applies only to the state group health insurance plan. For the state group health plan, the bill expands the…
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. The bill passed the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee without being amended. The bill has two committees left. The bill codifies federal regulations that were issued in 2018 to provide consumers…
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 23 is described by the bill sponsor as a way to solve the health care provider workforce shortage in Florida. It allows Florida licensed health care providers to use telehealth within their scope of practice. It also allows out-of-state providers to use telehealth if they register. The…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 7 expands direct primary care and is a priority bill of the House. By expanding direct primary care to more specialized medical services, the bill meets Speaker Oliva’s goal of increasing health care options to Floridians in order to reduce health care costs. The House Health & Human…
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 and is moving quickly through committee. A recent trend in the Florida Legislature is to enact legislation for more price transparency in health care. Last Session, the…