Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Saying the bill is no longer needed, Sen. Baxley, the bill sponsor, temporarily postponed SB 924. The bill would have added another health insurance mandate to Florida law for early refills for prescription eye drops. Florida currently has over 50 mandates. Paul Sanford, representing FIC and Florida Blue,…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Rep. Santiago sponsored a strike all amendment (#580305) to his pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) bill (HB 351) when it was heard in its first House committee on January 17, 2018. The amendment improved the bill from a PBM standpoint, although some additional changes are still needed. The bill has…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Giving a win to health insurers, the House Health Innovation Subcommittee watered down the 2018 House step therapy and prior authorization bill when it adopted a strike all amendment (#157879) to replace the original bill language with new language. The amendment was adopted during the committee meeting held on…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Sen. Garcia openly expressed his frustration with PBMs during the committee debate on his any willing pharmacy/mail order bill, SB 492. The debate came during the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee meeting on January 16, 2018 when the committee passed SB 492, the any willing pharmacy/mail order bill, without…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate telehealth bill, SB 280, passed its first committee on January 16, 2018. The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee passed a strike-all amendment (#856092) and a technical amendment to the strike all (#773864) that added osteopathic doctors back in the bill before passing the bill as amended. The…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On January 11, 2018, the Senate Rules Committee unanimously approved SB 98, this year’s step therapy and prior authorization bill. This was the last committee stop for the bill. The bill will now be heard on the Senate floor when scheduled by the Special Order Calendar Group. The Rules…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House Health Innovation Subcommittee approved HB 289, the any willing pharmacy/mail order bill, during its meeting on January 10, 2018 with a strike all amendment to limit the scope of the bill to only HIV drugs, a significant limitation. The amended bill is still opposed by health plans…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Buried in SB 1168, a Senate property insurance AOB reform bill filed on December 7, 2017, is a change in the law on the actions an insurer can take for misrepresentations or omissions on an insurance application that applies to ALL lines of insurance. Lines 56-81 of SB…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On December 5, 2017, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved SB 98, this year’s step therapy and prior authorization bill. The Committee adopted one amendment to the bill. Sen. Steube, the bill sponsor, stated the amendment adopted (#363404), was technical in nature. A second amendment was proposed by…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee passed SB 162 during its meeting on December 5, 2017 with no questions or debate. The bill has two committees left. The bill prohibits a health insurer or HMO from retroactively denying a claim if the insurer or HMO verified the insured’s eligibility…