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By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On January 30, 2018, the Senate Health Policy Committee passed SB 492, the any willing pharmacy/mail order bill without amendment. The bill has one committee stop left. The House companion bill, HB 289, has passed its first committee and has two committees left. For individual, group, and HMO health…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On January 25, 2018, the full House passed its direct primary care bill, HB 37, by a vote of 97-10 and sent the bill to the Senate for consideration. Although all of the “no” votes were cast by Democrats, most of the Democrats voted for the bill. A…
By: Greenberg Traurig The Senate Appropriations Committee passed the Senate opioid bill during its meeting on January 24, 2018. Following is a recap of the meeting prepared by staff at Greenberg Traurig: SB 8 Controlled Substances by Sen. Benacquisto (Passed) SummarySen. Benacquisto stated that this bill makes a number of changes to Florida Statutes. This bill does…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The full Senate is expected to pass its step therapy and prior authorization bill, SB 98, during its next sitting, on January 31, 2018. The Senate heard the bill on the floor for the first time on January 24, 2018 and adopted one amendment to it. The…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A direct primary care bill has been filed for the past four years. This year’s House bill, HB 37, is essentially the same bill as last year and is again sponsored by Rep. Burgess, Chair of the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee. HB 37 specifies that a direct…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate Health Policy Committee passed SB 162 during its meeting on January 23, 2018 with no amendments, questions or debate. The bill has one committee left. The bill prohibits a health insurer or health maintenance organization (HMO) from retroactively denying a claim if the insurer or HMO verified the…
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…