Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On November 7, 2017, the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee unanimously approved SB 98, this year’s step therapy and prior authorization bill. The bill was not amended. A step therapy and prior authorization bill has passed the Senate the past few years, but it has always died in…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Telehealth Advisory Council (Council) released its final report to the Governor and Legislature on October 31, 2017. The final report includes draft language for most of the recommendations to make it easy for the recommendations to be included in proposed legislation or proposed administrative rules. The Council has…
By: Greenberg Traurig The Emergency Medical Transportation Working Group formed by the Florida Insurance Consumer Advocate, Sha’Ron James, met for the last time on October 31, 2017. Following are notes from the meeting prepared by staff at Greenberg Traurig. Intro: Today’s meeting opened with Sha’Ron James thanking everyone who has participated in the working group.…
By: Greenberg Traurig The Senate Appropriations Committee heard presentations on the opioid crisis during their meeting on October 12, 2017. Following is information on the meeting prepared by Greenberg Traurig: The Senate Appropriations Committee met on October 12, 2017 to hear a presentation detailing Florida’s current opioid crisis. Highlights are below, with the full presentation…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Rep. Hager, former chair of the House Insurance Committee, filed the House retroactive denial of claims bill for 2018 (HB 217). He also sponsored the 2017 bill that passed one House committee last session. Retroactive denial of claims bills have been filed each session for the past few…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Telehealth Advisory Council (Council) met for the eleventh time on September 19, 2017 to review and revise its report to the Governor and Legislature. A copy of the meeting materials that include the Council’s revised draft report with recommendations can be found here. The initial draft report…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Rep. Masullo, a physician, filed the “any willing provider” bill for health insurance again for the 2018 Session. He filed the same bill in 2017. Last year’s bill was never heard in any committee. The 2018 bill, HB 143, requires most commercial health insurers and HMOs to accept any…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The OIR issued the following notice to health insurers, managed care entities, and other health entites about early prescription refills as a result of Governor Scott’s Executive Order relating to the State of Emergency due to Hurricane Irma: http://www.floir.com/siteDocuments/Hurricane_Irma_Prescription_Refill_Notification_09052017.pdf
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On August 18, 2017, the Telehealth Advisory Council (Council) met in Orlando to discuss their recommendations relating to telehealth. The Council was created by legislation enacted in 2016. Its task is to survey health care facilities, HMOs, health care practitioners, and health insurers about telehealth and research telehealth issues. …
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Starting January 1, 2019, SB 162 prohibits health insurers and HMOs from retroactively denying a claim, if at any time, the insurer or HMO verified the eligibility of an insured or subscriber at the time of treatment and provided an authorization number. Sen. Steube is the sponsor of…