Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On April 11, 2019, the House passed their bill creating a voluntary health shared savings incentive program on the floor with a vote of 114-0. There was no debate on the bill. The bill will now be sent to the Senate for consideration and approval. The Senate bill,…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 23 passed the House on April 11, 2019 by a vote of 102-14. The bill will now be sent to the Senate for consideration and approval. The Senate telehealth bill is very different from the House bill, as described below, so it is unclear and unlikely the Senate…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 322 by Sen. Simpson (R) related to health insurance preexisting conditions was temporarily postponed on the Senate floor on April 10, 2019 with six amendments proposed by Democrats pending to it. Although it is unclear why the bill was postponed, it could have been postponed because the…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Two bills expanding the scope of practice for pharmacists will be voted on on April 11, 2019. Both bills were heard for the first time on the House floor on April 10, 2019 setting them up for a vote on April 11, 2019. Neither bill garnered opposition or amendments…
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 over 35 types of Florida licensed health care providers to use telehealth within their scope of practice. It also allows out-of-state providers to use telehealth if…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On April 10, 2019, the House heard their bill creating a voluntary health shared savings incentive program on the floor. They will likely vote on the bill on April 11, 2019. The Senate bill, SB 524, is also moving this year and is in its last committee. It…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel SB 418, the Senate essential health benefits bill, passed its last committee on April 10, 2019 with a technical amendment. The bill will now be heard on the Senate floor. The essential health benefits part of the bill provides more health insurance options for Floridians by permitting health insurers…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Providing more options for health insurance is a goal of the Florida House of Representatives this Session. HB 997 is designed to accomplish that goal and covers numerous topics: association health plans, short-term health insurance, health policies with no preexisting condition exclusions, and health policies with essential health benefits.…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The Senate frozen formulary bill (SB 1180) by Sen. Mayfield (R) passed its second committee on April 8, 2019 with a strike all amendment. Under the amended bill, a health insurer or HMO must give a 60 day notice of any change in the drug formulary on 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 second committee on April 4, 2019 with four…