Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Sam Miller, FIC Consultant Former Senate President Tom Lee’s bill (CS/CS/SB 240) to promote direct primary care and specify it is not regulated insurance passed the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health & Human Services March 21, moving it to the full Appropriations Committee and probably the full Senate after that. A similar bill (CS/HB…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House health insurance right to shop bill, HB 449, passed a House appropriations subcommittee on March 21, 2017. The only change made by the committee to the bill was to appropriate $75,000 from the Insurance Regulatory Trust Fund to OIR to help defray their costs to implement the…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel HB 723 by Dr. Gonzalez received approval from its first House committee, Health Quality, on March 15, 2017. The bill would prohibit insurers from requiring physicians maintain board certification as a condition of payment. It also prohibits health care facilities and others from requiring maintenance of certification as a…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel For the second week in a row, the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a vote on his own bill during his committee meeting because he doesn’t have the votes to pass it. The postponed bill, SB 262, is a bill heavily supported by doctors and the trial…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A bill designed to update regulation of discount medical plan organizations (DMPOs) was approved by the House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee on March 14, 2017. HB 577 now has one committee left. The Senate companion, SB 430, is also moving successfully through the committee process and has two committees…
By: Greenberg Traurig, FIC Lobbyist Following is a report prepared by staff of the Greenberg Traurig who is on the FIC lobby team. HB 1209 – Related to Health Information Transparency – By Rep. Brodeur Summary:To promote consumer involvement, healthcare pricing and consumer data needs to be timely. This bill requires Agency for Health Care…
By: Greenberg Traurig, FIC Lobbyist Following is a report prepared by staff of the Greenberg Traurig who is on the FIC lobby team. There is no Senate companion bill. HB 993 – Related to State Employees Prescription Drug Program – By Rep. Magar Opening:As many are aware, the private and public sectors are struggling to…
By: Sam Miller, FIC Consultant Legislation expanding MyFloridaRx, the state Internet site allowing consumers to compare prices for prescription drugs, was approved by the Senate Health Policy Committee Tuesday. “This empowers consumers to shop for the best price for drugs,” said Jacksonville Republican Sen. Aaron Bean, the bill sponsor. “When there is competition out there,…
By: Sam Miller, FIC Consultant SB 102 Payment of Health Care Claims — by Steube The complete staff analysis is available from this link: SB 102 Staff Analysis The Senate Health Policy Committee Tuesday passed the initiative SB 102 by the Florida Medical Association and other doctor groups to keep health insurers from retroactively denying…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On March 14, 2017, the Florida Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association (FLAHIGA) bill, SB 814, unanimously passed its first committee, Senate Banking and Insurance. The bill has two committees left. The House companion, which is identical, has already made it through the committee process and is ready for…