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CRT Legislative Update, Week 9 |
March 14, 2022
Paul D. Seltzer, DO, Legislative Chair
Stephen R. Winn, ED
Michelle W. Larson, Assoc. ED
Jason D. Winn, Esq.
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A little late in finalizing negotiations on the budget, the legislature officially concluded business today, voting on the FY 2022-23 budget. Despite the need to extend the session, the House and Senate passed the FY 2022-23 budget on a bipartisan basis, appropriating record funding totaling $112.1 billion. Due to adjusted state income projections, the final budget is significantly higher than the Governor’s recommended FY 2022-23 budget totaling $99.7. The budget is now in the hands of the Governor for his consideration.
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Sini Die Press Conference
Speaker Sprowls,
Governor DeSantis &
Senate President Simpson
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The House and Senate agreed upon Health & Human Services budget totals $48.9 billion, approximately $1 billion higher than their preconference allocation. Maintaining its original position, the legislature’s final budget provides $15 million in recurring dollars to fund the Canadian Prescription Drug Importation Program. This appropriation authorizes AHCA to purchase drugs in accordance with the programmatic requirements. The plan also authorizes the transfer of funds to ACHA from the Department of Health, the Department of Children & Families, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, and the Department of Corrections to purchase prescription drugs through the importation program.
The FY 2022-23 budget provides for drugs, vaccines, and other biologicals totaling $185.4 million. These funds are contingent on state matching fund requirements under the federal Ryan White grant award. The plan also allocates $5 million to the Department of Health to purchase emergency opioid antagonists for first responders.
The final budget provides proviso relating to the State Employees’ Prescription Drug Program. Under the proposals, employees are incentivized to change from brand-name drugs to generic drugs, authorizing the department to waive co-payments for a six-month supply of a generic statin or a generic proton pump inhibitor. In addition, the proviso provides for coverage of smoking cessation prescription drugs; however, members shall be responsible for appropriate co-payments and deductibles when applicable.
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The House passed HB 1209, sending it to the Governor for his consideration. HB 1209 authorizes qualified Florida-registered pharmacy technicians to administer designated to adults under the supervision of a certified pharmacist.
Under the measure, pharmacy technicians must become certified before administering authorized immunizations. To become certified, a registered pharmacy technician must complete a certification program approved by the Board, in consultation with the Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine. The training curriculum must have at least 6 hours of training that, at a minimum, includes instruction on the safe and effective administration of vaccines and potential allergic reactions to such vaccines. Pharmacy technicians must have completed at least two hours of additional continuing education upon registration renewal.
The bill also changes the supervision ratio; one pharmacist to a maximum of five technicians.
HB 1209 Administration of Vaccines by Tuck
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Administration of Vaccines |
The House passed HB 1209, sending it to the Governor for his consideration. HB 1209 authorizes qualified Florida-registered pharmacy technicians to administer designated to adults under the supervision of a certified pharmacist.
Under the measure, pharmacy technicians must become certified before administering authorized immunizations. To become certified, a registered pharmacy technician must complete a certification program approved by the Board, in consultation with the Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine. The training curriculum must have at least 6 hours of training that, at a minimum, includes instruction on the safe and effective administration of vaccines and potential allergic reactions to such vaccines. Pharmacy technicians must have completed at least two hours of additional continuing education upon registration renewal.
The bill also changes the supervision ratio; one pharmacist to a maximum of five technicians.
HB 1209 Administration of Vaccines by Tuck
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The Senate took up and passed SB 312 as amended by the House, sending the legislation to the Governor for his consideration. SB 312 allows a telehealth provider to issue a renewal prescription for Schedule III, IV, and V controlled substances through telehealth. A provision that would have included audio-only telephone calls within the definition of telehealth was removed from the bill.
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Patient Care / Health Care Facilities |
The legislature passed HB 469, a bill revising home health agency statutes to allow home health aides and CNAs to perform additional tasks in helping patients with self-administration of medication to create consistency. In addition, the bill expands the duties a nurse may delegate to a home health aide or CNA to include administering an insulin syringe that is prefilled with the proper dosage by a pharmacist or an insulin pen prefilled by the manufacturer.
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Department of Health Bill |
The legislature passed SB 768 relating to theDepartment of Health, sending the bill to the Governor for his consideration. SB 768 addresses certain healthcare-related issues regulated by the Department of Health (DOH). The bill:
- Updates the “Targeted Outreach for Pregnant Women Act of 1998”;
- Amends section 381.0303, Florida Statutes., to specify that for pediatric special needs shelters, theDOH is the lead agency to coordinate local medical and health care providers for the staffing and management of the shelters and is the decision-making authority for determining the medical supervision in each special needs shelter;
- Allows the DOH to collect samples of marijuana and marijuana delivery devices, in general, from a medical marijuana treatment center (MMTC) for specified testing, rather than only samples of edibles;
- Expands MMTC recall requirements to all marijuana products and delivery devices, rather than only edibles;
- Provides an exception from criminal laws for the DOH employees to acquire, possess, test, transport, and lawfully dispose of marijuana and marijuana delivery devices;
- Amends statutes regulating several types of health care professions, including allopathic and osteopathic physicians, nurses, midwives, psychologists, orthotists, prosthetists, clinical lab personnel, chiropractors, mental health counselors, clinical social workers, and marriage and family therapists;
- Amends sections 460.406, 468.803, 483.824, and 490.005, Florida Statutes, to delete references to the term “regional” and replace it with the word “institutional” to conform with theU.S. Department of Education accreditation nomenclature for approving healthcare-related educational institutions; and
- Amends section 766.314, Florida Statutes, authorizing the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association (NICA) to collect and enforce physician assessments in circuit court, if necessary and requires the NICA to notify the DOH and the appropriate board of any unpaid final judgments against a physician within a specific timeframe.
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SB 0768 Department of Health by Rodriguez (A)
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After falling short in the 2021 session, legislation revising provisions relating to the regulation of pharmacy benefit managers finally crossed the goal line, passing HB 357 and sending it to the Governor for his consideration. This patient-centered legislation provides an enforcement mechanism for violations of established PBM audit protections for licensed pharmacies. Under current law, the Board of Pharmacy cannot enforce Pharmacy Act violations committed by PBMs and insurers.
The bill:
- Transfers the audit provisions of the Florida Pharmacy Act to the Florida Insurance Code, granting the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) the ability to respond to potential violations;
- Allows pharmacies to appeal audit findings through AHCA’s Dispute Resolution Program. Further, the bill establishes a financial penalty for PBMs failing to register with OIR;
- Provides that a health insurer is responsible for violations of the pharmacy audit provisions, even if a PBM is contracted to manage pharmacy benefits on behalf of the insurer or HMO.
HB 0357 Pharmacies and Pharmacy Benefit Managers by Toledo
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Prescription Drug Treatment Schizophrenia |
Legislation creating an exception from the Florida Medicaid Program step-therapy prior authorization requirements for certain mental health conditions, SB 534, unanimously passed out of both chambers and is on its way to the Governor for his consideration. Prior authorization for the medication must have previously been granted and dispensed to the patient during the previous 12 months to qualify for the exception.
In practice, the pharmacy benefit manager for the Florida Medicaid Fee-for-Service delivery system would review the exception request on behalf of the AHCA. Managed-care plans would process their exceptions. Providers may transmit written medical or clinical documentation by facsimile or submit their requests through the electronic prior authorization system.
SB 0534 Prescription Drugs Used in the treatment of Schizophrenia for Medicaid Recipients by Harrell
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To review the legislation contained in the tracking report in greater detail:
- Click on the Bill Number Link.
- This will take you to a shared LobbyTools webpage.
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- Find the section titled Bill Text and Amendments
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Telehealth bill expanding doctor's prescribing powers...
The Senate on Friday unanimously approved a measure that would expand the ability of doctors to prescribe controlled substances through telehealth. Senators agreed to changes made by the House, with the bill (SB 312) now ready to go to Gov. Ron...
Read more
health.wusf.usf.edu
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Legislature passes Medicaid bill after the House drops a ...
Florida lawmakers passed a plan Friday that will help set the stage for the Agency for Health Care Administration to award billions of dollars in Medicaid managed-care contracts. The bill (SB 1950) passed after the House agreed to drop a...
Read more
health.wusf.usf.edu
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'Overdose is reversible, death is not': Palm Beach...
According to the Palm Beach County medical examiner's office, drug overdose deaths in the county were up nearly 30 percent in the first two months of 2022 compared with the same time last year. With that jump has come more intense community...
Read more
health.wusf.usf.edu
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Pediatricians worry that politics is driving state...
Two leading Florida pediatricians say the state's official guidance that the risks of taking the COVID-19 vaccine "may outweigh the benefits" for healthy children is dangerous and politically motivated. "The data is very clear that the vaccine...
Read more
health.wusf.usf.edu
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