2021 Legislative Report Week 5 DATE: February 19, 2021

To see all Legislative updates click here

DATE: February 19, 2021

THIS WEEK IN REVIEW

Today is the end of the final committee week before the start of Session. The Legislature is taking a week off and then will come back for the start of the 2021 Session. There was a lot of activity this week with full agendas for bills being heard as more were coming out of drafting and getting their committee assignments as well.

Vacation rentals hit the Senate this week in it first committee stop. SB 522 by Sen. Manny Diaz was heard in Regulated Industries this week, passing by a 6-3 margin. This version of the vacation rentals bill would require the online platforms to collect and remit taxes on the rental as well as ensure only properly licensed rentals are advertised and provide the state with information on the properties. Along with the House version, this would preempt all vacation rental laws after June 1, 2011.

Senator Joe Gruters got his Internet Sales Tax bill through its second committee stop this week. SB 50 would require sales tax to be collected on internet purchases that Floridians make online. The estimated amount the state would receive is around $1 billion in new dollars. Currently Florida residents are supposed to set aside and remit their own sales tax to the state for internet purchases, but this would make the entity selling collect and remit the tax to the state.

This week Gov. DeSantis and Rep. Blaise Ingoglia discusses plans for voting ballots this year. The proposed legislation would address the issues of ballot harvesting by mandating that no one could handle ballots other than their own and those of their immediate family. In addition, changing rules on drop boxes were another item discussed at the event. Coming as no surprise, multiple legislators in the Democratic party took issue with these proposed changes, issuing press releases against the proposal.

The 2021 Legislative Session will begin Tuesday, March 2, 2021 and end on April 30, 2021.

FNPN SPECIFIC ISSUES

On the following pages you will find a list of the bills we are tracking for you and their current status. Each of these will be updated weekly during session and sent to you.

HB 0247   Telehealth Practice Standards by Fabricio Telehealth Practice Standards: Revises definition of "telehealth"; deletes prohibition on prescribing controlled substances through telehealth. Effective Date: July 1, 2021

Actions    01/22/2021 HOUSE Now in Professions & Public Health Subcommittee

 

HB 0361  Consent for Pelvic Examinations by Jenne Consent for Pelvic Examinations: Revises circumstances under which pelvic examination may be performed without written consent; authorizes written consent for pelvic examination to be obtained as part of a general consent form & to allow multiple health care practitioners or students to perform the examination. Effective Date: July 1, 2021

Actions   02/03/2021 HOUSE Now in Professions & Public Health Subcommittee

SB 0362  Pediatric Cardiac Care by Harrell Pediatric Cardiac Care; Revising requirements for members of the pediatric cardiac technical advisory panel; extending sovereign immunity to apply to all individuals who are members of a site visit review team; requiring pediatric cardiac programs to include certain cases in the program’s required surgical volume; providing that pediatric cardiac surgical centers that are deemed by the panel to be noncompliant with certain standards must come into compliance with those standards within a specified timeframe, etc. Effective Date: 7/1/2021

Actions 01/11/2021 SENATE Committee Substitute Text (C1) Filed

 

HB 0405  Mental Health and Substance Abuse by Maney Mental Health and Substance Abuse: Revises & provides terminology & requirements relating to petitions & procedures for voluntary & involuntary admissions, examinations, & treatment under Baker Act & Marchman Act. Effective Date: July 1, 2021

Actions 01/25/2021 HOUSE Now in Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee

 

HB 0407  Pediatric Cardiac Care by Salzman Pediatric Cardiac Care: Revises requirements relating to membership of pediatric cardiac technical advisory panel; revises frequency of meetings; extends sovereign immunity to site visit review team members; provides requirements for cardiac surgical case volume; authorizes use of virtual site inspections; authorizes panel to make certain recommendation to secretary; authorizes secretary to accept or modify recommendation & enforce compliance with certain standards; requires that data comply with specified guidelines & suggestions. Effective Date: July 1, 2021

Actions 01/25/2021 HOUSE Now in Finance & Facilities Subcommittee

 

SB 0424  Autonomous Practice by Advanced Practice Registered Nurses by Brandes Autonomous Practice by Advanced Practice Registered Nurses; Revising practices an advanced practice registered nurse may engage in autonomously, etc. Effective Date: 7/1/2021

Actions 01/15/2021 SENATE Referred to Health Policy; Banking and Insurance; Rules

 

HB 0431 Practice of Physician Assistants by Rommel Practice of Physician Assistants: Authorizes licensed physician assistant to provide signature, certification, stamp, verification, affidavit, or endorsement for specified reasons, with exception; deletes provision relating to performance of medical services by trainee; revises accreditation requirements; authorizes trainee to perform medical services within scope of approved program; revises physician assistant licensure requirements; revises & provides requirements for temporary licensure & license renewal; provides requirements for physician assistant to engage in autonomous practice. Effective Date: July 1, 2021

Actions 01/26/2021 HOUSE Now in Professions & Public Health Subcommittee

 

HB 0485 Personal Care Attendants by Garrison Personal Care Attendants: Authorizes nursing home facilities to employ personal care attendants if certain training requirement is met; requires AHCA, in consultation with Board of Nursing, to develop certain training program; provides minimum requirements for such program; authorizes certain persons to be employed by nursing home facility as personal care attendants for specified period if certain training requirement is met; provides definition for term "personal care attendants." Effective Date: upon becoming a law

Actions 01/27/2021 HOUSE Now in Finance & Facilities Subcommittee

 

SB 0528 Health Insurance Prior Authorization by Harrell. Health Insurance Prior Authorization; Prohibiting health maintenance organizations from excluding coverage for certain cancer treatment drugs; specifying requirements for, and restrictions on, health insurers and pharmacy benefits managers relating to prior authorization information, requirements, restrictions, and changes; requiring health insurers to provide and disclose procedures for insureds to request exceptions to step-therapy protocols; prohibiting health maintenance organizations from imposing an additional prior authorization requirement with respect to certain surgical or invasive procedures or certain items, etc. Effective Date: 1/1/2022

Actions 01/21/2021 SENATE Referred to Banking and Insurance

 

SB 0660 Telehealth by Diaz Telehealth; Deleting a prohibition on prescribing controlled substances through telehealth, etc. Effective Date: 7/1/2021

Actions 01/28/2021 SENATE Referred to Health Policy; Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services; Appropriations

 

SB 0700 Telehealth by Rodriguez (A)  Telehealth; Requiring the Agency for Health Care Administration to reimburse the use of telehealth services under certain circumstances and subject to certain limitations; authorizing telehealth providers to prescribe specified controlled substances through telehealth under certain circumstances; authorizing out-of-state physician telehealth providers to engage in formal supervisory relationships with certain nonphysician health care practitioners in this state; authorizing registered pharmacy technicians to compound and dispense medicinal drugs under certain circumstances; exempting certain registered pharmacy technicians from specified prohibitions, etc. Effective Date: 7/1/2021

Actions 02/08/2021 SENATE Favorable with CS by Health Policy; 10 Yeas, 0 Nays

 

SB 0716 Consent for Pelvic Examinations by Book Consent for Pelvic Examinations; Revising the definition of the term “pelvic examination”; revising the circumstances under which a pelvic examination may be performed without written consent; authorizing written consent for a pelvic examination to be obtained as a part of a general consent form and to allow multiple health care practitioners or students to perform the examination, etc. Effective Date: 7/1/2021

Actions 01/28/2021 SENATE Referred to Health Policy; Judiciary; Rules

 

HB 0721 Prohibited Acts by Health Care Practitioners by Massullo, Jr. Prohibited Acts by Health Care Practitioners: Prohibits specified acts by health care practitioners relating to specialty designations; authorizes DOH to enforce compliance with the act; authorizes department to take specified disciplinary action against health care practitioners in violation of act. Effective Date: upon becoming a law

Actions 02/03/2021 HOUSE Now in Professions & Public Health Subcommittee

 

SB 0828 Mental Health and Substance Abuse by Book Mental Health and Substance Abuse; Requiring facilities to inform respondents with a serious mental illness of the essential elements of recovery and provide them assistance in accessing a continuum of care regimen; authorizing the state to establish that a transfer evaluation was performed by providing the court with a copy of the evaluation before the close of the state’s case in chief; revising the requirements for when a person may be taken to a receiving facility for involuntary examination; revising the requirements for when a person may be ordered for involuntary inpatient placement; requiring the clerk of the court to notify the state attorney’s office upon the receipt of a petition filed for involuntary treatment services, etc. Effective Date: 7/1/2021

Actions 02/04/2021 SENATE Now in Judiciary 

 

HB 0831 Telehealth by Rodriguez (Ant) Telehealth: Revises definition of "telehealth" to remove exclusion of audio-only telephone calls from telehealth services; authorizes use of telehealth for prescription renewals; provides that telehealth may be substituted only for physical examinations; authorizes qualified physicians to issue physician certifications to existing qualified patients to receive marijuana & marijuana delivery devices under specified circumstance; prohibits certain health insurance policies, small employer health benefit plans, & health maintenance contracts from denying coverage for covered services provided through telehealth; provides that health insurers, small employer health benefit plans, & HMOs are not required to reimburse providers for originating fees or costs for telehealth services; provides cost-sharing limitations for health insurers, small employer health benefit plans, & HMOs relating to telehealth services. Effective Date: July 1, 2021

Actions 02/08/2021 HOUSE Filed

 

SB 0864 Telehealth by Brodeur Telehealth; Revising the definition of the term “telehealth”; revising an exemption from telehealth registration requirements, etc. Effective Date: 7/1/2021

Actions 02/04/2021 SENATE Referred to Health Policy; Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services; Appropriations

 

SB 0894 Physician Assistants by Diaz Physician Assistants; Deleting a limitation on the number of physician assistants a physician may supervise at one time; revising physician assistant continuing education requirements related to prescribing controlled substance medications; requiring the Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine to register physician assistants as autonomous physician assistants if they meet specified criteria; authorizing physician assistants to directly bill and receive payment from public and private insurance companies, etc. Effective Date: 7/1/2021

Actions 02/04/2021 SENATE Referred to Health Policy; Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services; Appropriations

 

SB 1142 Prohibited Acts by Health Care Practitioners by Rodrigues (R) Prohibited Acts by Health Care Practitioners; subjecting health care practitioners to discipline for making misleading, deceptive, or fraudulent representations related to their specialty designations; subjecting health care practitioners to discipline for failing to provide written or oral notice to patients of their specialty designation; requiring the Department of Health, instead of applicable health care practitioner boards, to enforce the written or oral notice requirement, etc. Effective Date: Upon becoming a law

Actions 02/08/2021 SENATE Referred to Health Policy; Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services; Appropriations 

 

SB 1296  Nursing Programs by Brodeur Nursing Programs; Defining the terms “average graduate passage rate” and “test takers”; revising requirements for an annual report submitted by approved nursing programs; revising specified information that the Board of Nursing must publish on its website; revising graduate passage rate requirements for approved nursing programs; requiring nursing programs to offer remediation programs to students who fail to pass a certain examination on their first attempt; prohibiting the board from considering average graduate passage rates from the 2020 and 2021 calendar years when making certain determinations, etc. Effective Date: Upon becoming a law

Actions 02/15/2021 SENATE Filed

 

SB 1298 Nurse Registries by Brodeur Nurse Registries; Authorizing registered nurses to delegate to certified nursing assistants and home health aides the administration of certain medication to patients of nurse registries under certain circumstances; authorizing certified nursing assistants to administer certain medication to patients of nurse registries under certain circumstances, etc. Effective Date: 7/1/2021

Actions 02/15/2021 SENATE Filed

 

SB 7000  OGSR/Nurse Licensure Compact by Health Policy OGSR/Nurse Licensure Compact; Amending a provision which provides an exemption from public record requirements for certain personal identifying information of nurses in the Nurse Licensure Compact and from public record and meeting requirements for certain meetings or portions of meetings and certain records held by the Interstate Commission of Nurse Licensure Compact Administrators; removing the scheduled repeal of the exemptions, etc. Effective Date: 10/1/2021

Actions 02/04/2021 SENATE Referred to Governmental Oversight and Accountability; Rules