Bill Summaries: Health and Supportive Services
Emergency Power for Nursing Home and Assisted Living Facilities CS/SB 1874, by Senator Passidomo, FAILED. AARP supported this legislation. The legislation would have required, by June 1, 2018, that nursing homes and assisted living facilities (ALF) have an operational emergency power source and fuel sufficient to sustain an air temperature of 81 degrees for at least 96 hours. It would have also required nursing homes and ALFs to have plans for monitoring residents to ensure they would not suffer complications from heat exposure. The legislation would have directed nursing homes and ALFs unable to sustain these safe temperatures to plan for safely transporting residents to compliant facilities. See Voting Record for CS/SB 1874 p.31 Services for Veterans and Their Families HB 179, by Representative Burgess, FAILED. The companion bill was CS/SB 326, by Senator Young. AARP supported this legislation. The legislation would have established the Florida “Veterans’ Care Coordination Program” within the Department of Children and Families. The program would have provided for statewide behavioral health, substance abuse and mental health referral services for veterans and their families through Florida’s “211” telecommunication Networks. See Voting Record for HB 179 p. 32; CS/SB 326 p. 32. Payment of Health Care Claims SB 162, by Senator Steube, FAILED. The companion bill was CS/HB 217, by Representative Hager. AARP supported this legislation. The legislation would have prohibited health insurers and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) from retroactively denying claims if they verified, at any time, the eligibility of the insureds or subscribers and issued authorization numbers to providers. The legislation would have exempted Medicaid managed care plans from the provisions of the bill. See Voting Record for SB 162 p. 33; CS/HB 217 p. 34. Performance of Physician Assistants and Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners HB 973, by Representatives Daniels and Plasencia, FAILED. The companion bill SB 708, by Senator Brandes, never had a committee hearing. AARP supported this legislation. The legislation would have permitted physicians to delegate authority to Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNP) and Physicians’ Assistants (PA) to sign, certify, stamp, or endorse any documents Florida law authorizes physicians to do. However, PAs or ARNPs, who are not psychiatric nurses, would have been prohibited from approving the release of individuals from mental health receiving facilities. See Voting Record for HB 973 p. 34. Telehealth CS/SB 280, by Senator Bean, FAILED. The companion bill HB 793, by Representative Massullo, never had a committee hearing. AARP supported the legislation. The legislation would have established practice standards for telehealth services. Telehealth practitioners may diagnose and treat patients who are in locations different from the practitioners. See Voting Record for CS/SB 280 p. 36.
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