Plus, subsidized skin screenings
The Florida Legislature has passed the last of a slate of bills designed to improve healthcare access and efficient delivery, Florida’s rural communities may soon see “emergency hospitals,” and the Sunshine State becomes the second state in the nation to require some health insurance plans to cover all costs for annual skin cancer screenings. It’s all in this week’s Healthcare Digest.
Streamlining Healthcare: The legislature in its recently completed session passed all six bills that comprise Senate President Kathleen Passidomo’s Live Healthy plan to increase access, especially in rural communities:
- SB 7016, Health Care, by Senator Colleen Burton (R-Lakeland) grows Florida’s healthcare workforce by providing incentives for new doctors to stay in-state and remove barriers for non-resident and foreign-trained doctors, removes regulations to increase workforce mobility, and expands training and access to quality, efficient health care, including advanced birthing centers.
- SB 7018, Health Care Innovation, by Senator Gayle Harrell (R-Stuart) incentivizes innovation in the health care industry through low-interest loans and investments in technology.
- SB 1758, Individuals with Disabilities, by Senator Jason Brodeur (R-Sanford) expands services to Floridians with disabilities.
- SB 330, Behavioral Health Teaching Hospitals, by Senator Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton) establishes a new category of teaching hospitals focused on behavioral health.
- SB 1600, Interstate Mobility, by Senator Jay Collins (R-Tampa) creates a streamlined licensure pathway for out of state providers moving to Florida.
- HB 7089, Payments for Health Care Services, by Rep. Michael Grant (R-Port Charlotte) along with Senator Collins’ companion bill, expands health care price transparency. It requires hospitals and insurance companies to provide a good faith estimate of services to patients for a list of scheduled services and procedures. Insurance companies would also be required to provide policyholders an advanced explanation of benefits that includes detailed coverage and cost-sharing information as required under a new federal law. Hospitals likewise would be required to post a list of standard charges for 300 shoppable services on their websites, along with greater consumer protection on debt collection.
Focus on Rural Communities: Separate from the above list of bills was passage last week by the legislature of SB 644 by Senator Cory Simon (R-Tallahassee). It creates a new category of “rural emergency hospitals” in the state that are now allowed by federal law and also Medicare eligible. These new facilities could provide emergency services, observation care, and outpatient services that do not exceed an average length of stay of 24 hours. They would be exempt from requirements for providing inpatient care and other services, such as surgical care. The number of rural hospitals in Florida has shrunk from 25 in 2010 to 22 today. The measure, on its way to the Governor, comes after a report finds that 86% of rural Florida hospitals no longer deliver babies.
Skin Cancer Screenings: If the Governor signs HB 241, Florida will become the second state in the nation (along with Illinois) to offer subsidized skin cancer screenings. It would require contracted state group health insurance plans and health maintenance organizations to cover all costs of annual skin cancer screenings for policyholders that include state employees and their families. Similar bills in past years that would have applied to all individual health insurance companies failed. This year’s bills also aspired to include all insurance companies but were later amended to apply only to state-contracted plans at a total cost to the four impacted companies of about $400,000 annually. The bill was sponsored by Reps. Ralph Massullo (R-Inverness) who is Dermatologist, and Bobby Payne (R-Palatka).
LMA Newsletter of 3-11-24
