Florida Legislative 2023 Session 2/8/2023 Bills of Interest
Below is a list of bills that have been filed in the Florida Legislature that may be of interest to nurses and healthcare providers.
You can get more information regarding these proposed pieces of legislation at:
| BILL NUMBER | SPONSOR | BILL NAME | DESCRIPTION |
| SB 112
(HB 183 – Companion Bill) |
HARRELL | STEP-THERAPY PROTOCOLS | Defining the term “serious mental illness”; requiring the Agency for Health Care Administration to approve drug products for Medicaid recipients for the treatment of serious mental illness without step-therapy prior authorization under certain circumstances, etc. |
| HB 173 | WALDRON | MEDICAID COVERAGE OF PRESCRIBED FOOD PROGRAMS FOR DISEASE TREATMENT AND PREVENTION | Requires AHCA, in conjunction with DOH, to establish Food Is Medicine Program to provide Medicaid coverage for programs using medically tailored groceries, medically tailored meals, & produce prescriptions for specified Medicaid recipients who are high-need patients or patients with high-cost patient care or with highest healthcare utilization; requires agency, in conjunction with department, to seek federal approval & waivers for program; requires federal waiver application to seek matching funds. |
| SB 344 | BRODEUR | PHYISICIAN CERTIFICATIONS FOR THE MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA | Authorizing qualified physicians to perform patient examinations and evaluations through telehealth for renewals of physician certifications for the medical use of marijuana, etc. |
| SB 416 | OSGOOD | ANTIRETROVIRAL DRUGS | Authorizing pharmacists to order and dispense HIV preexposure and postexposure prophylaxis drugs without a prescription under certain circumstances; requiring pharmacists to complete specified training before ordering or dispensing such drugs without a prescription; prohibiting certain health insurers from requiring prior authorization or step-therapy protocols for certain antiretroviral drugs, etc. |
| HB 481
(SB 454 – Companion Bill) |
MELO | PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS’ PRESCRIPTIVE AUTHORITY | Removes requirements that physician assistants may only prescribe or dispense drugs under physician’s supervision. |
| HB 583 | MASSULLO | HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER TITILES AND ABBREVIATIONS | Defines “advertisement” & “deceptive or misleading terms or false representation”; specifies which titles & abbreviations health care practitioners may use in their advertisements, communications, & personal identification; requires health care practitioners to disclose specified information & use only authorized titles & abbreviations in their advertisements; prohibits health care practitioners from using deceptive or misleading terms or false representations in their advertisements; provides for denial of licensure & disciplinary action. |
| SB 156 | HARRELL | PHYSICAL THERAPY LICENSURE COMPACT | Creating the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact; specifying requirements for state participation in the compact; authorizing member states to obtain biometric-based information from and conduct criminal background checks on licensees applying for a compact privilege; specifying circumstances under which licensees are ineligible for a compact privilege; establishing the Physical Therapy Compact Commission; providing for implementation and administration of the compact and associated rules, etc. |
| SB 274
(HB 517 Companion Bill) |
AVILA/BURGESS/OSGOOD | NURSING EDUCATION PATHWAY FOR MILITARY COMBAT MEDICS | Revising a primary goal of the Florida Center for Nursing to provide that development of a statewide plan for nursing manpower must include the encouragement and coordination of the development of partnerships with hospitals which provide opportunities for nursing students to obtain clinical experience; requiring that the Articulation Coordinating Committee convene a workgroup to establish a process for determining postsecondary course equivalencies and the minimum postsecondary credit or career education clock hours that must be awarded in accredited nursing education programs for military training and education required for service in specified positions; authorizing the award of additional postsecondary credit or career education clock hours, etc. |
| HB 351 | ROBINSON, W. | CERTIFIED NURSING ASSISTANTS | Provides nursing home may authorize registered nurse to delegate tasks to nursing assistants; provides for designation of certified nursing assistants as qualified medication aides; prohibits qualified medication aides from being included in computation of specified hours of direct care & staffing ratios; authorizes registered nurses to delegate to certified nursing assistants & home health aides administration of certain medications; authorizes certified nursing assistants to administer medications to specified residents & patients under certain conditions; requires board, in consultation with agency, to establish standards & procedures that certified nursing assistant must follow when administering medication to resident of nursing home facility. |
| HB 391
(SB 452 Companion Bill) |
TRAMONT | HOME HEALTH AIDES FOR MEDICALLY FRAGILE CHILDREN | Requires home health agencies to ensure that any tasks delegated to home health aides for medically fragile children to meet specified requirements; requires home health agencies to ensure that home health aides for medically fragile children employed by or under contract with them are adequately trained to perform tasks they will be delegated; provides certain individuals exemption from costs associated with specified training; authorizes home health aides for medically fragile children to perform certain tasks delegated by registered nurse; requires AHCA to conduct annual assessment related to certified health aide program; provides requirements for assessment; requires agency to submit report to Governor & Legislature by specified date each year, beginning on specified date; requires agency, in consultation with board, to develop home health aides for medically fragile children training program for specified purpose; provides requirements for program; requires the agency to establish a specified fee schedule for specified circumstances. |
| SB 568 | RODRIGUEZ | ASSAULT OR BATTERY ON HOSPITAL PERSONNEL | Providing enhanced criminal penalties for persons who knowingly commit assault or battery upon hospital personnel, etc. |
| HB 601 | STEELE | REFERRAL OF PATIENTS BY HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS | Removes definition of terms “direct supervision” & “present in office suite”; revises definition of term “referral” to remove direct physician supervision & to require compliance with certain Medicare payments & rules. |
| HB 659 | ROBINSON, F. | SEXUALLY TRANSMISSABLE DISEASES | Reduces degree of criminal penalty for certain persons infected with HIV & who donate blood, plasma, organs, skin, or other human tissue for use in another person; revises prohibitions relating to intentional transmission of certain diseases through sexual conduct; revises penalties; revises requirements for HIV testing in cases involving criminal transmission of HIV. |
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I think it is incredibly important to revisit the fact that only APRNs with primary care designation are able to practice autonomously while those of us in other areas (considered primary care like psychiatric/mental health) remain under “supervision” regulations/laws.
Either we are in this together as APRNs (all APRNs) or we need to question the motivation of those that got this legislation through at the cost of autonomy to their colleagues.
I would support PAs being able to prescribe w/o supervision but that is not my priority.
HB 481
(SB 454 – Companion Bill)
MELO PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS’ PRESCRIPTIVE AUTHORITY Removes requirements that physician assistants may only prescribe or dispense drugs under physician’s supervision.