2013 Legislative Session
Update
Week One
Affordable Care Act | Cancer Care & Research | Clean Indoor Air Act | Cigarette Surcharge | Tobacco Education & Use Prevention | Tobacco Settlement
The 2013 Legislative Session officially kicked off this
week with the formal opening ceremonies and Governor Scott’s State of the State
address. Opening day followed weeks of legislative committee meetings where
many of the legislature’s top priorities – election reform, ethics reform and
decisions regarding state-level implementation of the Affordable Care Act – had
already taken shape. In addition to these priorities, more than 1,623 House and
Senate bills have been filed for consideration. Governor Scott has two
priorities for this legislative session: a pay increase for all teachers and a
tax reduction for manufacturing products. He is able to pursue these
budget-related priorities because, for the first time in five years, Florida’s
budget projections show signs of growth.
As the legislative session continues, both House
Speaker Will Weatherford
(R-Wesley Chapel) and Senate President Don Gaetz (R-Destin) have promised to
work closely and remain respectful of the priorities of each legislative
chamber. Their goal is to avoid the legislative skirmishes which have
historically slowed down the legislative process.
Following is a summary of the priority issues for the
American Lung Association in Florida:
Florida Clean
Indoor Air Act: SB 258 / HB 439
SB 258 by Senator Rob Bradley (R-Orange Park) and HB 439 by Representative Bill Hagar (R-Boca Raton) amend the Florida
Clean Indoor Air Act to allow cities and counties to restrict outdoor smoking
on municipal and county property.
SB 258 was amended to limit where
non-smoking areas can be placed and requires the designation of smoking area
within those non-smoking areas. The restricted areas, as well as designated
smoking areas, must be identified by signs. The bill also provides for
enforcement.
On
March 7, SB 258 passed the Health Policy Committee by a vote of 6 to 3.
The American Lung Association in
Florida raised concerns that the newly-amended proposal is not strong enough to
protect public health.
HB 439 has not been scheduled for its first committee of
reference.
Back to Top
Current law imposes a surcharge of $1 per pack on
standard sized cigarettes. SB
620
by Senator Jeremy Ring (D-Margate) and HB
473 by Representative James Waldman (D-Coconut Creek) create the “Youth
Smoking Prevention Act” and increase
the surcharge on standard sized cigarettes from $1 to $2 per pack, with
non-standard sized cigarettes being taxed proportionately.
The legislation was discussed during the Office of Economic & Demographic Research’s (EDR's) Revenue Estimating Impact Conference held on
February 22.
The consensus estimate adopted last week for the
legislation by the Impact Conference was a positive
impact in FY 2012-13 estimated at $160.1 million.
The American Lung Association in Florida supports
increasing the cost of cigarettes as a strategy to reduce youth smoking and
encourage people who smoke to quit.
Back to Top
Statewide Tobacco Education and Use
Prevention Program
Florida’s
Constitution requires the Legislature to annually appropriate 15 percent of
funds paid under the tobacco settlement for tobacco education with an annual
adjustment for inflation. After the Governor unveiled his budget
recommendations and priorities on January 31, and then during the February
interim legislative committee meetings, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee
on Health and Human Services chaired by Senator Denise Grimsley (R-Sebring) and
the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee chaired by Representative
Matt Hudson (R-Naples) heard presentations by staff from the Governor’s Office
of Planning and Budget on those budget recommendations. The Governor’s budget
recommends full funding of the Comprehensive Statewide Tobacco Prevention and
Education Program at $65,605,793. Specifically, the line item allocations are as
follows:
State
& Community Interventions.............................$10,630,288
State
& Community Interventions - AHEC..................$5,320,738
Health
Communications Interventions.......................$22,724,400
Cessation
Interventions..........................................$12,663,790
Cessation
Interventions - AHEC................................$ 7,213,826
Surveillance
& Evaluation.........................................$5,731,550
Administration & Management..................................$1,321,201
The American Lung Association in Florida is
working to ensure the allocation of these dollars follows CDC’s Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control, are
competitively procured, and rigorous performance measures are included in any
contracts managed by the Florida Department of Health.
Back to Top
Tobacco Settlement — Nonsettling
Manufacturers: SB 252
SB 252, re-filed by Senator Thad Altman
(R-Melbourne), requires
more cigarette makers to pay the state as part of its settlement with tobacco
companies. The measure has been pushed unsuccessfully for several years. The interest
earned from the settlement
fund provides health care to children and seniors. Supporters of the bill include RJ Reynolds
Tobacco Company and the Altria Group.
The American Lung Association in Florida is
monitoring this bill.
Back to Top
Quality
Cancer Care & Research: SB 1660
SB 1660 by Senator Anitere Flores (R-Miami) establishes a
Cancer Center of Excellence Award for providers that excel in providing cancer
care and treatment in this state, requires the Florida Cancer Control and
Research Advisory Council (C-CRAB) and the Biomedical Research Advisory Council
(BRAC) to jointly develop performance measures, a rating system, and a rating
standard in accordance with specified criteria for applicants to qualify for
the award, and provides that an award-winning cancer provider is granted
preference in competitive solicitations for a specified period of time, and
authorizes endowments under the William G. “Bill” Bankhead, Jr., and David
Coley Cancer Research Program for establishing funded research chairs at
research institutions. Funding will be dealt with separately
as part of the appropriations bill. No
House companion bill has been filed at this point.
The American Lung Association in Florida is
monitoring this bill.
Back to Top
Affordable Care Act
Implementation
One of the largest
policy debates in decades involves how Governor Rick Scott and legislative
leaders decide how Florida will implement the federal Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Select committees in the House and Senate have
been meeting for months to review Florida’s options. The two largest
PPACA-related policy issues to be decided are whether the state will expand its
Medicaid population and whether Florida will pursue a state, federal or
partnership-based health exchange model for consumers to purchase health care.
PPACA calls for
extending Medicaid coverage to people living up to 138 percent of the federal poverty
level, which equates to about $15,000 for an individual and $29,000 for a
family of four The federal government will pick up the full cost for the first
three years, beginning in 2014, and then taper the payments to 90 percent of
the additional cost of the newly eligible by 2020.
Although Governor
Scott dropped his opposition to Medicaid expansion last week and called on
legislators to lower Medicaid income requirements and to include childless
adults in the program. The Senate appears more receptive to expansion, but some
members clearly have reservations, as Scott does, and question the costs and
whether the federal government is a reliable partner. Republicans in the
House appear even more skeptical about the benefits proponents that PPACA will
deliver. The final decision on this issue will not take place until
the waning days of the legislative session, but will likely be
one of the most-controversial issues of session.
An estimated 365,164 uninsured adults in Florida have
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma. Many of these patients will be
eligible for Medicaid coverage in 2014 if Florida expands health care coverage
under the Affordable Care Act.
On the issue of health
exchanges, for at least the first year of PPACA, the state has already
chosen to default to a federally-run online site where people shop for
insurance and see if they qualify for federal subsidies. The state will
reassess the issue after the first year to determine if a state-run exchange or
a state-federal partnership model makes more sense in the future.
The
American Lung Association in Florida supports expanding access to health care
services for these vulnerable Floridians.
Back to Top
XXX
We hope this brief legislative update is helpful. We will keep you posted on these and other developments as the 2013 Session progresses.
|
