2013 Legislative Session Update

Week Six

Affordable Care Act | Biomedical Research Funding | Cancer Care & Research | Epinephrine Auto-injectors |  Tobacco Education & Use Prevention |

Following is a summary of the priority issues for the American Lung Association in Florida:

Statewide Tobacco Education and Use Prevention Program 

House and Senate pass budget bills in preparation for the conference process next week

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. The Governor’s budget recommended full funding of the Comprehensive Statewide Tobacco Prevention and Education Program at $65,605,793.

The House and Senate budget bills for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1, include line items for the Comprehensive Statewide Tobacco Prevention and Education Program. Proviso language is contained in HB 5001 to ensure the use of the CDC’s Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs.

The House and Senate budget allocations and proviso language.

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.

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Biomedical Research Funding: SB 1500/ HB 5001

House and Senate pass budget bills in preparation for the conference process next week

HB 5001 and SB 150  contain the language recommending additional funding for the Biomedical Research Trust Fund over and above the funding provided last legislative session. The House budget brings Bankhead-Coley and the James and Esther King programs to $10 million in funding, with Moffitt, Shands, and Sylvester Cancer Center each receiving $8 million.

House and Senate Appropriations

The American Lung Association in Florida supports a comprehensive, independent peer review process to determine the recipients of research dollars.

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Affordable Care Act Implementation

House plan released late this week 

The two dominant policy issues for Florida as it implements the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) are the role of health exchanges and whether to expand coverage to a portion of the uninsured. Both the House and the Senate has decided not to expand Medicaid, and the Senate has come up with two very different proposals on how to expand coverage (SB 1816/SB 1844)

On April 11, the House released a proposal entitled “Florida Health Choices Plus.” The House plan is limited to disabled adults and parents, allowing them to purchase insurance using an existing state-based health marketplace. Most of the plans would provide low-cost preventative and primary care visits, subsidized by state funds.

 Highlights of the Florida Health Choices Plus include:

• The state would give each participant $2,000 each year to help them purchase coverage options;
• Enrollees would also pay $25 a month in premiums; and
  
• Adults without disabilities will be required to work at least 20 hours a week.

Also included in the House plan is the creation of a task force that will conduct a study allowing health professionals to practice within the full extent of their training in order to increase access to medical care. The study will look at the independent practice issue and whether allowing these professionals to practice with more independence, within the full extent of their training, will increase Florida’s supply of medical care.

The House PPACA Committee holds a hearing on Monday to discuss the proposed plan which creates health savings accounts. Negotiations of all the proposals will continue throughout the remainder of the session.

The American Lung Association in Florida supports expanding access to health care services for these vulnerable Floridians.

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   Quality Cancer Care & Research: SB 1660 / HB 7153

Legislation passes full Senate and House committee this week and issue will be part of the upcoming budget process

On April 10, SB 1660 by Senator Anitere Flores (R-Miami) passed the full Senate by a vote of 40 to 0. In passing the legislation, the Senate requested that the House pass the Senate bill or agree to include the issue in the budget conference process which is slated to begin early next week. The Senate bill establishes a Cancer Center of Excellence Award to recognize hospitals, treatment centers, and other providers in Florida that demonstrate excellence in patient-centered, coordinated care for persons undergoing cancer treatment and therapy. This bill provides for the development of performance measures, a rating system, and a rating standard that must be achieved to be eligible for recognition. The award and designation may be used in the provider’s advertising and marketing for up to three years and it entitles the recipient to preferential consideration in competitive solicitations by a state agency or state university. This bill also provides for endowments to cancer research institutions in the state to establish a funded research chair that will attract and retain a promising researcher in order to serve as a catalyst to attract other national grant-producing researchers to the state. The endowments are contingent upon funding in the General Appropriations Act.

Also on April 10, the identical House companion measure HB 7153 was presented in the Health & Human Services Appropriations Committee by Vice Chair Representative Jose Oliva (R-Miami). After discussion, the bill passed the committee by an 11 to 1 vote with no amendments. The bill now resides in the Health and Human Services Committee.

The American Lung Association in Florida is monitoring this bill and any potential House committee proposal.

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Epinephrine Auto-injectors SB 284/ HB 366 

House bill clears last committee this week; both bills ready for final action

SB 284 by Senator Joe Negron (R-Palm City) and HB 369 by Representative Mike LaRosa (R-St. Cloud) establish a process through which a private school can register to be notified at the same time as public school districts about an emergency occurrence in the local area that could threaten student safety. Both bills were amended to allow schools to store epinephrine autoinjectors and allow school personnel to administer them to a child in emergencies. SB 284 was passed by the full Senate on April 4 by a vote of 40 to 0. HB 369 passed the Judiciary Committee unanimously this week and is now in the Education Committee.

The American Lung Association in Florida supports legislation that would allow schools to maintain a secure supply of epinephrine autoinjectors for use if a student is having life threatening allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) and if the participating school district has adopted a protocol by a licensed physician and school personnel are trained to recognize an anaphylactic reaction and to administer an epinephrine autoinjection.

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The following bills did not have any committee action this week:

Florida Clean Indoor Air Act: SB 258/ HB 439  

Cigarette Surcharge: SB 620/ HB 473  

Tobacco Settlement — Nonsettling Manufacturers: SB 252  

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We hope this brief legislative update is helpful. We will keep you posted on these and other developments as the 2013 Session progresses.