2013 Legislative Session
Update
Final Update
Affordable Care Act | Biomedical Research Funding | Cancer Care & Research | Epinephrine
Autoinjectors |Tobacco Education & Use Prevention |
The 2013 Legislative Session concluded its work on Friday, May 3 at
7:16 p.m. After
months of committee meetings and a full throttle legislative session, tired
lawmakers are headed home after completing work on a $74 billion budget and
passing significant legislation in several policy areas, including ethics and
elections, career education and workforce development, tort reform, tax policy
and Everglades Restoration.
The Session had less
rancor than in prior years with both House and Senate leaders respectfully
working together and Democrat and Republican members trying to remain
bi-partisan. The only exception was a
two-day period this week where House Democrats used procedural maneuvers to
slow down legislation because of frustration over the Legislature’s decision
not to expand State Medicaid coverage pursuant to the Affordable Care Act.
The policy focus
will now turn to Governor Scott, who will review the budget and all bills
passed this session to decide on whether to veto or approve the legislation. He
should start to receive these bills in mid-May/early June and, once received,
he has 14 days to act on the fate of the bill.
Following is a summary of the priority issues for the
American Lung Association in Florida (ALAF):
Statewide Tobacco Education and Use
Prevention Program
Included
in budget at $65,640,769
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. ALAF successfully convinced the Health and Human Services Appropriations
budget negotiators to include proviso language which ensures that the
allocation of tobacco control funds uses CDC Best Practices guidelines for the
coming fiscal year, which begins July 1. The Statewide Tobacco Education and
Use Prevention Program line item of the budget is contained within Line Item
481 in the Conference Report for SB 1500.
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Biomedical Research
Funding
$50 million
in funding for Biomedical Research Funding
The final funding break-down is as follows: James
and Esther King - $10 million; Bankhead-Coley- $10 million; Shands -
$7,050,000; Moffitt- $7,050,000; Sylvester Cancer Center - $7,050,000; Torrey
Pines - $3 million; Sanford-Burnham - $5,600,000.
The American Lung
Association in Florida supported a comprehensive, independent peer review
process to determine the recipients of research dollars.
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Quality
Cancer Care & Research
Passed
SB 1660 by Senator Anitere
Flores (R-Miami) creates the Cancer Center of Excellence Award to recognize
cancer centers that offer enhanced standards of patient care with focus on
coordinated care between different cancer specialists. Ten million dollars in nonrecurring funds from the
General Revenue Fund is provided to the following institutions for the
establishment of an endowed cancer research chair:
- Shands
Cancer Hospital at the University of Florida.........$3,333,333
- H.
Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute........$3,333,333
- Sylvester
Cancer Center at the University of Miami..........$3,333,334
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Affordable Care Act
Implementation
Proposals did not pass
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. Florida has decided to follow a federal exchange model for 2013
and revisit the issue of a partnership model in 2014. On the Medicaid expansion issue, the
Legislature took no action this legislative session. The decision not to act on
expansions resulted in a strong protest by Democrats in the Florida House and
equally passionate views from opponents of Medicaid expansion.
The American Lung
Association in Florida supports expanding access to health care services for
these vulnerable Floridians.
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Epinephrine
Autoinjectors
Passed
SB 284 by Senator Joe Negron (R-Palm City)
establishes 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. The
bill also allows schools to store epinephrine autoinjectors and for school
personnel to administer them to a child in emergencies.
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 a life threatening allergic reaction (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 pass during the
2013 Legislative Session:
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We hope these legislative update is helpful. Thank you for your interest and support of our issues and in our fight for air.
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