The Florida Legislature concluded its 2005 General Session on
Friday, May 6, 2005. A total of 2,475 bills were introduced,
2,067 of which were general legislative bills. Only 749 bills
passed at least one chamber (30.3% of the total bills
introduced) and 394 bills passed both chambers (15.9% of the
total bills introduced) and either have been or will be
considered by Governor Bush for enactment.
The Florida College of Emergency Physicians specifically
targeted several areas of legislative efforts in 2005, primarily:
Medicaid Reform,
Assignment of
Benefits,
Implementation of
Constitutional Amendments 7 & 8,
Mandatory HIV
Testing for Pregnant Women,
Off-Site
Emergency Departments,
Traffic
Violations and Trauma Center Funding,
High Deductible
Insurance Study Group and
Other Bills of
Interest.
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Section 4 of HB 811 amends s. 627.638, F.S., that deals with direct
payment for hospital medical services. It specifies that an
insurance contract may not prohibit, and claims forms must
provide an option for, the payment of benefits directly to a
licensed hospital, physician, or dentist for care provided
pursuant to s. 395.1041. The language is narrowly drawn to apply
only to emergency care, and stipulates that indemnity products
such as PPOs can not prohibit the assignment of benefits for
such care. Language was added to clarify that the insurer may
require written attestation of assignment of benefits and that
the payment to the provider form the insurer may not be more
than the amount that the insurer would otherwise have paid
without the assignment. The Florida College of Emergency
Physicians led the charge in requesting the statutory change
this session, and where successful in having this provision
added to the larger insurance package. HB 811 also includes the
following provisions in additional to the assignment of benefits
for emergency are:
Changes the date until January 1, 2006 for the Comprehensive
Health Information System Council to submit its plan and
requires the plan to include reporting of infection rates,
mortality rates, and complication rates.
Adds the ability for the Office of Insurance Regulation to
disapprove a health flex plan that does not comply with the
standards required under
s. 624.404(3).
Allows insurers and health maintenance organizations to offer
for sale an individual or group policy that provides for a
high-deductible plan that meets the federal requirements of a
health savings account plan and is offered in conjunction with a
health savings account.
Changes from mandatory to optional the issuance of a healthy
lifestyles insurance rebate for individual policies. Stipulates
that the rebate is based on premiums paid in the last calendar
year or the last policy year and that the rebate can not exceed
10% of paid premiums. Requires group policies to require the
insurer to offer a group rebate when a majority of the group
members participates in a wellness or similar program under
specific conditions.
Amends Florida’s mini-Cobra law to conform to the timeframes in
Florida law to the federal standards under HIPAA. This means an
employee or his or her eligible dependents has 63 days, rather
than the current 30 days, to apply for continuation of coverage.
Amends the Employee Health Care Access Act to allow a small
employer to collect a health insurance premium from the salary
or wages of an employee and to the pay the premium to an
individual health insurer on behalf of the employee as long as
the employer does not contribute toward the premium or otherwise
facilitate health insurance coverage (list billing). Also
specifies that a health insurance carrier may offer an
individual health insurance policy to an employee of a small
employer without complying with the Act if the employer has not
offered its employees a group health benefit plan within the
previous 6 months.
Amends several provisions relating to the Small Employer Health
Reinsurance Program and changes the composition of the program’s
board of directors and the duties assigned to the board. |
