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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Florida law already requires that attending physicians and
midwives test for sexually transmitted diseases and to offer an
HIV test. Senate Bill 186 changes the requirement for
attending physicians and midwives to offer an HIV test and
substitute it for a requirement for them to routinely test for
HIV. If the mother chooses to not have the test performed, then
written consent would be required.
FCEP worked with officials from the Florida Department of
Health to ensure that the bill language does not hinder the
routine operation of an emergency department or place emergency
physicians at unnecessary risk of liability. FCEP had concerns
that emergency physicians treating a pregnant woman for an
emergency medical condition may not have prior medical history
available, including prior test results for HIV.
The Department of Health will be developing rules to
administer this new requirement, and has asked FCEP to
participate in the rule-making process.
Some key points of the bill are:
CS/CS/SB 186 – Mandatory HIV Testing for Pregnant Women
The bill requires that all attending physicians and/or midwives
attending a woman for conditions related to her pregnancy
include a test for HIV in the already required battery of tests
for sexually transmitted diseases.
Under the new language, the mother must be informed that of the
tests and of her right to refuse the test. If she refuses, she
must provide her objection in writing which is then included in
her medical records.
This bill does not change current Florida law, which states that
when the test is performed at a hospital emergency department,
detention facility or other facility and the patient has been
released prior to being notified of a positive test result,
informing the county health department to notify the test
subject fulfills the notice requirement. |
