FCEP | Florida College of Emergency Physicians

Government - Advocacy

Legislative Hot Topics

Past Legislative Session Reviews

FLACPAC

People for Access to Emergency Care

Position Statements

Emergency Medicine Days in Tallahassee

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.

Some other bills which passed – and a couple which did not – that are of interest to emergency physicians include:

HB 3 (Rep. Slosberg)/ SB 609 (Sen. Hukill) – FAILED – would have made failure to wear a seat belt a primary offense rather than secondary offense. NOTE: HB 1697, which passed, included language amending Florida law to permit law enforcement to stop and ticket drivers of vehicles if anyone in the vehicle under the age of 18 is not wearing a seat belt.

SB 328 (Sen. Fasano) – Creates a grant program administered through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to provide local jurisdictions funds to place AED’s in law enforcement vehicles.

HB 151 (Rep. Sorenson) – House Bill 151 amends s. 766.1115, F. S., the “Access to Health Care Act,” that provides criteria under which health care providers can deliver free medical care to low-income persons under the doctrine of sovereign immunity. House Bill 151 expands the definition of low income from 150 percent to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, increasing the number of persons potentially eligible for the program by an additional 468,637 persons. According to the Department of Health, the revision in eligibility is not expected to significantly increase the number of people statewide participating in the program because there is no expectation of a significant increase in the number of health care providers donating free services.

HB 279 (Rep. Grimsley) – Permits students to self-administer epiniphrene by auto-injection while at school.

SB 410 (Sen. Saunders) – Adds a requirement that the Department of Health including information relating to liability and disciplinary actions obtained as a result of a search of the National Practitioner Data Bank to the practitioner profile.

SB 530 (Sen. Wise) – Directs the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to require an ignition lock device on automobiles operated by any person convicted of DUI offenses.

HB 569 (Rep. Garcia) – Provides for year-round enrollment of eligible children into the MediKids program and the Florida KidCare program. Currently, enrollment was only permitted from January to September.

HB 665 (Rep. Farkas) / SB 972 (Sen. Jones) – FAILED – would have taken away the ability of a physician to self-insure.

SB 2556 (Sen. Webster) – FAILED – would have permitted naturopaths to become licensed in Florida.