2013 Legislative Session
Update
Week Five
Affordable Care Act | Biomedical Research Funding | Cancer Care & Research | Epinephrine Auto-injectors | Tobacco Education & Use Prevention |
It was another incredibly busy week at the Capitol as Session
passed its half-way mark. The House and Senate Appropriations committees put
the finishing touches on budget proposals, as each chamber moves to pass its
budget this week on the floor, and then begins the budget conference process.
Another Medicaid expansion proposal was floated which
focused on insuring persons below 100 percent of the federal poverty level and
not using any federal Medicaid dollars. This week also exposed the first
partisan fractures of the legislative session, with House Democrats voting
against the Appropriations bill in committee, in opposition to the proposed
spending plan’s lack of Medicaid expansion dollars.
Over the next four weeks these issues and many more
will be debated and resolved prior to the legislature’s May 3 completion date.
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 Appropriations
committees pass respective budget bills this 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 Appropriations
committees pass respective budget bills this week
HB
5001 and SB
1500, as passed by the respective House and Senate Appropriations Committees,
contain the language recommending additional funding for the Biomedical Research
Trust Fund over and above the funding provided last session at the proposed
levels. 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: SB 1816
A new plan proposed in the Senate as discussions continue
Florida has decided to follow a federal exchange model for 2013 and
revisit the issue of a partnership model in 2014. On the expansion issue,
Governor Scott is a reluctant supporter with a sunset after three years. The
House Select Committee on PPACA voted to reject Medicaid expansion. The Senate
Select Committee on PPACA also voted to reject a traditional Medicaid
expansion, opting to pursue a third option instead. This option amends the
Florida Healthy Kids program (state’s SCHIP program) to use its platform to
provide coverage to people with an income of up to 138 percent of the federal
poverty level. Those in the program would pay small premiums for private
insurance; copays for doctor visits and hospital stays and qualify
for health reimbursement accounts. This week, Senator Aaron Bean (R-Inverness) released
a third proposal that that would use state money to help people below 100
percent of the federal poverty level pay for health services. Bean's proposal
would be more limited than Senator Negron's plan and would not tap into federal
funding. The House has yet to offer a proposal; however, Senate President Gaetz
(R-Destin) left open the possibility of a “melded plan” of some sort and House
Speaker Weatherford (R-Wesley Chapel) left open the door for some type of
mechanism to take care of Florida’s poorest citizens. The debate over whether
to expand Medicaid in Florida will consume the remainder of the legislative
session.
PPACA calls for providing coverage to people living in households
earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, about $16,000 for an
individual and $27,000 for a family of three. Currently, a single parent with
two children must earn less than $9,000 to qualify for Medicaid.
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
Senate bill heard on the floor with passage
likely next week and House bill is officially filed this week
On April 4, SB 1660 by Senator Anitere Flores
(R-Miami) was heard and amended by the full Senate. Passage of the bill is
likely on April 10 when the Senate meets again. The revised 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. The
companion measure, HB 7153 was
introduced by the House Health Quality Subcommittee on April 1 and has been
referred to the Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee and 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
Senate bill passed by full Senate and
House bill clears another committee this week
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.
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