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Tallahassee Update
April 1, 2004 -- With the Legislature on hiatus next week, legislators and
lobbyists have been in a frantic battle to position their favorite bills in the
most favorable position for final passage. Going into the session, the
conventional wisdom was that Medicine would do well to hold on to the gains made
last year on tort reform and to rebuff attempted scope of practice expansions.
With that as a measure, we have had an extraordinary session so far and have the
opportunity to make it even better over the next few weeks. For example:
HB103, which requires non-physician prescribers to place their
professional license numbers on prescriptions (and therefore eliminating the
possibility of such providers using a physician's DEA number inappropriately)
was this week signed into law by Governor Bush.
HB121, the TIME Bill, has passed all of its substantive House committees;
Senator Saunders has provided assurances that it will be brought up before the
Health, Aging and Long Term Care Committee after the Passover/Easter break.
HB329, an open heart exemption bill that had passed the House, has been
amended by the Senate to include the FSTCS-approved exemptions for emergency PCI.
The bill must now return to the House for final passage.
SB1088, which requires HMOs to disclose their fee schedules to their
contracted physicians, has passed the Senate. Its House companion, HB 1235,
passed two committees this week, needing only to pass the Health Care and
Appropriations committees upon resumption of the Session.
SB1464, which includes the Patient Safety Corporation, advanced to the
Appropriations process. Its House companion, HB1629, passed the
Insurance Committee and is now in Finance and Taxation.
SB2072, which would have allowed ARNPs to prescribe controlled
substances, was voted down 6-5 by the Health, Aging and Long-term Care
Committee.
HB1375 and SB 2604, both of which would license "Naturopathic
physicians,'" have been prevented from even being heard in their first
committees of reference.
In less exciting news, HB895 and SB 2584, which grant AAPS equivalency
with ABMS, have both advanced to floor votes. The bills were amended to ensure
that AAPS' recently elevated standards are maintained in order to maintain its
equivalency with ABMS.
HB1821, which provides for substantial tort reform, languishes on the
House floor, with the Senate refusing to even consider the issue.
SB2842, which would provide substantial extra funding for trauma centers
and their physciians, passed its first committee of reference.
Christopher L. Nuland, Esq.
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April 1, 2004