Florida’s annual Legislative session opens Tuesday. Health care remains a listed issue among the top items lawmakers will focus on. Here are the three biggies to follow.
Health care
Amid a national debate about changing the health care system, the state House last month released two wide-ranging bills that include reducing regulations while trying to address prescription drug costs.
One bill (HB 693), would eliminate the certificate of need requirements for nursing homes and hospice providers, which industry groups contend will expand market entry and competition.
The bill also would expand independent practice authority for advanced practice nurses and streamline interstate licensure for physician assistants and EMS professionals. Other provisions include tightening eligibility for Medicaid, KidCare and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The other measure (HB 697) would require drug companies to share what they charge in other countries and limit how much people paying cash can be charged for prescriptions. It would also restrict some practices used by insurers and pharmacy benefit managers.
Medical malpractice
After Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed such a bill last year, the House has again teed up a proposal (HB 6003) that would repeal a long-controversial 1990 law that prevents some people from seeking what are known as “non-economic” damages in malpractice cases involving deaths of their parents or adult children.
Health care and business groups oppose a repeal, arguing expansion of litigation could drive up premiums and destabilize insurance markets. DeSantis echoed the same concern when announcing his veto.
Rural renaissance
Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, is again seeking to pass a $200 million plan aimed at boosting health care and other concerns in rural areas.
The Senate passed the plan during the 2025 session, but it was broken apart in the House and shelved.
Albritton said the goal is to provide opportunities in the state’s 32 rural counties — or 29 fiscally constrained counties — that haven't had them in the past.
"Just to be clear, I'm not asking the whole world to care. But the truth is that if you live in one of those counties that's fiscally constrained, what it means is that you're not having a conversation about whether you're going to choose the chicken or the egg — you don't have either," Albritton told “The Florida Roundup.”
Information from New Service of Florida, WFSU and WLRN was used in this report.
