The Florida House on Tuesday released two wide-ranging health care bills that include eliminating some regulations and trying to reduce prescription drug prices.
House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, said in a prepared statement that the bills would help carry out President Donald Trump’s health care “vision” in the state.
“We are taking decisive action to cut red tape, grow our health care workforce, expand patient choice and protect taxpayer dollars while ensuring families can access high-quality care when they need it most,” Perez said.
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One of the bills (HB 693), sponsored by Rep. Mike Redondo, R-Miami, is dubbed the “Big Beautiful Healthcare Frontier Act,” a reference to Trump’s signature federal “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
Redondo’s 143-page proposal deals with myriad issues, such as eliminating the state’s certificate of need (CON) regulatory process for nursing homes, hospice providers and intermediate care facilities for people with developmental disabilities, according to a House summary of the bill.
The so-called CON process has long been controversial as it requires state approval before providers can do such things as build facilities.
Redondo’s bill also would take steps such as allowing independent practice by psychiatric nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists and clinical nurse specialists and expanding the authority of dental hygienists to provide care, the summary said.
The other bill (HB 697), sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Kincart Jonsson, R-Lakeland, would take a series of steps aimed at lowering prescription drug prices.
As an example, it would establish what is described as a “most favored nation” system that would seek to prevent Floridians from paying significantly more for drugs than people in comparable nations, the summary said.
The bills are filed for the legislative session that will start Jan. 13.
