2024 Legislative Session - Week Eight Update

Listed in: Legislative

With  just one week left in the 2024 session, legislators began conferencing on the budget, the point at which key members of the House and Senate come together to negotiate over differences between each chamber's respective budget bills. FHCA's Government Affairs team is actively working to ensure that lawmakers understand the importance of making bold investments in our nursing centers to strengthen the workforce and maintain quality care. Along with budget conference meetings, legislators spent most of their time in session in their respective chambers.

Tuesday was the last day for regularly scheduled committee meetings, so bills that still have references to committees are unlikely to make it through without exceptional procedural maneuvers. Bills the FHCA team is monitoring that are still active include:

The “MOBILE Act” or “Mobile Opportunity By Interstate Licensure Endorsement” created in SB 1600 by Sen. Jay Collins (R-Tampa) was amended and passed out of the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee. The bill allows for licensure by endorsement if the applicant meets all of the criteria and is meant to streamline the licensure process for out-of-state practitioners moving to Florida. The amendment added certified nursing assistants to the list of other positions licensed by the Department of Health that are eligible for the MOBILE Act, which includes nursing home administrators, RNs, LPNs, OT, PT, Respiratory Therapists, Dietitians, and Clinical Social Workers. The bill now matches HB 1273 by Rep. Susan Plasencia (R-Winter Park), and both bills are scheduled to be heard in their respective chambers.

An amendment has been filed for HB 1611, Insurance by Rep. Cyndi Stevenson (R-St. Augustine), that will expand the definition of “commercial self-insurance fund” to include a group of nursing centers, assisted living facilities, or any combination thereof, provided the group maintains at least $10 million in annual imputed premiums. A self-insurance fund may be formed by a group for the purpose of pooling and spreading liabilities of its members as related to real or personal property loss or damage from any hazard or cause. A participating nursing center must report its insurance costs as part of the data collected under the Florida Nursing Home Uniform Reporting System (FNHURS). This amendment is scheduled to be heard by the full House today. A similar floor amendment will be needed to the Senate companion bill, SB 1622 by Sen. Jay Trumbull (R-Panama City).