The Florida Legislature concluded their 2008 Legislative Session this evening after having passed the FMA's priority legislation, SB 1012, earlier this week.The Legislature also passed another FMA priority, the PRN Sovereign Immunity bill, just hours after the Managed Care Bill was sent to the Governor. Thanks to the hard work of FMA and FMA PAC members, staff, county medical societies, specialty societies, the Alliance and the support of key legislators, the FMA was successful in not only passing this key legislation, but in stopping every scope of practice expansion bill filed. Additionally, the FMA defeated or amended many other bills that would have adversely affected the practice of medicine. The following is a summary of some of the issues the FMA worked on this Session. A full report will be available in June. If you have any questions, please email either myself or Jeff Scott, or call 850.224.6496.

Managed Care Legislation
After an unprecedented journey of eight committee stops and determined opposition from every insurance company licensed to do business in Florida, SB 1012 passed Tuesday morning. This bill balances the playing field between physicians and managed care organizations (MCO) by reducing the "look back" period from 30 months to 12 months for MCOs to demand refunds for overpayment. This bill also makes silent PPOs transparent by requiring MCOs to notify network physicians any time the MCO sells or leases their discounted physician fee information to another entity. Lastly, this bill requires MCOs to directly pay in-network physicians for services provided, rather than sending the payment to the patient.

It is important to note, this bill would not have passed without the remarkable dedication and hard work of the sponsors, Sen. Don Gaetz and Rep. Bill Galvano. Every FMA member should let them know how much they appreciate their efforts.

PRN Sovereign Immunity
SB 2598 passed unanimously out of both chambers thanks to the efforts of our sponsors, Sen. Jeff Atwater and Rep. Doug Holder. This bill extends sovereign immunity to the Professionals Resource Network (PRN), which by contract with the Florida Department of Health, provides impairment services when needed to all Florida physicians. In addition, this bill will allow PRN to provide impairment services to medical school students and grants immunity to the medical schools for such referrals.

Scope of Practice Bills
By aggressively lobbying the Legislature well before the start of the 2008 Session, the FMA was able to ensure that no allied health professionals were able to legislatively expand their scope of practice. In fact, this Session saw the fewest number of scope of practice bills filed in recent memory. Of the two bills that were filed, ARNPs Prescribing Controlled Substances and Physical Therapists eliminating the physician referral requirement, neither received a hearing.

Mandatory Malpractice Insurance
The FMA stopped legislation that would have severely impacted a physician's ability to self- insure. The bill would have prohibited defense-only policies and would have almost certainly led hospitals to require insurance as a condition of staff privileges.

Tort Reform
The FMA stopped the Trial Bar's efforts to effectively end the use of binding arbitration agreements as a dispute resolution mechanism between physicians and patients. Additionally, the FMA stopped the insertion of language into a controversial bill that created additional tort liability for physicians who perform certain procedures.

Budget Issues
In a year when the Legislature was forced to slash spending on health care due to a $3 billion budget deficit, the FMA was able to avoid cuts to physician Medicaid reimbursement. Despite our best efforts, the FMA was unfortunately unable to secure additional funding in our effort to raise Medicaid rates to Medicare levels.

The FMA stopped the expansion of the Medicaid Pilot Project, but did witness a one-dollar decrease in the Medipass Program.

Other Bills
The FMA stopped legislation that would have increased the cost and burden on physicians who treat deaf and hearing-impaired patients.

The FMA deleted a provision in an autism bill that would have mandated a two-hour developmental disability CME course for all physicians.

This list represents only a few of the issues the FMA worked on this Session. We monitored over 400 bills and reviewed thousands of amendments. I would like to thank Tim Stapleton for his excellent leadership during this challenging Session and for the hard work expended by his staff. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Jeff Scott for the countless hours he has devoted to making our legislative efforts successful, both during Session and before it began. These two gentlemen should be regarded as one of the most important assets that our association possesses.

While both of these gentlemen worked hard on the front lines, behind the scenes, Michelle Jacquis, Jennifer Forshey, JD, Jennifer Bartolucci and Sarah Rothell provided tremendous support tracking bills, developing alerts and monitoring legislation. I would like to recognize these ladies for their tenacity, dedication and great skill. I am thankful they are working on our behalf during these legislative battles.

And last, but certainly not least, I would also like to thank Dr. Karl M. Altenburger, our FMA President, for his dedication and involvement in the political process. His dedication and passion should serve as an example for all future presidents of our association.

Sincerely,

Miguel A. Machado, MD
Chairman, FMA Council On Legislation