Insurance Claims Payments to Health Care Providers; Requires AHCA to establish program to assist health care providers & health plans in resolving claims of denied prior authorization requests; provides that program is mandatory; revises list of claims that are not reviewed by program; prohibits respondents from avoiding default by refusing to participate in review process; prohibits contracts between health care providers & health insurers & HMOs from specifying credit card payments to providers as only acceptable method for payments; authorizes use of electronic funds transfers by health insurers & HMOs for payments to providers; provides notification requirements; prohibits health insurers & HMOs from charging fees for automated clearinghouse transfers as claims payments to providers; prohibits health insurers & HMOs from denying claims subsequently submitted by providers for procedures that were included in prior authorizations; provides exceptions.
Experimental Treatment Access Trust Fund/Department of Health; Creating the Experimental Treatment Access Trust Fund within the Department of Health for specified purposes; authorizing licensed experimental treatment centers to contribute a specified amount to the trust fund or provide specified care at no cost; providing for future review and termination or re-creation of the trust fund, etc.
Prohibited Contracting with Covered Foreign Entities; Defining the term “covered foreign entity”; providing that a covered foreign entity is ineligible to bid or submit a proposal for a contract with an agency for certain goods or services; requiring an entity to certify in its bid or proposal that it is not a covered foreign entity; requiring a contracting state agency to immediately terminate its contract with an entity that submitted a false certification or that is determined to be a covered foreign entity, etc.
Pet Insurance; Requires licensees who sell pet insurance to complete specified continuing education; revises requirements for disclosures from pet insurer to policyholder; requires pet insurers to file annually specified report with OIR.
Illegal Gaming; Repealing a provision relating to penalties and violations related to illegal gambling; authorizing a person who is ineligible for employment with the commission to submit a waiver request to the commission asking to be considered eligible for employment if the person possesses certain expertise or experience; revising the standards of conduct for current and former commissioners and employees of the commission; authorizing a slot machine licensee to apply to the commission to change the location of its designated slot machine gaming area under certain circumstances; providing criminal penalties for persons who stake, bet, or wager any money or other thing of value upon the result of certain games, contests, matches, races, or sports if such persons have knowledge that the outcome of the games, contests, matches, races, or sports is prearranged or predetermined; revising the criminal penalties for persons who rent or lease a house for gambling purposes, etc.
Endangered or Threatened Marine Animals; Prohibits collection & transportation of endangered or threatened marine animals from state waters; prohibits FWCC from issuing, renewing, or approving certain licenses.
Statewide Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Unit; Requiring the Department of Law Enforcement to establish and administer a Statewide Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Unit at a specified location; requiring that a team from the unit be assigned to and aligned with each regional domestic security task force; specifying unit duties; requiring the department to create a team by a specified date to serve as the initial leadership and organizational core of the full unit, etc.
Florida Public Service Commission; Requiring the commission to implement specified measures to improve transparency and accountability; requiring the commission to ensure that public utilities do not recover certain costs from ratepayers regardless of whether such costs take a specified form; requiring the commission to ensure that the allowable return on equity for public utilities does not exceed certain metrics; requiring that certain cost-tracking mechanisms for a public utility to recover changes in electric supply costs provide a specified cost-sharing structure, etc.
HB 4069 revises the tax authority for the Central Broward Water Control District, allowing it to levy taxes only on land (not improvements) up to 5 mills per $1,000 of taxable property value. The bill sets a maximum tax rate at 5 mills annually unless the board of commissioners votes to reduce it, and requires taxes to be collected through Broward County's existing property tax system. This directly affects property owners within the district's boundaries by establishing a clear cap on potential tax increases. The changes update the district's tax procedures without altering who pays taxes or creating new revenue sources.
Insurance; Requiring the Department of Financial Services to take immediate enforcement actions under certain circumstances; requiring certain adjusters to complete specified continuing education courses annually; specifying requirements for such courses; revising the grounds for compulsory disciplinary actions by the department against certain insurance personnel; prohibiting insurers from excluding the public adjuster’s attorney from certain in-person meetings; requiring insurers to promptly provided third-party claimants with specified payments or assistance under certain circumstances, etc.
Health Insurer Accountability; Requires health plan to participate in filed claim dispute; provides penalties for failure to respond to claim; requires AHCA to notify certain entity within specified timeframe when health plan fails to pay provider; requires health plan to pay provider within specified timeframe after agency's order; provides credentialing requirements for managed care plan; requires each managed care plan to identify to agency & OIR any ownership interest of affiliation of any kind with certain entities; provides requirements for identification of such information; removes provision requiring results of certain audit reports to be dispositive; requires managed care contracts to include provider notifications regarding certain denials of coverage; prohibits insurer from denying certain claims; provides notification requirements & penalties.
Fee Waivers; Specifies that requirement for certain universities, colleges, career centers, & charter technical career centers to waive out-of-state fees for certain students applies to students who are undocumented for federal immigration purposes.
