Waste Facilities; Prohibits local government & DEP from issuing construction permit for certain solid waste disposal & waste-to-energy facilities under certain circumstances.
Trust Funds/Creation/Florida Health Plan; Creates Florida Health Fund for Florida Health Plan; provides for administration of fund; provides for sources of funds & purpose; requires claims for health care services to be made to fund; provides for disbursement from fund; provides for accounts in fund; requires moneys received by fund to be paid to specified person; prohibits such person from commingling funds with other moneys; requires necessary waivers, exemptions, agreements, & legislation to be obtained for federal payments for fund; provides for future review & termination or re-creation of fund; provides eligibility of certain retirees for plan; provides that Florida Health Plan's responsibility for providing health care is secondary to existing federal programs if funding for these programs is not transferred to fund; requires collateral sources to pay certain sum to fund; provides duties of Florida Health Board relating to fund; provides duties of plan auditor relating to fund; provides appropriation; provides applicability of Code of Ethics for Public Officers & Employees to employees & director of fund.
K-12 School Lunches and Breakfasts; Requires K-12 public schools to participate in National School Lunch Program & School Breakfast Program; provides requirements for provision of school lunches & breakfasts at such schools; authorizes school districts to collect payment for specified meals; prohibits school districts from using third-party debt collectors; provides for reimbursement of school breakfasts by DACS; provides calculation for such reimbursement.
Maddy summaryHB 1271 revises Florida law to define "extraordinary collection actions" (like selling debt or filing lawsuits) and explicitly lists "prohibited collection actions" for medical debt. It bans healthcare providers and debt collectors from threatening arrest, garnishing wages, seizing bank accounts, reporting debt to credit bureaus, or denying care due to unpaid bills. The bill requires medical debt buyers to follow specific rules, including returning debt to providers if patients qualify for financial assistance. This directly affects patients with medical debt and healthcare facilities collecting payments, taking effect July 1, 2026.
Approval of Data Center Facilities; Requires applications for approval of data center facilities to include specified disclosures; requires existing data centers to disclose specified information; requires DEP to make such information publicly available on its website; provides penalty; prohibits certain tax credits, exemptions, protections, & restrictions for such information; requires DEP to adopt rules.
Pricing Based on Collection of Consumer Information; Declares unlawful any act or practice of surveillance pricing; provides exceptions; requires certain individuals who advertise, promote, label, or publish statement, display, image, offer, or announcement of surveillance pricing to include specified clear & conspicuous disclosure with such statement, display, image, offer, or announcement; provides for penalties; prohibits consumers from waiving certain rights; declaring any such waiver void.
Educational Facilities; Removes provision authorizing school of hope to colocate with another school in public school facility; removes provision requiring school district to permit school of hope to use underused, vacant, or surplus school district facility; removes requirement for students enrolled in school of hope to be included in school district's total capital outlay full-time equivalent membership; & removes provision authorizing hope operator establishing school of hope to use such facility at no cost.
Motor Vehicle Data Privacy and Autonomy; Prohibits manufacturer from certain actions relating to operator data; provides exceptions; prohibits manufacturer from certain actions relating to personal identifying information; requires manufacturer to provide motor vehicle owner with access to & control of operator data; requires manufacturer to create certain interface; provides reporting requirements; requires DHSMV, in consultation with specified entities, to establish at least one standard for interface by specified date; requires DHSMV to review & revise standard or standards by specified date & at specified intervals; provides that violation of certain provisions is unfair & deceptive trade practice; requires DHSMV to adopt rules.
Food Waste Reduction; Requires DOE to develop specified policy relating to food waste reduction in K-12 schools; provides policy requirements, adoption rates for such policy, & school district requirements.
Medical Debt Protection and Comprehensive Health Care for Residents; Requires large health care facilities to develop written financial assistance policies; provides financial assistance eligibility criteria; provides billing & collections rules & prohibitions; prohibits information relating to medical debt from being included in consumer reports, communicated with & reported to consumer reporting agencies, & used for certain decisions; prohibits medical creditors & medical debt collectors from engaging in certain acts during health insurance appeals; limits interest on medical debt under certain circumstances; creates Florida Health Plan; provides eligibility for & coverage of plan; authorizes Florida Health Board to establish financial arrangements with other states & foreign countries; authorizes plan enrollees to choose certain health care providers to have primary care providers & access to care coordination; authorizes enrollees to see health care specialists without referral; requires board to secure repeals & waivers of certain provisions of federal law; provides that plan's responsibility for providing health care is secondary to existing federal programs; requires plan to collect health care costs from collateral sources; prohibits patient care from being affected by fee schedules & financial incentives; prohibits noninstitutional & institutional providers that accept payments from plan from billing patients; provides requirements for capital expenditures by noninstitutional & institutional providers which exceed specified amount; requires Secretary of Health Care Administration to designate health planning regions; provides considerations for such designations; provides requirements for regional planning boards; prohibits certain health insurance policies & contracts from being sold in this state on & after specified date.
