Sen. Gayle Harrell

Individual Education Plans; Requiring a school district to complete an evaluation to determine if a student is eligible for an individualized education plan (IEP) within a specified timeframe; providing that a parent or guardian has the right to request provider logs or notes within a specified timeframe; requiring each school district to provide an individualized orientation to each parent or guardian of a student newly identified to be eligible for exceptional student education services, etc.

Maddy summarySB 580 allows Florida counties and municipalities to license home caregivers within their own jurisdictions, rather than requiring state-level licensing. This directly affects home caregivers seeking employment and local governments that would establish their own licensing processes. The bill creates a new statute (§ 163.212, F.S.) enabling local authorities to implement these licensing systems, while maintaining state oversight as the default. The law would take effect on July 1, 2026.

Maddy summarySB 154 revises Florida's eligibility rules for healthcare professionals seeking a license by endorsement under the MOBILE Act, directly affecting out-of-state healthcare workers aiming to practice in Florida. It updates the list of ineligibilities, notably adding that applicants reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank may still qualify if the reported conduct wouldn't violate Florida law, allowing boards to approve with conditions like practice restrictions or probation. The bill also clarifies ineligibility for those with pending disciplinary actions, felony convictions related to healthcare, or revoked licenses in other states. It takes effect July 1, 2026, and does not change the core purpose of facilitating interstate licensure for healthcare professionals.

Nursing Education Programs; Requiring applicants for nurse licensure seeking to take the licensing examination more than 6 months after graduation to first complete a remedial course approved or developed by the Board of Nursing; requiring the Department of Health to issue temporary provisional licenses to graduate professional nurses and graduate practical nurses meeting certain criteria; revising application requirements for nursing education program approval; requiring the Florida Center for Nursing to develop graduate nursing preceptorship standards by a specified date; authorizing agents or employees of the department to conduct onsite evaluations and inspections of approved and accredited nursing education programs, etc.

Managed Care Plans; Revising Medicaid managed care contract requirements to prohibit managed care plans from reviewing certain prior authorization claims for medical necessity; requiring that managed care plans provide coverage for durable medical equipment and complex rehabilitation technology from a qualified provider, from within the provider network, of the enrollee’s choosing, etc.

Medicaid Provider Networks; Requiring Medicaid managed care plans and providers to negotiate mutually acceptable rates, methods, and terms of payment for purposes of Medicaid reimbursements; requiring plans to pay dentists at certain rates; specifying additional requirements for the provider network contracts under the statewide managed care program, etc.

Step-therapy Protocols; Requiring the Agency for Health Care Administration to approve drug products for Medicaid recipients for the treatment of serious mental illness without step-therapy prior authorization under certain circumstances; directing the agency to include rate impacts resulting from the act in certain rates that become effective on a specified date, etc.

Temporary Licensure of Anesthesiologist Assistants; Requiring the Department of Health to issue a temporary license to practice as an anesthesiologist assistant to applicants meeting specified criteria; providing that temporary licensees may practice only under the direct supervision of an anesthesiologist and pursuant to a written protocol, etc.

Public Records/Emergency Department Physicians; Defining the term “emergency department physician”; providing exemptions from public records requirements for the personal identifying and location information of current emergency department physicians and the spouses and certain children of such emergency department physicians; requiring certain agencies that are custodians of the exempt information to maintain the exempt status of such information under certain circumstances; providing for future legislative review and repeal of the exemption; providing a statement of public necessity, etc.

Living Organ Donation; Defining the term “living organ donor”; requiring state agencies to grant administrative leave, not to exceed a specified number of days, to allow an employee to serve as a living organ donor; requiring employers to grant an unpaid leave of absence to allow an employee to serve as a living organ donor under certain circumstances, etc.