03/10/2008
NFIB/Florida's Weekly Legislative Update
Health-flex: Senate Bill 1022 will be heard by the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. This bill would expand eligibility for the Health-Flex Plan by raising the income limitation from 200 to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, and extend the Health-Flex Plan through July 1, 2013. NFIB Position: Support
Health plan network flexibility: Senate Bill 1012 will be heard by the Senate Commerce Committee. The bill would provide that a patient can mandatorily assign their benefits to an out-of-network provider. The bill would require health insurers to pay the out-of-network provider directly and pay them the same reimbursement that an in-network provider would have received for the same service. NFIB Position: Oppose
House Bill 7005, Property Appraisers Presumption of Correctness (constitutional), and House Bill 1283, Property Appraisers Presumption of Correctness (statutory) will be heard by the House Policy and Budget Council. Both bills seek to repeal statutory provisions providing a presumption of correctness to property appraisers where a property owner challenges a valuation assessment. HB 7005 would place the changes in the state constitution, while HB 1283 would make statutory changes.
Five House committees will meet jointly to discuss the marketplace for affordable health insurance. The House is expected to release a plan in the next two weeks to address the shortage of affordable health insurance. The five committees are Health Innovation, Health Quality, Healthcare Council, Healthy Families and Health Seniors.
As always, your NFIB/Florida team will be monitoring these and other important bills that may impact you and your business. With so much to watch in only the first weeks of session, it's bound to be an exciting 60 days.
Sincerely,
Allen Douglas
NFIB/Florida Legislative Affairs Director
