Florida Senate - 2011 SB 2132
By the Committee on Budget
576-03488-11 20112132__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Department of Financial
3 Services; repealing ss. 17.53 and 17.556, F.S.,
4 relating to the Chief Financial Officer’s
5 authorization to operate a personal check-cashing
6 service or a remote financial service unit at the
7 capitol and to employ additional persons to assist in
8 performing such services; abolishing appropriations
9 from the General Revenue Fund to pay the salaries of
10 the additional employees; amending s. 20.121, F.S.;
11 revising the duties of the Division of Consumer
12 Services; amending ss. 284.01 and 284.36, F.S.;
13 revising the criteria for premiums charged to agencies
14 and departments for purposes of the State Risk
15 Management Trust Fund; amending s. 284.42, F.S.;
16 revising requirements for reports concerning the state
17 insurance program; requiring the Division of Risk
18 Management to analyze and report on certain agency
19 return-to-work programs and activities; amending s.
20 284.50, F.S.; requiring certain agencies to establish
21 and maintain return-to-work programs for certain
22 employees; providing program goals; requiring the
23 Division of Risk Management to evaluate agency risk
24 management programs; requiring reports; requiring
25 agencies to respond to the division’s evaluation and
26 recommendations; requiring the division to submit
27 certain evaluation reports to the legislative
28 appropriations committees; amending s. 440.13, F.S.;
29 revising requirements for determining the amount of
30 reimbursement for repackaged or relabeled prescription
31 medication; providing limitations; amending s. 440.50,
32 F.S.; providing for reversion of certain unencumbered
33 and undisbursed funds to the Workers’ Compensation
34 Administration Trust Fund; providing an effective
35 date.
36
37 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
38
39 Section 1. Section 17.53, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
40 Section 2. Section 17.556, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
41 Section 3. Paragraph (h) of subsection (2) of section
42 20.121, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
43 20.121 Department of Financial Services.—There is created a
44 Department of Financial Services.
45 (2) DIVISIONS.—The Department of Financial Services shall
46 consist of the following divisions:
47 (h) The Division of Consumer Services.
48 1. The Division of Consumer Services shall perform the
49 following functions concerning products or services regulated by
50 the department of Financial Services or by either office of the
51 Office of Insurance Regulation Financial Services Commission:
52 a. Receive inquiries and complaints from consumers.
53 b. Prepare and disseminate such information as the
54 department deems appropriate to inform or assist consumers.
55 c. Provide direct assistance and advocacy for consumers who
56 request such assistance or advocacy.
57 d. With respect to apparent or potential violations of law
58 or applicable rules by a person or entity licensed by the
59 department or by either office of the commission, report such
60 apparent or potential violations violation to the office or the
61 appropriate division of the department or office of the
62 commission, which may take such further action as it deems
63 appropriate.
64 e. Designate an employee of the division as primary contact
65 for consumers on issues relating to sinkholes.
66 2. Any person licensed or issued a certificate of authority
67 by the department or by the Office of Insurance Regulation shall
68 respond, in writing, to the Division of Consumer Services within
69 20 days after receipt of a written request for information from
70 the division concerning a consumer complaint. The response must
71 address the issues and allegations raised in the this complaint.
72 The division may, in its discretion, impose an administrative
73 penalty for failure to comply with this subparagraph of in an
74 amount up to $2,500 per violation upon any entity licensed by
75 the department or the office of Insurance Regulation and $250
76 for the first violation, $500 for the second violation, and up
77 to $1,000 per violation thereafter upon any individual licensed
78 by the department or the office of Insurance Regulation.
79 3. The department may adopt rules to administer implement
80 the provisions of this paragraph.
81 4. The powers, duties, and responsibilities expressed or
82 granted in this paragraph do shall not limit the powers, duties,
83 and responsibilities of the Department of Financial Services,
84 the Financial Services Commission, the Office of Insurance
85 Regulation, or the Office of Financial Regulation set forth
86 elsewhere in the Florida Statutes.
87 Section 4. Subsection (5) of section 284.01, Florida
88 Statutes, is amended to read:
89 284.01 State Risk Management Trust Fund; coverages to be
90 provided.—
91 (5) Premiums charged to agencies for coverage shall be
92 adopted promulgated on a retrospective rating arrangement based
93 upon actual losses accruing to the fund and loss prevention
94 results, taking into account reasonable expectations,
95 maintenance, and stability of the fund and cost of reinsurance.
96 Section 5. Section 284.36, Florida Statutes, is amended to
97 read:
98 284.36 Appropriation deposits; premium payment.—Premiums
99 for coverage by the State Risk Management Trust Fund as
100 calculated on all coverages shall be billed and charged to each
101 state agency according to coverages obtained by the fund for
102 their benefit, and such obligations shall be paid promptly by
103 each agency from its operating budget upon presentation of a
104 bill therefor. After the first year of operation, premiums to be
105 charged to all departments of the state are to be computed on a
106 retrospective rating arrangement based upon actual losses
107 accruing to the fund and loss prevention results, taking into
108 account reasonable expectations, the maintenance and stability
109 of the fund, and the cost of insurance.
110 Section 6. Subsection (1) of section 284.42, Florida
111 Statutes, is amended to read:
112 284.42 Reports on state insurance program.—
113 (1)(a) The Department of Financial Services, with the
114 Department of Management Services, shall conduct make an
115 analysis of the state insurance program each year and submit the
116 results on or before January 1 in a report to the Governor, the
117 President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
118 Representatives annually, which shall include:
119 1.(a) Complete underwriting information as to the nature of
120 the risks accepted for self-insurance and those risks that are
121 transferred to the insurance market.
122 2.(b) The funds allocated to the Florida Casualty Risk
123 Management Trust Fund and premiums paid for insurance through
124 the market.
125 3.(c) The method of handling legal matters and the cost
126 allocated.
127 4.(d) The method and cost of handling inspection and
128 engineering of risks.
129 5.(e) The cost of risk management service purchased.
130 6.(f) The cost of managing the State Insurance Program by
131 the Department of Financial Services and the Department of
132 Management Services.
133 (b) Beginning January 1, 2013, the Division of Risk
134 Management shall include in its annual report an analysis of
135 agency return-to-work efforts, including, but not limited to,
136 agency return-to-work program performance metrics and a status
137 report on participating return-to-work programs. The report
138 shall specify benchmarks, including, but not limited to, the
139 average lost-time claims per year, per agency; the total number
140 of lost claims; and specific agency measurable outcomes
141 indicating the change in performance from year to year.
142 Section 7. Subsections (3) and (4) are added to section
143 284.50, Florida Statutes, to read:
144 284.50 Loss prevention program; safety coordinators;
145 Interagency Advisory Council on Loss Prevention; employee
146 recognition program.—
147 (3) All agencies that are provided workers’ compensation
148 insurance coverage by the State Risk Management Trust Fund and
149 that employ more than 3,000 full-time employees shall establish
150 and maintain return-to-work programs for employees who are
151 receiving workers’ compensation benefits. The programs shall
152 have the primary goal of enabling injured workers to remain at
153 work or return to work to perform job duties within the physical
154 or mental functional limitations and restrictions established by
155 the workers’ treating physicians. If no limitation or
156 restriction is established in writing by a worker’s treating
157 physician, the worker shall be deemed to be able to fully
158 perform the same work duties he or she performed before the
159 injury.
160 (4) The Division of Risk Management shall evaluate each
161 agency’s risk management programs, including, but not limited
162 to, return-to-work, safety, and loss prevention programs, at
163 least once every 5 years. Reports, including, but not limited
164 to, any recommended corrective action, resulting from such
165 evaluations shall be provided to the head of the agency being
166 evaluated, the Chief Financial Officer, and the director of the
167 Division of Risk Management. The agency head must provide to the
168 Division of Risk Management a response to all report
169 recommendations within 45 days and a plan to implement any
170 corrective action to be taken as part of the response. If the
171 agency disagrees with any final report recommendations,
172 including, but not limited to, any recommended corrective
173 action, or if the agency fails to implement any recommended
174 corrective action within a reasonable time, the division shall
175 submit the evaluation report to the legislative appropriations
176 committees.
177 Section 8. Paragraph (c) of subsection (12) of section
178 440.13, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
179 440.13 Medical services and supplies; penalty for
180 violations; limitations.—
181 (12) CREATION OF THREE-MEMBER PANEL; GUIDES OF MAXIMUM
182 REIMBURSEMENT ALLOWANCES.—
183 (c) As to reimbursement for a prescription medication,
184 regardless of the location or provider from which the claimant
185 receives the prescription medication, the reimbursement amount
186 for a prescription shall be the average wholesale price plus
187 $4.18 or as provided in s. 110.12315(2)(c), whichever is lower,
188 for the dispensing fee, unless except where the carrier has
189 contracted for a lower amount. The reimbursement amount for a
190 drug that has been repackaged or relabeled shall be calculated
191 by multiplying the number of units dispensed times the per-unit
192 average wholesale price set by the original manufacturer of the
193 underlying drug, which may not be the manufacturer of the
194 repackaged or relabeled drug, plus $4.18 or as provided in s.
195 110.12315(2)(c), whichever is lower, for a dispensing fee,
196 unless the carrier has contracted for a lower amount. The
197 repackaged or relabeled drug price may not exceed the amount
198 otherwise payable had the drug not been repackaged or relabeled.
199 Fees for pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical services shall be
200 reimbursable at the applicable fee schedule amount. Where the
201 employer or carrier has contracted for such services and the
202 employee elects to obtain them through a provider not a party to
203 the contract, the carrier shall reimburse at the schedule,
204 negotiated, or contract price, whichever is lower. No such
205 contract shall rely on a provider that is not reasonably
206 accessible to the employee.
207 Section 9. Subsection (5) is added to section 440.50,
208 Florida Statutes, to read:
209 440.50 Workers’ Compensation Administration Trust Fund.—
210 (5) Funds appropriated by an operating appropriation or a
211 nonoperating transfer from the Workers’ Compensation
212 Administration Trust Fund to the Department of Education, the
213 Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of
214 Business and Professional Regulation, the Department of
215 Management Services, the First District Court of Appeal, and the
216 Justice Administrative Commission remaining unencumbered as of
217 June 30 or undisbursed as of September 30 each year shall revert
218 to the Workers’ Compensation Administration Trust Fund.
219 Section 10. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.