Senate Bill 2560

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.



    Florida Senate - 1999                                  SB 2560

    By Senator King





    8-1812-99                                           See HB 369

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to health care; establishing

  3         the Women and Heart Disease Task Force;

  4         providing for membership; specifying

  5         responsibilities; requiring a report; providing

  6         for future repeal; providing an appropriation;

  7         providing an effective date.

  8

  9         WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that heart disease is

10  the leading cause of death among American women and that women

11  fare worse after heart attacks than men, and

12         WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that women are almost 50

13  percent more likely than men to die from their heart attacks

14  and, even when age and other medical differences are taken

15  into consideration, women are still 13 percent more likely

16  than men to die from their heart attacks, and

17         WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that women who suffer a

18  first heart attack are at more than 70 percent greater risk of

19  death or readmission to a hospital than men and that more

20  women than men die from heart attacks within the first year

21  after their first heart attack and more women than men will

22  suffer a heart attack within 4 years after their first heart

23  attack, and

24         WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that the diagnosis of

25  heart disease can be harder in women and that women usually

26  have subtler symptoms of heart attack than men, which may

27  contribute to the fact that women typically receive medical

28  treatment for heart attacks later than men, and

29         WHEREAS, through the establishment of a state task

30  force on women and heart disease, the Legislature intends to

31  decrease the number of deaths due to heart disease by

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1999                                  SB 2560
    8-1812-99                                           See HB 369




  1  increasing public awareness of heart disease in women, by

  2  increasing, through public education, the percentage of women

  3  who seek examinations by physicians and obtain preventive care

  4  with regard to heart disease, and by increasing, through

  5  private, state, and federal dollars, research and coordination

  6  at Florida institutions that are studying the causes, methods

  7  of prevention, and treatment of heart disease in women, NOW,

  8  THEREFORE,

  9

10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

11

12         Section 1.  Women and Heart Disease Task Force.--

13         (1)  There is created within the Department of Health

14  the Women and Heart Disease Task Force, to identify where

15  public awareness, public education, research, and coordination

16  regarding women and heart disease are lacking, to prepare

17  recommendations to establish research on the reasons women

18  suffer more severe first heart attacks than men and the

19  reasons women die more often from heart attacks, and to

20  increase the public's awareness of the importance of

21  identifying the symptoms of, and treating, heart disease in

22  women.

23         (2)  The task force is composed of the Secretary of

24  Health or a designee, the Insurance Commissioner or a

25  designee, and 22 members to be appointed by July 15, 1999, as

26  follows:

27         (a)  The Governor shall appoint one representative of

28  the University of Miami School of Medicine, one female family

29  physician from the Florida Academy of Family Physicians, one

30  female representative of the public who is a consumer advocate

31  and who has been diagnosed with heart disease, one

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    Florida Senate - 1999                                  SB 2560
    8-1812-99                                           See HB 369




  1  representative of the Florida Medical Association, one

  2  representative of the Florida Chapter College of Cardiology,

  3  one representative of the College of Emergency Physicians, one

  4  representative of a business that has more than 300 employees,

  5  and one representative of a statutory teaching hospital.

  6         (b)  The President of the Senate shall appoint one

  7  representative of the University of Florida College of

  8  Medicine, one representative of the American Heart

  9  Association, one female representative of the public who is a

10  consumer advocate and who has been diagnosed with heart

11  disease, one representative of the NOVA Southeastern

12  University of Osteopathic Medicine, one representative of the

13  Florida Osteopathic Medical Association, one representative of

14  the Florida Nurses Association, and one representative of a

15  health maintenance organization.

16         (c)  The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall

17  appoint one representative of the American Association of

18  Critical Care Nurses, one representative of the Mayo Clinic,

19  one representative of the University of South Florida College

20  of Medicine, one representative of the Florida Society of

21  Internal Medicine, one representative of the public who is a

22  consumer advocate, one representative of the Florida Affiliate

23  of the American Heart Association, and one representative of

24  the insurance industry.

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26  At least one of the persons appointed by each appointing

27  entity shall be a member of an ethnic or racial minority.  At

28  least one-half of the members appointed by each appointing

29  entity shall be women.

30         (3)  The task force shall exist for 2 years and shall

31  meet as often as necessary to carry out its duties and

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    Florida Senate - 1999                                  SB 2560
    8-1812-99                                           See HB 369




  1  responsibilities.  Within existing resources, the Department

  2  of Health shall provide support services to the task force.

  3         (4)  The members of the task force shall serve without

  4  compensation.

  5         (5)  The task force may obtain information and

  6  assistance from any state agency.  All state agencies must

  7  give the task force all relevant information and reasonable

  8  assistance on matters related to heart disease.

  9         (6)  The task force shall collect research and

10  information on heart disease in women and shall prepare

11  recommendations for reducing the incidence and the number of

12  women's deaths related to heart disease in this state, to be

13  included in a report submitted to the Governor and the

14  Legislature by January 15, 2001.  The task force shall also

15  review and report on:

16         (a)  The Florida Insurance Code as it relates to

17  coverage for women's heart disease screening and treatment

18  options.  The task force shall include in its report

19  recommended changes to the Florida Insurance Code, including

20  specific statutory language, if the task force determines such

21  changes are necessary to ensure that policyholders have

22  coverage for appropriate and necessary heart disease

23  prevention, screening, and treatment.  If any legislative

24  changes are recommended that would mandate a health coverage

25  or the offering of a health coverage, the task force must

26  assess the impact of the proposal as specified in s. 624.215,

27  Florida Statutes.

28         (b)  Approaches that may be used by state and local

29  governments to increase public awareness of the risks of heart

30  disease in women.

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    Florida Senate - 1999                                  SB 2560
    8-1812-99                                           See HB 369




  1         (c)  Approaches to improving coordination among

  2  agencies and institutions involved in research on and

  3  treatment of heart disease in women.

  4         (d)  National trends with regard to women and heart

  5  disease, as well as how these trends compare to trends in

  6  Florida.

  7         (7)  The task force's recommendations shall include:

  8         (a)  A plan for reducing the number of deaths related

  9  to heart disease in this state, including:

10         1.  Specific strategies for reducing the mortality rate

11  of women with heart disease and an analysis of the extent to

12  which these strategies differ from such strategies for men.

13         2.  A list of health conditions that may cause or

14  contribute to heart disease in women and the best methods by

15  which to identify, control, and prevent these conditions from

16  developing into heart disease.

17         3.  The best methods by which to ensure an increase in

18  the percentage of women in this state who receive the tests

19  designed to determine the risk of heart disease and to

20  identify related conditions such as hypertension, diabetes,

21  and high blood levels of cholesterol.

22         4.  The best methods by which to ensure an increase in

23  the percentage of women in this state who seek examinations

24  from physicians.

25         (b)  A plan for increasing research and appropriate

26  funding at Florida institutions studying heart disease in

27  women.

28         (c)  A program to monitor the implementation and

29  effectiveness of the task force's recommendations.

30         (8)  Through funding appropriated to the Department of

31  Health, the Women and Heart Disease Task Force shall develop

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    Florida Senate - 1999                                  SB 2560
    8-1812-99                                           See HB 369




  1  and implement an educational program, to include the

  2  distribution of summaries, informing the public of the risk of

  3  heart disease specific to women and the strategies to follow

  4  for prevention, early detection, and treatment of heart

  5  disease.

  6         (9)  This section is repealed effective July 1, 2001.

  7         Section 2.  There is appropriated from the General

  8  Revenue Fund to the Department of Health the sum of $50,000

  9  for fiscal year 1999-2000 to be used to produce or purchase

10  and to distribute summaries in English, Spanish, and Creole

11  that inform women patients about their risk of heart disease

12  and about treatment alternatives for heart disease, and to

13  develop and implement an educational program that includes the

14  distribution of information specific to women and heart

15  disease.

16         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.

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18            *****************************************

19                       LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY

20
      Creates a 2-year Women and Heart Disease Task Force
21    within the Department of Health to promote research and
      public awareness regarding heart disease in women.
22    Provides membership. Provides responsibilities, including
      review of the Florida Insurance Code and recommendations
23    for reducing heart disease deaths in the state and
      increasing research and funding at Florida institutions
24    studying heart disease in women. Requires a report to the
      Governor and Legislature by January 15, 2001. Requires
25    the task force to develop and implement an educational
      program. Provides an appropriation.
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