| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the Primary Care Access Network; |
| 3 | creating two pilot programs to provide extended operating |
| 4 | hours for the purpose of offering health care services at |
| 5 | overcrowded clinics in the Primary Care Access Network in |
| 6 | Orange, Pasco, Manatee, Sarasota, and DeSoto Counties; |
| 7 | directing the Agency for Health Care Administration to |
| 8 | establish a pilot program in Orange and Pasco Counties and |
| 9 | a pilot program in Manatee, Sarasota, and DeSoto Counties; |
| 10 | requiring the agency to develop procedures for operating |
| 11 | the pilot program; requiring the agency to submit a report |
| 12 | with recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature |
| 13 | by a specified date; providing an appropriation; providing |
| 14 | an effective date. |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 17 |
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| 18 | Section 1. (1) The Legislature finds that the Primary |
| 19 | Care Access Network (PCAN) was founded to address the needs of |
| 20 | the uninsured and those who are medically needy by providing a |
| 21 | system of service delivery that builds upon the strengths of its |
| 22 | current health provider partners. There has been an average 32- |
| 23 | percent decrease in nonurgent emergency room services used by |
| 24 | the uninsured in areas where one of the clinics is in operation. |
| 25 | In accordance with these findings, the Agency for Health Care |
| 26 | Administration shall establish a 1-year pilot program in Orange |
| 27 | and Pasco Counties and a 1-year pilot program in Manatee, |
| 28 | Sarasota, and DeSoto Counties, which shall each offer health |
| 29 | care services during the weekend and after regular business |
| 30 | hours during the week. |
| 31 | (2) To the extent that funding is available, the pilot |
| 32 | program shall provide funds to operate the PCAN clinics during |
| 33 | the extended hours that the clinics are open and to pay the |
| 34 | employees of those clinics accordingly. |
| 35 | (3) The agency shall develop procedures for operating the |
| 36 | pilot program. |
| 37 | (4) Each January 1, for the duration of the pilot program, |
| 38 | the agency shall submit to the Governor, the President of the |
| 39 | Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives an |
| 40 | annual report on the success and outcomes achieved by the pilot |
| 41 | program, which must include a recommendation as to whether the |
| 42 | pilot program should be continued, terminated, or expanded. |
| 43 | Section 2. The sum of $3.5 million in nonrecurring funds |
| 44 | is appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Agency for |
| 45 | Health Care Administration for the purpose of implementing this |
| 46 | act during the 2007-2008 fiscal year. |
| 47 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |