Florida Senate - 2024                             CS for SB 1798
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Health Policy; and Senator Trumbull
       
       
       
       
       
       588-02976-24                                          20241798c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to home health care services; amending
    3         s. 409.905, F.S.; authorizing advanced practice
    4         registered nurses and physician assistants to order or
    5         write prescriptions for certain Medicaid services;
    6         providing an effective date.
    7          
    8  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    9  
   10         Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (4) of section
   11  409.905, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   12         409.905 Mandatory Medicaid services.—The agency may make
   13  payments for the following services, which are required of the
   14  state by Title XIX of the Social Security Act, furnished by
   15  Medicaid providers to recipients who are determined to be
   16  eligible on the dates on which the services were provided. Any
   17  service under this section shall be provided only when medically
   18  necessary and in accordance with state and federal law.
   19  Mandatory services rendered by providers in mobile units to
   20  Medicaid recipients may be restricted by the agency. Nothing in
   21  this section shall be construed to prevent or limit the agency
   22  from adjusting fees, reimbursement rates, lengths of stay,
   23  number of visits, number of services, or any other adjustments
   24  necessary to comply with the availability of moneys and any
   25  limitations or directions provided for in the General
   26  Appropriations Act or chapter 216.
   27         (4) HOME HEALTH CARE SERVICES.—The agency shall pay for
   28  nursing and home health aide services, supplies, appliances, and
   29  durable medical equipment, necessary to assist a recipient
   30  living at home. An entity that provides such services must be
   31  licensed under part III of chapter 400. These services,
   32  equipment, and supplies, or reimbursement therefor, may be
   33  limited as provided in the General Appropriations Act and do not
   34  include services, equipment, or supplies provided to a person
   35  residing in a hospital or nursing facility.
   36         (c) The agency may not pay for home health services unless
   37  the services are medically necessary and:
   38         1. The services are ordered by a physician, an advanced
   39  practice registered nurse, or a physician assistant.
   40         2. The written prescription for the services is signed and
   41  dated by the recipient’s physician, advanced practice registered
   42  nurse, or physician assistant before the development of a plan
   43  of care and before any request requiring prior authorization.
   44         3. The physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or
   45  physician assistant ordering the services is not employed, under
   46  contract with, or otherwise affiliated with the home health
   47  agency rendering the services. However, this subparagraph does
   48  not apply to a home health agency affiliated with a retirement
   49  community, of which the parent corporation or a related legal
   50  entity owns a rural health clinic certified under 42 C.F.R. part
   51  491, subpart A, ss. 1-11, a nursing home licensed under part II
   52  of chapter 400, or an apartment or single-family home for
   53  independent living. For purposes of this subparagraph, the
   54  agency may, on a case-by-case basis, provide an exception for
   55  medically fragile children who are younger than 21 years of age.
   56         4. The physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or
   57  physician assistant ordering the services has examined the
   58  recipient within the 30 days preceding the initial request for
   59  the services and biannually thereafter.
   60         5. The written prescription for the services includes the
   61  recipient’s acute or chronic medical condition or diagnosis, the
   62  home health service required, and, for skilled nursing services,
   63  the frequency and duration of the services.
   64         6. The national provider identifier, Medicaid
   65  identification number, or medical practitioner license number of
   66  the physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician
   67  assistant ordering the services is listed on the written
   68  prescription for the services, the claim for home health
   69  reimbursement, and the prior authorization request.
   70         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.