Florida Senate - 2025                                     SB 850
       
       
        
       By Senator Osgood
       
       
       
       
       
       32-00847A-25                                           2025850__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to federal approval for community
    3         health workers as Medicaid providers; requiring the
    4         Agency for Health Care Administration to seek federal
    5         approval by a specified date to enroll and recognize
    6         community health workers as Medicaid providers and to
    7         use certain funds and means to secure financing for
    8         the workers’ services; providing guidelines for the
    9         federal approval; providing reporting requirements;
   10         providing an effective date.
   11  
   12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   13  
   14         Section 1. (1) By September 30, 2025, the Agency for
   15  Health Care Administration shall seek federal approval, through
   16  a Medicaid waiver or a state plan amendment, to formally enroll
   17  and recognize community health workers as Medicaid providers and
   18  to use Medicaid matching funds and other means to secure
   19  financing for community health worker services. The appropriate
   20  federal approval must allow for community health worker services
   21  on a statewide basis and must not be a limited geography waiver.
   22  The federal approval must also maximize the use of community
   23  health workers by providing financing that includes fee-for
   24  service reimbursement, value-based payment, or a combination of
   25  fee-for-service reimbursement and value-based payment for all
   26  services commensurate to the workers’ scope of training and
   27  abilities as provided by evidence-based research and programs.
   28         (2) By September 30, 2026, the Agency for Health Care
   29  Administration shall submit a report to the Legislature on the
   30  progress of meeting the requirements in subsection (1).
   31         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.