Senate Bill 1230c1

    Florida Senate - 1998                           CS for SB 1230

    By the Committee on Health Care and Senators Brown-Waite,
    Myers, Bankhead, Burt and Silver




    317-1864-98

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to public records; providing an

  3         exemption from public records requirements for

  4         information provided by applicants to the

  5         Florida Kids Health program; providing an

  6         exemption for certain information obtained

  7         through quality assurance activities and

  8         patient satisfaction surveys; providing for

  9         future review and repeal; providing findings of

10         public necessity; providing a contingent

11         effective date.

12

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

14

15         Section 1.  Notwithstanding any other law to the

16  contrary, any information contained in an application for

17  determination of eligibility for the Florida Kids Health

18  program which identifies applicants, including medical

19  information and family financial information, and any

20  information obtained through quality assurance activities and

21  patient satisfaction surveys which identifies program

22  participants, obtained by the Florida Kids Health program

23  under sections 409.810-409.820, Florida Statutes, is

24  confidential and is exempt from section 119.07(1), Florida

25  Statutes, and section 24(a), Article I of the State

26  Constitution. Except as otherwise provided by law, program

27  staff or staff or agents affiliated with the program may not

28  release, without the written consent of the applicant or the

29  parent or guardian of the applicant, to any state or federal

30  agency, to any private business or person, or to any other

31  entity, any confidential information received under sections

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






    Florida Senate - 1998                           CS for SB 1230
    317-1864-98




  1  409.810-409.820, Florida Statutes. This section is subject to

  2  the Open Government Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance

  3  with section 119.15, Florida Statutes, and shall stand

  4  repealed on October 2, 2003, unless reviewed and saved from

  5  repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.

  6         Section 2.  The Legislature finds that exempting

  7  information contained in applications for eligibility

  8  determination under the Florida Kids Health program, including

  9  medical information and family financial information, and any

10  information obtained through quality assurance activities and

11  patient satisfaction surveys which identifies program

12  participants, is a public necessity. The harm caused to

13  program applicants by release of such personal and sensitive

14  information outweighs any public benefit derived from

15  releasing such information. Further, maintaining the

16  confidentiality of such information is necessary to enable the

17  Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of

18  Health, and the Agency for Health Care Administration to

19  administer the Florida Kids Health program.

20         Section 3.  This act shall take effect on the date

21  Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1228, relating to the

22  Florida Kids Health program, or similar legislation becomes a

23  law, and shall not take effect if such legislation does not

24  become a law.

25

26          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
27                         Senate Bill 1230

28

29  Clarifies that provisions of existing law that allow the
    sharing of patient care information remain in effect and are
30  not impacted by the provisions of this bill.

31  Incorporates a cross-reference to the substantive bill for
    which this bill was created, Senate Bill 1228.
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