House Bill 0369e1

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                                           HB 369, First Engrossed



  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         requiring certain education activities;

  8         providing an effective date.

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10         WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that heart disease is

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

12  fare worse after heart attacks than men, and

13         WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that women are almost 50

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

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

16  into consideration, women are still 13 percent more likely

17  than men to die from their heart attacks, and

18         WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that women who suffer a

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

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

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

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

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

24  attack, and

25         WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that the diagnosis of

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

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

28  contribute to the fact that women typically receive medical

29  treatment for heart attacks later than men, and

30         WHEREAS, through the establishment of a state task

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


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                                           HB 369, First Engrossed



  1  decrease the number of deaths due to heart disease by

  2  increasing public awareness of heart disease in women, by

  3  increasing, through public education, the percentage of women

  4  who seek examinations by physicians and obtain preventive care

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

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

  7  at Florida institutions that are studying the causes, methods

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

  9  THEREFORE,

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

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

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

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

16  public awareness, public education, research, and coordination

17  regarding women and heart disease are lacking, to prepare

18  recommendations to establish research on the reasons women

19  suffer more severe first heart attacks than men and the

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

21  increase the public's awareness of the importance of

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

23  women.

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

25  Health or a designee, the Insurance Commissioner or a

26  designee, the Secretary of Elder Affairs or a designee, and 23

27  members to be appointed by July 15, 1999, as follows:

28         (a)  The Governor shall appoint one representative of

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

30  physician from the Florida Academy of Family Physicians, one

31  female representative of the public who is a consumer advocate


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                                           HB 369, First Engrossed



  1  and who has been diagnosed with heart disease, one

  2  representative of the Florida Medical Association, one

  3  representative of the Florida Chapter College of Cardiology,

  4  one representative of the College of Emergency Physicians, one

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

  6  one representative of a statutory teaching hospital, and one

  7  representative of the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

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

  9  representative of the University of Florida College of

10  Medicine, one representative of the American Heart

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

12  consumer advocate and who has been diagnosed with heart

13  disease, one representative of the NOVA Southeastern

14  University of Osteopathic Medicine, one representative of the

15  Florida Osteopathic Medical Association, one representative of

16  the Florida Nurses Association, and one representative of a

17  health maintenance organization.

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

19  appoint one representative of the American Association of

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

21  one representative of the University of South Florida College

22  of Medicine, one representative of the Florida Society of

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

24  consumer advocate, one representative of the Florida Affiliate

25  of the American Heart Association, and one representative of

26  the insurance industry.

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28  At least one of the persons appointed by each appointing

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

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

31  entity shall be women.


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                                           HB 369, First Engrossed



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

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

  3  responsibilities.  Within existing resources, the Department

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

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

  6  compensation.

  7         (5)  The task force may obtain information and

  8  assistance from any state agency.  All state agencies must

  9  give the task force all relevant information and reasonable

10  assistance on matters related to heart disease.

11         (6)  The task force shall collect research and

12  information on heart disease in women and shall prepare

13  recommendations for reducing the incidence and the number of

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

15  included in a report submitted to the Governor and the

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

17  review and report on:

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

19  coverage for women's heart disease screening and treatment

20  options.  The task force shall include in its report

21  recommended changes to the Florida Insurance Code, including

22  specific statutory language, if the task force determines such

23  changes are necessary to ensure that policyholders have

24  coverage for appropriate and necessary heart disease

25  prevention, screening, and treatment.  If any legislative

26  changes are recommended that would mandate a health coverage

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

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

29  Florida Statutes.

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                                           HB 369, First Engrossed



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

  2  governments to increase public awareness of the risks of heart

  3  disease in women.

  4         (c)  Approaches to improving coordination among

  5  agencies and institutions involved in research on and

  6  treatment of heart disease in women.

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

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

  9  Florida.

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

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

12  to heart disease in this state, including:

13         1.  Specific strategies for reducing the mortality rate

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

15  which these strategies differ from such strategies for men.

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

17  contribute to heart disease in women and the best methods to

18  identify, control, and prevent these conditions from

19  developing into heart disease.

20         3.  The best methods to ensure an increase in the

21  percentage of women in this state who receive the tests

22  designed to determine the risk of heart disease and to

23  identify related conditions such as hypertension, diabetes,

24  and high blood levels of cholesterol.

25         4.  The best methods to ensure an increase in the

26  percentage of women in this state who seek examinations from

27  physicians.

28         (b)  A plan for increasing research and appropriate

29  funding at Florida institutions studying heart disease in

30  women.

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                                           HB 369, First Engrossed



  1         (c)  A program to monitor the implementation and

  2  effectiveness of the task force's recommendations.

  3         (8)  Through funding appropriated to the Department of

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

  5  and implement an educational program, to include the

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

  7  heart disease specific to women and the strategies to follow

  8  for prevention, early detection, and treatment of heart

  9  disease.

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

11         Section 2.  There is appropriated from the General

12  Revenue Fund to the Department of Health the sum of $150,000

13  and one position for fiscal year 1999-2000 for the

14  implementation of this act.  Such funds shall be used to

15  produce or purchase and to distribute summaries in English,

16  Spanish, and Creole that inform women patients about their

17  risk of heart disease and about treatment alternatives for

18  heart disease, and to develop and implement an educational

19  program that includes the distribution of information specific

20  to women and heart disease.

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

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