House Bill 0377c1

    Florida House of Representatives - 1999              CS/HB 377

        By the Committee on Insurance and Representatives Bense,
    Goode, Maygarden, Futch, Ritter, Logan, Jones, Warner,
    Flanagan, Rayson, Healey, Fuller, Kelly, Peaden, Andrews,
    Waters, Brummer, Ritchie, Russell, Goodlette, Fasano, Jacobs,
    Posey, Crow, Bilirakis and Levine


  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to organ transplants; providing

  3         a short title; amending s. 381.0602, F.S.;

  4         increasing membership of the Organ Transplant

  5         Advisory Council; increasing the term of the

  6         council chair; amending s. 627.4236, F.S.;

  7         requiring that coverage for

  8         bone-marrow-transplant procedures include costs

  9         of the donor patient; providing a limitation;

10         providing a legislative finding of an important

11         state interest; providing an effective date.

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

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15         Section 1.  This act may be cited as the "Senator Pat

16  Thomas Bone Marrow Transplant Act."

17         Section 2.  Subsections (1) and (4) of section

18  381.0602, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

19         381.0602  Organ Transplant Advisory Council;

20  membership; responsibilities.--

21         (1)  There is hereby created within the Agency for

22  Health Care Administration a statewide technical Organ

23  Transplant Advisory Council consisting of twelve eight members

24  to represent the interests of the public and the clients of

25  the Department of Health or the agency. The members shall be

26  physicians licensed according to chapter 458 or chapter 459. A

27  person employed by the agency may not be appointed as a member

28  of the council.

29         (4)  The members of the council shall elect a

30  chairperson. The term of the chairperson shall be for 2 years

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






    Florida House of Representatives - 1999              CS/HB 377

    200-525-99






  1  1 year, and an individual may not serve as chairperson for

  2  more than two consecutive terms.

  3         Section 3.  Subsection (2) of section 627.4236, Florida

  4  Statutes, is amended to read:

  5         627.4236  Coverage for bone marrow transplant

  6  procedures.--

  7         (2)  An insurer or a health maintenance organization

  8  may not exclude coverage for bone marrow transplant procedures

  9  recommended by the referring physician and the treating

10  physician under a policy exclusion for experimental, clinical

11  investigative, educational, or similar procedures contained in

12  any individual or group health insurance policy or health

13  maintenance organization contract issued, amended, delivered,

14  or renewed in this state that covers treatment for cancer, if

15  the particular use of the bone marrow transplant procedure is

16  determined to be accepted within the appropriate oncological

17  specialty and not experimental pursuant to subsection (3).

18  Covered bone-marrow-transplant procedures must include costs

19  associated with the donor-patient to the same extent and

20  limitations as costs associated with the insured, except the

21  reasonable costs of searching for the donor may be limited to

22  immediate family members and the National Bone Marrow Donor

23  Program.

24         Section 4.  The Legislature finds that the provisions

25  of this act fulfill an important state interest.

26         Section 5.  This act shall take effect January 1, 2000.

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