Senate Bill 0352
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 SB 352
By Senator King
8-273-00 See HB 111
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 providing an effective date.
8
9 WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that heart disease is
10 the leading cause of death among American women and that women
11 fare worse after heart attacks than men, and
12 WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that women are almost 50
13 percent more likely than men to die from their heart attacks
14 and, even when age and other medical differences are
15 considered, women are still 13 percent more likely than men to
16 die from their heart attacks, and
17 WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that women who suffer a
18 first heart attack are at more than 70 percent greater risk of
19 death or readmission to a hospital than men and that more
20 women than men die from heart attacks within the first year
21 after their first heart attack and more women than men will
22 suffer a heart attack within 4 years after their first heart
23 attack, and
24 WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that it can be harder to
25 diagnose heart disease in women and that women usually have
26 subtler symptoms of heart attack than men, which may
27 contribute to the fact that women typically receive medical
28 treatment for heart attacks later than men, and
29 WHEREAS, through the establishment of a state task
30 force on women and heart disease, the Legislature intends to
31 decrease the number of deaths due to heart disease by
1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 SB 352
8-273-00 See HB 111
1 increasing public awareness of heart disease in women, by
2 increasing, through public education, the percentage of women
3 who seek examinations by physicians and obtain preventive care
4 with regard to heart disease, and by increasing, through
5 private, state, and federal dollars, research and coordination
6 at Florida institutions that are studying the causes, methods
7 of prevention, and treatment of heart disease in women, NOW,
8 THEREFORE,
9
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12 Section 1. Women and Heart Disease Task Force.--
13 (1) There is created within the Department of Health
14 the Women and Heart Disease Task Force, to identify where
15 public awareness, public education, research, and coordination
16 regarding women and heart disease are lacking, to prepare
17 recommendations to establish research on the reasons women
18 suffer more severe first heart attacks than men and the
19 reasons women die more often from heart attacks, and to
20 increase the public's awareness of the importance of
21 identifying the symptoms of, and treating, heart disease in
22 women.
23 (2) The task force is composed of the Secretary of
24 Health or a designee, the Insurance Commissioner or a
25 designee, and 22 members to be appointed by July 15, 2000, as
26 follows:
27 (a) The Governor shall appoint one representative of
28 the University of Miami School of Medicine, one female family
29 physician from the Florida Academy of Family Physicians, one
30 female representative of the public who is a consumer advocate
31 and who has been diagnosed with heart disease, one
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 SB 352
8-273-00 See HB 111
1 representative of the Florida Medical Association, one
2 representative of the Florida Chapter College of Cardiology,
3 one representative of the College of Emergency Physicians, one
4 representative of a business that has more than 300 employees,
5 and one representative of a statutory teaching hospital.
6 (b) The President of the Senate shall appoint one
7 representative of the University of Florida College of
8 Medicine, one representative of the American Heart
9 Association, one female representative of the public who is a
10 consumer advocate and who has been diagnosed with heart
11 disease, one representative of the NOVA Southeastern
12 University of Osteopathic Medicine, one representative of the
13 Florida Osteopathic Medical Association, one representative of
14 the Florida Nurses Association, and one representative of a
15 health maintenance organization.
16 (c) The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall
17 appoint one representative of the American Association of
18 Critical Care Nurses, one representative of the Mayo Clinic,
19 one representative of the University of South Florida College
20 of Medicine, one representative of the Florida Society of
21 Internal Medicine, one representative of the public who is a
22 consumer advocate, one representative of the Florida Affiliate
23 of the American Heart Association, and one representative of
24 the insurance industry.
25
26 At least one of the persons appointed by each appointing
27 entity shall be a member of an ethnic or racial minority. At
28 least one-half of the members appointed by each appointing
29 entity shall be women.
30 (3) The task force shall exist for 2 years and shall
31 meet as often as necessary to carry out its duties and
3
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 SB 352
8-273-00 See HB 111
1 responsibilities. Within existing resources, the Department
2 of Health shall provide support services to the task force.
3 (4) The members of the task force shall serve without
4 compensation.
5 (5) The task force may obtain information and
6 assistance from any state agency. All state agencies must
7 give the task force all relevant information and reasonable
8 assistance on matters related to heart disease.
9 (6) The task force shall collect research and
10 information on heart disease in women and shall prepare
11 recommendations for reducing the incidence and the number of
12 women's deaths related to heart disease in this state, to be
13 included in a report submitted to the Governor and the
14 Legislature by January 15, 2002. The task force shall also
15 review and report on:
16 (a) The Florida Insurance Code as it relates to
17 coverage for women's heart disease screening and treatment
18 options. The task force shall include in its report
19 recommended changes to the Florida Insurance Code, including
20 specific statutory language, if the task force determines such
21 changes are necessary to ensure that policyholders have
22 coverage for appropriate and necessary heart disease
23 prevention, screening, and treatment. If any legislative
24 changes are recommended that would mandate a health coverage
25 or the offering of a health coverage, the task force must
26 assess the impact of the proposal as specified in s. 624.215,
27 Florida Statutes.
28 (b) Approaches that may be used by state and local
29 governments to increase public awareness of the risks of heart
30 disease in women.
31
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 352
8-273-00 See HB 111
1 (c) Approaches to improving coordination among
2 agencies and institutions involved in research on and
3 treatment of heart disease in women.
4 (d) National trends with regard to women and heart
5 disease, as well as how these trends compare to trends in
6 Florida.
7 (7) The task force's recommendations shall include:
8 (a) A plan for reducing the number of deaths related
9 to heart disease in this state, including:
10 1. Specific strategies for reducing the mortality rate
11 of women with heart disease and an analysis of the extent to
12 which these strategies differ from such strategies for men.
13 2. A list of health conditions that may cause or
14 contribute to heart disease in women and the best methods by
15 which to identify, control, and prevent these conditions from
16 developing into heart disease.
17 3. The best methods for ensuring an increase in the
18 percentage of women in this state who receive the tests
19 designed to determine the risk of heart disease and to
20 identify related conditions such as hypertension, diabetes,
21 and high blood levels of cholesterol.
22 4. The best methods for ensuring an increase in the
23 percentage of women in this state who seek examinations from
24 physicians.
25 (b) A plan for increasing research and appropriate
26 funding at Florida institutions studying heart disease in
27 women.
28 (c) A program to monitor the implementation and
29 effectiveness of the task force's recommendations.
30 (8) Through funding appropriated to the Department of
31 Health, the Women and Heart Disease Task Force shall develop
5
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 SB 352
8-273-00 See HB 111
1 and implement an educational program, to include the
2 distribution of summaries, informing the public of the risk of
3 heart disease specific to women and the strategies to follow
4 for prevention, early detection, and treatment of heart
5 disease.
6 (9) This section is repealed effective July 1, 2002.
7 Section 2. There is appropriated from the General
8 Revenue Fund to the Department of Health the sum of $150,000
9 for fiscal year 2000-2001 and $150,000 for fiscal year
10 2001-2002, to be used to produce or purchase and to distribute
11 summaries in English, Spanish, and Creole which inform women
12 patients about their risk of heart disease and about treatment
13 alternatives for heart disease, and to develop and implement
14 an educational program that includes the distribution of
15 information specific to women and heart disease.
16 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.
17
18 *****************************************
19 LEGISLATIVE SUMMARY
20
Creates a 2-year Women and Heart Disease Task Force
21 within the Department of Health, to promote research and
public awareness regarding heart disease in women.
22 Provides for membership. Provides responsibilities,
including review of the Florida Insurance Code and
23 recommendations for reducing heart disease deaths in the
state and increasing research and funding at Florida
24 institutions studying heart disease in women. Requires a
report to the Governor and the Legislature by January 15,
25 2002. Requires the task force to develop and implement an
educational program. Provides an appropriation.
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