House Bill hb0133c1

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001              CS/HB 133

        By the Committee on Health Promotion and Representatives
    Argenziano, Kosmas, Fiorentino and Littlefield





  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the pharmacy discount

  3         program; amending s. 409.906, F.S.; authorizing

  4         as a new optional Medicaid service the pharmacy

  5         discount program, to be administered by the

  6         Agency for Health Care Administration;

  7         directing the Agency for Health Care

  8         Administration to seek a federal Medicaid

  9         waiver for the pharmacy discount program;

10         specifying program eligibility and eligibility

11         determination; specifying the means of deriving

12         the subsidy for program participants; providing

13         an effective date.

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

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17         Section 1.  Subsection (25) is added to section

18  409.906, Florida Statutes, to read:

19         409.906  Optional Medicaid services.--Subject to

20  specific appropriations, the agency may make payments for

21  services which are optional to the state under Title XIX of

22  the Social Security Act and are furnished by Medicaid

23  providers to recipients who are determined to be eligible on

24  the dates on which the services were provided.  Any optional

25  service that is provided shall be provided only when medically

26  necessary and in accordance with state and federal law.

27  Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent or limit

28  the agency from adjusting fees, reimbursement rates, lengths

29  of stay, number of visits, or number of services, or making

30  any other adjustments necessary to comply with the

31  availability of moneys and any limitations or directions

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001              CS/HB 133

    169-458-01






  1  provided for in the General Appropriations Act or chapter 216.

  2  If necessary to safeguard the state's systems of providing

  3  services to elderly and disabled persons and subject to the

  4  notice and review provisions of s. 216.177, the Governor may

  5  direct the Agency for Health Care Administration to amend the

  6  Medicaid state plan to delete the optional Medicaid service

  7  known as "Intermediate Care Facilities for the Developmentally

  8  Disabled."  Optional services may include:

  9         (25)  PHARMACY DISCOUNT PROGRAM.--Subject to specific

10  federal authorization, the agency shall administer a program

11  to provide subsidized discounts for Medicare recipients and

12  uninsured individuals for the purchase of prescribed drugs,

13  pursuant to the terms of a federal waiver for such services.

14  The program shall serve to provide a subsidy to those who

15  purchase prescription drugs under the program and shall not

16  create an entitlement.

17         Section 2.  The Agency for Health Care Administration

18  shall submit to the federal Health Care Financing

19  Administration a request for a service coverage waiver

20  specific to a pharmacy discount program for those residents of

21  the state with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal

22  poverty level who do not have a health insurance program that

23  includes a prescription drug benefit or any separate

24  prescription drug benefit. The Department of Children and

25  Family Services shall determine eligibility for the pharmacy

26  discount program. Individuals in this expanded coverage group

27  shall receive a financial subsidy for prescription drugs equal

28  to the average rebate, and any supplemental rebate, paid to

29  the Medicaid program by pharmaceutical manufacturers.

30         Section 3.  This act shall take effect October 1, 2001.

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