Senate Bill sb2234c1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2003 CS for SB 2234
By the Committee on Health, Aging, and Long-Term Care; and
Senator Dawson
317-2247-03
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to health care; providing
3 legislative findings; creating the Florida
4 Uninsured Health Care Task Force; providing for
5 membership, purposes and duties, and meetings
6 of the task force; providing duties of the
7 Department of Health; specifying the location
8 of task force meetings; requiring a report to
9 legislative leaders; providing an effective
10 date.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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14 Section 1. (1) The Legislature finds that many of the
15 hospitals in this state are incurring millions of dollars in
16 costs for treating uninsured persons.
17 (2)(a) The Florida Uninsured Health Care Task Force is
18 created for the purpose of investigating how to reduce the
19 cost of treating uninsured persons.
20 (b) The task force shall comprise one representative
21 each from:
22 1. The Florida Medical Association.
23 2. The Florida Dental Association.
24 3. The Florida College of Emergency Physicians.
25 4. The Florida Academy of Family Practitioners.
26 5. The Central Florida Partnership on Health
27 Disparities.
28 6. The Department of Health.
29 7. The Agency for Health Care Administration.
30 8. The Association of Community Health Centers.
31 9. The Florida Chamber of Commerce.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2003 CS for SB 2234
317-2247-03
1 10. The Florida Hospital Association.
2 11. The Teaching Hospitals Council
3 12. The Florida Association of Counties.
4 13. The Florida Association of Health Clinics.
5 14. A public hospital that provides over 25 percent
6 charity care.
7 (c)1. The task force shall:
8 a. Study the gaps in access to health care between the
9 uninsured and those who have health insurance.
10 b. Identify inexpensive insurance packages for the
11 uninsured which are advertised on television, radio, printed
12 media, and the Internet.
13 c. Study who the uninsured are among the working poor,
14 small business owners, Medicaid recipients, migrant workers,
15 illegal immigrants, and underinsured persons who spend more
16 than 10 percent of their annual income on health care.
17 d. Study how providers serve the uninsured, including,
18 but not limited to, how and where the uninsured receive health
19 care and why they receive health care from certain places.
20 e. Research available federal funding that might
21 provide assistance, including, but not limited to, the
22 community health clinics grant.
23 f. Identify how to maximize federal matching money.
24 g. Develop a cost-effective model for treating the
25 uninsured and reducing costs in hospitals and other facilities
26 or groups in this state which provide health care services to
27 the uninsured.
28 2. The task force shall develop innovative solutions
29 for treating the uninsured, reducing the caseloads in the
30 emergency rooms of our hospitals, and streamlining the
31 resources, treatment centers, community health centers, county
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2003 CS for SB 2234
317-2247-03
1 health clinics, and other health care facilities that treat
2 uninsured persons.
3 (3) The Department of Health shall call the first
4 meeting of the task force no later than 30 days after the
5 effective date of this act. The task force shall select a
6 chair and shall meet at the call of the chair but at least
7 once a month. All meetings of the task force shall take place
8 in Orange County. Membership on the task force shall be
9 voluntary, and members shall serve without compensation. The
10 Department of Health shall provide support staff at meetings
11 of the task force.
12 (4) The task force shall develop solutions and
13 recommended legislation relating to the provisions of this
14 act. The Department of Health shall prepare a report
15 containing such solutions and recommended legislation and
16 submit the report to the President of the Senate and the
17 Speaker of the House of Representatives by December 31, 2003.
18 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
19 law.
20
21 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
22 Senate Bill 2234
23
24 The Committee Substitute changes the name of the task force to
the Florida Uninsured Health Care Task Force; changes the
25 membership of the task force; specifies duties of the task
force; requires the Department of Health to call the first
26 meeting of the task force and requires all meetings to be held
in Orange County; deletes authorization for reimbursement of
27 travel expenses; and requires the Department of Health to
provide support staff at meetings of the task force and to
28 prepare a report to be submitted to the Legislature.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.