HB 0645 2004
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to minority health care; creating s.
3	381.736, F.S.; requiring the Department of Health to
4	develop a Florida Healthy People 2010 Program; providing
5	program goals and guidelines; requiring a report to the
6	Legislature; requiring the department to support certain
7	programs, partnerships, and research; amending s. 409.901,
8	F.S.; providing a definition; amending s. 409.912, F.S.;
9	requiring the Agency for Health Care Administration to
10	contract with a certain minority physician network for
11	certain purposes; providing network requirements;
12	providing guidelines for the operation of the network;
13	requiring the agency to reimburse the network for certain
14	fees; providing an effective date.
15
16	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18	Section 1. Section 381.736, Florida Statutes, is created
19	to read:
20	381.736 Florida Healthy People 2010 Program.--
21	(1) The Department of Health shall develop and implement,
22	using existing resources, the Florida Healthy People 2010
23	Program, based upon the federal Healthy People 2010 Program,
24	designed to improve the health of all Americans by advancing the
25	following goals:
26	(a) Increase the quality and years of healthy life.
27	(b) Eliminate health disparities among different segments
28	of the population.
29	(2) The department shall report to the Legislature by
30	December 31 of each year regarding progress in meeting the
31	program's goals and shall report on the status of disparities in
32	health among minorities and nonminorities, using health
33	indicators that are consistent with those identified by the
34	federal Healthy People 2010 Program.
35	(3) To reduce negative health consequences that result
36	from ignoring racial and ethnic cultures, the department shall
37	support the development of programs to educate health care
38	professionals about the importance of culture in health status.
39	These programs shall include, but need not be limited to:
40	(a) The education of health care providers about the
41	prevalence of specific health conditions among certain minority
42	groups;
43	(b) The training of clinicians to be sensitive to cultural
44	diversity among patients and to recognize that inherent biases
45	can lead to disparate treatments;
46	(c) The creation of initiatives that educate private-
47	sector health care and managed care organizations about the
48	importance of cross-cultural training of health care
49	professionals and the effect of such training on the
50	professional-patient relationship; and
51	(d) The fostering of increased use of interpreter services
52	in health care settings.
53	(4) The department shall support the establishment of
54	public and private partnerships with charitable organizations,
55	hospitals, and minority physician networks to increase the
56	proportion of health care professionals from minority
57	backgrounds.
58	(5) The department shall support and promote research on
59	methods by which to reduce disparities in health care at
60	colleges and universities that have historically large minority
61	enrollments, including centers of excellence in this state
62	identified by the National Center on Minority Health and Health
63	Disparities, by working with community representatives to
64	encourage local minority students to pursue professions in
65	health care.
66	Section 2. Subsection (23) is added to section 409.901,
67	Florida Statutes, to read:
68	409.901 Definitions; ss. 409.901-409.920.--As used in ss.
69	409.901-409.920, except as otherwise specifically provided, the
70	term:
71	(23) "Minority physician network" means a network of
72	primary care physicians that is predominantly owned by
73	minorities, as defined in s. 288.703, which has a collaborative
74	partnership with a public college or university and a tax-exempt
75	charitable corporation.
76	Section 3. Subsection (45) is added to section 409.912,
77	Florida Statutes, to read:
78	409.912 Cost-effective purchasing of health care.--The
79	agency shall purchase goods and services for Medicaid recipients
80	in the most cost-effective manner consistent with the delivery
81	of quality medical care. The agency shall maximize the use of
82	prepaid per capita and prepaid aggregate fixed-sum basis
83	services when appropriate and other alternative service delivery
84	and reimbursement methodologies, including competitive bidding
85	pursuant to s. 287.057, designed to facilitate the cost-
86	effective purchase of a case-managed continuum of care. The
87	agency shall also require providers to minimize the exposure of
88	recipients to the need for acute inpatient, custodial, and other
89	institutional care and the inappropriate or unnecessary use of
90	high-cost services. The agency may establish prior authorization
91	requirements for certain populations of Medicaid beneficiaries,
92	certain drug classes, or particular drugs to prevent fraud,
93	abuse, overuse, and possible dangerous drug interactions. The
94	Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committee shall make
95	recommendations to the agency on drugs for which prior
96	authorization is required. The agency shall inform the
97	Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committee of its decisions
98	regarding drugs subject to prior authorization.
99	(45) The agency shall contract with an established
100	minority physician network that provides services to
101	historically underserved minority patients. The network must
102	provide cost-effective Medicaid services, comply with the
103	requirements to be a MediPass provider, and provide its primary
104	care physicians with access to data and other management tools
105	necessary to assist them in ensuring the appropriate use of
106	services, including inpatient hospital services and
107	pharmaceuticals.
108	(a) The agency shall provide for the development and
109	expansion of minority physician networks in each service area to
110	provide services to Medicaid recipients who are eligible to
111	participate under federal law and rules.
112	(b) The agency shall reimburse the minority physician
113	network as a fee-for-service provider for Medicaid services and
114	shall also pay a case-management fee for primary care. Any
115	savings shall be used to promote the Florida Healthy People 2010
116	Program in conjunction with the Department of Health.
117	(c) Medicaid recipients shall be assigned to a minority
118	physician network pursuant to the assignment ratios provided in
119	s. 409.9122.
120	Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.