Florida Senate - 2022                                    SB 1946
       
       
        
       By Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       
       4-01310-22                                            20221946__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the impaired practitioner program;
    3         amending s. 456.076, F.S.; creating a student
    4         evaluation program within the Department of Health for
    5         a specified purpose; providing program eligibility
    6         requirements; requiring consultants to redact a
    7         student’s personal identifying information and to
    8         forward the invoice for an evaluation to the
    9         department; requiring the department to directly pay
   10         the evaluator upon receipt of the invoice from the
   11         consultant; requiring the consultant to provide
   12         monthly reports to the department; providing
   13         requirements for the reports; providing that funding
   14         for the program shall be from the Medical Quality
   15         Assurance Trust Fund, as provided by the Legislature;
   16         providing that, if program funding is exhausted in a
   17         fiscal year, the program must cease operations until
   18         additional funding becomes available; providing an
   19         effective date.
   20          
   21  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   22  
   23         Section 1. Subsection (19) is added to section 456.076,
   24  Florida Statutes, to read:
   25         456.076 Impaired practitioner programs.—
   26         (19) A student evaluation program is created within the
   27  department to fund the evaluation of students who are preparing
   28  for licensure as practitioners and who have or are suspected of
   29  having an impairment that could affect their ability to practice
   30  with skill and safety if they were licensed, registered, or
   31  certified. The purpose of the program is to reduce risks to
   32  patients which are caused by impaired practitioners.
   33         (a) A student may participate in the student evaluation
   34  program if all of the following conditions are met:
   35         1. The student is enrolled in a school or program located
   36  in this state for the purpose of preparing for licensure,
   37  registration, or certification as a practitioner.
   38         2.The student’s school or program has a contract in place
   39  with a consultant to provide impaired practitioner program
   40  services to its students, as provided in this section.
   41         3.At the time of the school’s or program’s referral of the
   42  student to the consultant, the student had or was suspected of
   43  having an impairment that could affect his or her ability to
   44  practice with skill and safety if he or she were licensed,
   45  registered, or certified.
   46         4.The consultant has required the student to be evaluated
   47  by an evaluator to determine whether the student has an
   48  impairment and whether treatment or other actions are necessary
   49  to ensure the student is safe to practice.
   50         5.The student is unable to afford the cost of the
   51  evaluation due to financial hardship, as determined by the
   52  student’s school or program. For purposes of this subparagraph,
   53  a student is deemed to have a financial hardship if he or she is
   54  unemployed; is receiving payments under a federal or state
   55  public assistance program; has a monthly income that is at or
   56  below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, as published
   57  annually by the United States Department of Health and Human
   58  Services; or does not have insurance that would fully cover the
   59  evaluation cost. The student’s school or program is solely
   60  responsible for determining whether he or she has a financial
   61  hardship, and it must consider the magnitude of his or her
   62  indebtedness in its determination. This eligibility
   63  determination is final and is not subject to review under
   64  chapter 120.
   65         (b) After the student’s eligibility for the student
   66  evaluation program has been determined and the evaluation has
   67  been completed, the consultant shall redact the student’s
   68  personal identifying information and forward the invoice for the
   69  evaluation to the department. Upon receipt of the invoice, the
   70  department shall directly pay the evaluator.
   71         (c) The consultant shall provide to the department monthly
   72  reports relating to the student evaluation program which must
   73  include the number of students who have been evaluated and the
   74  cost of the evaluation for each student. If an eligible student
   75  is participating in an impaired practitioner program, the report
   76  must include the student’s current status in the program, the
   77  student’s expected completion date, the evaluator’s name, and
   78  the evaluation date. Such reports may not contain any personal
   79  identifying information.
   80         (d) Program funding shall be made available each fiscal
   81  year from the Medical Quality Assurance Trust Fund, as provided
   82  by legislative appropriation or by an approved amendment to the
   83  department’s operating budget pursuant to chapter 216. If
   84  available funding is exhausted in any fiscal year, the program
   85  must cease operations until additional funding becomes
   86  available.
   87         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.