Florida Senate - 2024 SB 1798
By Senator Trumbull
2-00712A-24 20241798__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to home health care services; amending
3 s. 400.487, F.S.; authorizing contract staff to
4 provide specified visits for a home health agency
5 under certain circumstances; amending s. 408.032,
6 F.S.; revising the definition of “health care
7 facility” to include a home health agency; amending s.
8 409.905, F.S.; authorizing an advanced practice
9 registered nurse to order or write prescriptions for
10 certain Medicaid services; providing an effective
11 date.
12
13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15 Section 1. Subsection (5) of section 400.487, Florida
16 Statutes, is amended to read:
17 400.487 Home health service agreements; physician’s,
18 physician assistant’s, and advanced practice registered nurse’s
19 treatment orders; patient assessment; establishment and review
20 of plan of care; provision of services; orders not to
21 resuscitate.—
22 (5) When nursing services are ordered, the home health
23 agency to which a patient has been admitted for care must
24 provide the initial admission visit, all service evaluation
25 visits, and the discharge visit by a direct employee or contract
26 staff. Services provided by others under contractual
27 arrangements to a home health agency must be monitored and
28 managed by the admitting home health agency. The admitting home
29 health agency is fully responsible for ensuring that all care
30 provided through its employees or contract staff is delivered in
31 accordance with this part and applicable rules.
32 Section 2. Subsection (8) of section 408.032, Florida
33 Statutes, is amended to read:
34 408.032 Definitions relating to Health Facility and
35 Services Development Act.—As used in ss. 408.031-408.045, the
36 term:
37 (8) “Health care facility” means a skilled nursing
38 facility, hospice, or intermediate care facility, or home health
39 agency for the developmentally disabled. A facility relying
40 solely on spiritual means through prayer for healing is not
41 included as a health care facility.
42 Section 3. Paragraph (c) of subsection (4) of section
43 409.905, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
44 409.905 Mandatory Medicaid services.—The agency may make
45 payments for the following services, which are required of the
46 state by Title XIX of the Social Security Act, furnished by
47 Medicaid providers to recipients who are determined to be
48 eligible on the dates on which the services were provided. Any
49 service under this section shall be provided only when medically
50 necessary and in accordance with state and federal law.
51 Mandatory services rendered by providers in mobile units to
52 Medicaid recipients may be restricted by the agency. Nothing in
53 this section shall be construed to prevent or limit the agency
54 from adjusting fees, reimbursement rates, lengths of stay,
55 number of visits, number of services, or any other adjustments
56 necessary to comply with the availability of moneys and any
57 limitations or directions provided for in the General
58 Appropriations Act or chapter 216.
59 (4) HOME HEALTH CARE SERVICES.—The agency shall pay for
60 nursing and home health aide services, supplies, appliances, and
61 durable medical equipment, necessary to assist a recipient
62 living at home. An entity that provides such services must be
63 licensed under part III of chapter 400. These services,
64 equipment, and supplies, or reimbursement therefor, may be
65 limited as provided in the General Appropriations Act and do not
66 include services, equipment, or supplies provided to a person
67 residing in a hospital or nursing facility.
68 (c) The agency may not pay for home health services unless
69 the services are medically necessary and:
70 1. The services are ordered by a physician or an advanced
71 practice registered nurse.
72 2. The written prescription for the services is signed and
73 dated by the recipient’s physician or an advanced practice
74 registered nurse before the development of a plan of care and
75 before any request requiring prior authorization.
76 3. The physician or advanced practice registered nurse
77 ordering the services is not employed, under contract with, or
78 otherwise affiliated with the home health agency rendering the
79 services. However, this subparagraph does not apply to a home
80 health agency affiliated with a retirement community, of which
81 the parent corporation or a related legal entity owns a rural
82 health clinic certified under 42 C.F.R. part 491, subpart A, ss.
83 1-11, a nursing home licensed under part II of chapter 400, or
84 an apartment or single-family home for independent living. For
85 purposes of this subparagraph, the agency may, on a case-by-case
86 basis, provide an exception for medically fragile children who
87 are younger than 21 years of age.
88 4. The physician or advanced practice registered nurse
89 ordering the services has examined the recipient within the 30
90 days preceding the initial request for the services and
91 biannually thereafter.
92 5. The written prescription for the services includes the
93 recipient’s acute or chronic medical condition or diagnosis, the
94 home health service required, and, for skilled nursing services,
95 the frequency and duration of the services.
96 6. The national provider identifier, Medicaid
97 identification number, or medical practitioner license number of
98 the physician or advanced practice registered nurse ordering the
99 services is listed on the written prescription for the services,
100 the claim for home health reimbursement, and the prior
101 authorization request.
102 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.