Florida Senate - 2024                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 808
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì951398TÎ951398                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  01/23/2024           .                                
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       The Committee on Criminal Justice (DiCeglie) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 24 - 41
    4  and insert:
    5         (3)(a) Notwithstanding s. 440.13(2)(c), a firefighter, law
    6  enforcement officer, correctional officer, or correctional
    7  probation officer requiring medical treatment for a compensable
    8  presumptive condition listed in subsection (1) may be treated by
    9  a medical specialist. Except in emergency situations, a
   10  firefighter, law enforcement officer, correctional officer, or
   11  correctional probation officer entitled to access a medical
   12  specialist under this subsection must provide written notice of
   13  his or her selection of a medical specialist to the
   14  firefighter’s or officer’s workers’ compensation carrier, self
   15  insured employer, or third-party administrator, and the carrier,
   16  self-insured employer, or third-party administrator must
   17  authorize the selected medical specialist or authorize an
   18  alternative medical specialist with the same or greater
   19  qualifications. Within 5 business days after receipt of the
   20  written notice, the workers’ compensation carrier, self-insured
   21  employer, or third-party administrator must authorize treatment
   22  and schedule an appointment, which must be held within 30 days
   23  after receipt of the written notice, with the selected medical
   24  specialist or the alternative medical specialist. If the
   25  workers’ compensation carrier, self-insured employer, or third
   26  party administrator fails to authorize an alternative medical
   27  specialist within 5 business days after receipt of the written
   28  notice, the medical specialist selected by the firefighter or
   29  officer is authorized. The continuing care and treatment by a
   30  medical specialist must be reasonable, necessary, and related to
   31  tuberculosis, heart disease, or hypertension; be reimbursed at
   32  no more than 200 percent of the Medicare rate; and be authorized
   33  by the firefighter’s or officer’s workers’ compensation carrier,
   34  self-insured employer, or third-party administrator.
   35  
   36  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   37  And the title is amended as follows:
   38         Delete lines 11 - 14
   39  and insert:
   40         medical specialist; providing requirements for the
   41         firefighter’s or officer’s workers’ compensation
   42         carrier, self-insured employer, or third-party
   43         administrator; requiring that the continuing care and
   44         treatment by a medical specialist be reasonable,
   45         necessary, and related to the firefighter’s or
   46         officer’s condition and authorized by the workers’
   47         compensation carrier, self-insured employer, or third
   48         party administrator; specifying a reimbursement