Florida Senate - 2026 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 560
Ì311442tÎ311442
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
02/25/2026 .
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The Committee on Rules (Garcia) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 69 - 189
4 and insert:
5 Section 2. Subsection (6) is added to section 39.4085,
6 Florida Statutes, to read:
7 39.4085 Goals for dependent children; responsibilities;
8 education; Office of the Children’s Ombudsman.—
9 (6)(a) The department shall coordinate with organizations
10 that are focused on empowering children with lived experience.
11 The department and such organizations shall meet at least
12 quarterly, in person or via teleconference or other electronic
13 means, to solicit input on ways to address challenges and
14 opportunities for children in the child welfare system. Each
15 meeting must have a formal agenda, and such agenda and the
16 minutes from each meeting must be made available on the
17 department’s website.
18 (b) Each community-based care lead agency shall coordinate
19 with organizations that are focused on empowering children with
20 lived experience. The community-based care lead agency and such
21 organizations shall meet at least quarterly, in person or via
22 teleconference or other electronic means, to solicit input on
23 ways to address challenges and opportunities for children in the
24 child welfare system. Each meeting must have a formal agenda,
25 and such agenda and the minutes from each meeting must be made
26 available on the community-based care lead agency’s website.
27 (c) By February 1 and August 1 of each year, beginning in
28 2027, the department and each community-based care lead agency
29 shall make publicly accessible on their respective websites a
30 report that outlines how the department and the community-based
31 care lead agencies have implemented the suggestions of the
32 organizations based on the meetings required in paragraphs (a)
33 and (b).
34 Section 3. Paragraphs (j) and (k) of subsection (2) of
35 section 409.175, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
36 409.175 Licensure of family foster homes, residential
37 child-caring agencies, and child-placing agencies; public
38 records exemption.—
39 (2) As used in this section, the term:
40 (j) “Personnel” means all owners, operators, employees, and
41 volunteers working in a child-placing agency or residential
42 child-caring agency who may be employed by or do volunteer work
43 for a person, corporation, or agency that holds a license as a
44 child-placing agency or a residential child-caring agency, but
45 the term does not include those who do not work on the premises
46 where child care is furnished and have no direct contact with a
47 child or have no contact with a child outside of the presence of
48 the child’s parent or guardian. For purposes of screening, the
49 term includes any member, over the age of 12 years, of the
50 family of the owner or operator or any person other than a
51 client, a child who is found to be dependent as defined in s.
52 39.01, or a child as defined in s. 39.6251(1), over the age of
53 12 years, residing with the owner or operator if the agency is
54 located in or adjacent to the home of the owner or operator or
55 if the family member of, or person residing with, the owner or
56 operator has any direct contact with the children. Members of
57 the family of the owner or operator, or persons residing with
58 the owner or operator, who are between the ages of 12 years and
59 18 years are not required to be fingerprinted, but must be
60 screened for delinquency records. For purposes of screening, the
61 term also includes owners, operators, employees, and volunteers
62 working in summer day camps, or summer 24-hour camps providing
63 care for children. A volunteer who assists on an intermittent
64 basis for less than 10 hours per month shall not be included in
65 the term “personnel” for the purposes of screening if a person
66 who meets the screening requirement of this section is always
67 present and has the volunteer in his or her line of sight.
68 (k) “Placement screening” means the act of assessing the
69 background of household members in the family foster home and
70 includes, but is not limited to, criminal history records checks
71 as provided in s. 39.0138 using the standards for screening set
72 forth in that section. The term “household member” means a
73 member of the family or a person, other than the child being
74 placed, a child who is found to be dependent as defined in s.
75 39.01, or a child as defined in s. 39.6251(1), over the age of
76 12 years who resides with the owner who operates the family
77 foster home if such family member or person has any direct
78 contact with the child. Household members who are between the
79 ages of 12 and 18 years are not required to be fingerprinted but
80 must be screened for delinquency records.
81 Section 4. Subsection (13) of section 409.912, Florida
82 Statutes, is amended to read:
83 409.912 Cost-effective purchasing of health care.—The
84 agency shall purchase goods and services for Medicaid recipients
85 in the most cost-effective manner consistent with the delivery
86 of quality medical care. To ensure that medical services are
87 effectively utilized, the agency may, in any case, require a
88 confirmation or second physician’s opinion of the correct
89 diagnosis for purposes of authorizing future services under the
90 Medicaid program. This section does not restrict access to
91 emergency services or poststabilization care services as defined
92 in 42 C.F.R. s. 438.114. Such confirmation or second opinion
93 shall be rendered in a manner approved by the agency. The agency
94 shall maximize the use of prepaid per capita and prepaid
95 aggregate fixed-sum basis services when appropriate and other
96 alternative service delivery and reimbursement methodologies,
97 including competitive bidding pursuant to s. 287.057, designed
98 to facilitate the cost-effective purchase of a case-managed
99 continuum of care. The agency shall also require providers to
100 minimize the exposure of recipients to the need for acute
101 inpatient, custodial, and other institutional care and the
102 inappropriate or unnecessary use of high-cost services. The
103 agency shall contract with a vendor to monitor and evaluate the
104 clinical practice patterns of providers in order to identify
105 trends that are outside the normal practice patterns of a
106 provider’s professional peers or the national guidelines of a
107 provider’s professional association. The vendor must be able to
108 provide information and counseling to a provider whose practice
109 patterns are outside the norms, in consultation with the agency,
110 to improve patient care and reduce inappropriate utilization.
111 The agency may mandate prior authorization, drug therapy
112 management, or disease management participation for certain
113 populations of Medicaid beneficiaries, certain drug classes, or
114 particular drugs to prevent fraud, abuse, overuse, and possible
115 dangerous drug interactions. The Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics
116 Committee shall make recommendations to the agency on drugs for
117 which prior authorization is required. The agency shall inform
118 the Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committee of its decisions
119 regarding drugs subject to prior authorization. The agency is
120 authorized to limit the entities it contracts with or enrolls as
121 Medicaid providers by developing a provider network through
122 provider credentialing. The agency may competitively bid single
123 source-provider contracts if procurement of goods or services
124 results in demonstrated cost savings to the state without
125 limiting access to care. The agency may limit its network based
126 on the assessment of beneficiary access to care, provider
127 availability, provider quality standards, time and distance
128 standards for access to care, the cultural competence of the
129 provider network, demographic characteristics of Medicaid
130 beneficiaries, practice and provider-to-beneficiary standards,
131 appointment wait times, beneficiary use of services, provider
132 turnover, provider profiling, provider licensure history,
133 previous program integrity investigations and findings, peer
134 review, provider Medicaid policy and billing compliance records,
135 clinical and medical record audits, and other factors. Providers
136 are not entitled to enrollment in the Medicaid provider network.
137 The agency shall determine instances in which allowing Medicaid
138 beneficiaries to purchase durable medical equipment and other
139 goods is less expensive to the Medicaid program than long-term
140 rental of the equipment or goods. The agency may establish rules
141 to facilitate purchases in lieu of long-term rentals in order to
142 protect against fraud and abuse in the Medicaid program as
143 defined in s. 409.913. The agency may seek federal waivers
144 necessary to administer these policies.
145 (13) The agency may not pay for psychotropic medication
146 prescribed for a child in the Medicaid program without the
147 express and informed consent of the child’s parent or legal
148 guardian. The physician shall document the consent in the
149 child’s medical record and provide a copy of such documentation
150 to the pharmacy with a signed attestation of this documentation
151 with the prescription. The express and informed consent or court
152 authorization for a prescription of psychotropic medication for
153 a child in the custody of the Department of Children and
154 Families shall be obtained pursuant to s. 39.407.
155 Section 5. Subsection (5) is added to section 409.993,
156 Florida Statutes, to read:
157 409.993 Lead agencies and subcontractor liability.—
158 (5) OFFICE OF INSURANCE REGULATION REVIEW.—
159 (a) The Office of Insurance Regulation, in collaboration
160 with the Department of Children and Families and community—based
161 care lead agencies and their subcontracted providers, shall
162 review all available, relevant, and appropriate data from the
163 previous 5 fiscal years relating to liability insurance coverage
164 and availability to analyze all of the following:
165 1. Access to and availability of liability insurance
166 through authorized insurance companies, surplus lines companies,
167 and self-insurance funds.
168 2. Factors affecting the ability to obtain and maintain
169 liability insurance.
170 3. Cost of general liability insurance based on insurance
171 premium documentation.
172 4. Claims data.
173 5. Settlement and judicial disposition data.
174 6. Community-based care lead agency operating budgets and
175 expenses.
176 7. Impact of insurance costs on the financial condition of
177 community-based care lead agencies and their subcontractors.
178 8. Consistency of statutory insurance requirements with the
179 general insurance market.
180 (b) The Office of Insurance Regulation shall develop a
181 report on the findings of its review and analysis, including,
182 but not limited to:
183 1. A summary of the methods used and data obtained for
184 review and analysis.
185 2. Trends in insurance premium rates.
186 3. Trends in claims and settlements.
187 4. Trends in liability coverage affordability and
188 availability.
189 5. Recommendations for agency and legislative action to
190 ensure affordable and available liability insurance for
191 community-based care lead agencies and their subcontractors.
192 (c) The report must be provided to the Governor, the
193 President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
194 Representatives by January 1, 2027.
195 (d) Insurance companies shall reply to requests for
196 information received from the Office of Insurance Regulation for
197 the purposes of this section. The office may levy fines upon or
198 otherwise penalize an insurance company that fails to reply to a
199 request for information within 30 calendar days after receipt of
200 such request. A fine schedule set by the office under this
201 paragraph may not exceed $500 per day for the first 3 days late
202 and $1,000 per day for each late day thereafter. Fines paid to
203 the office under this paragraph shall be transferred to the
204 General Revenue Fund.
205 (e) Community-based care lead agencies and their
206 subcontracted providers shall reply to requests for information
207 received from the Department of Children and Families for the
208 purposes of this section. The department may levy fines upon or
209 otherwise penalize a community-based care lead agency or
210 subcontractor that fails to reply to a request for information
211 within 30 calendar days after receipt of such request. A fine
212 schedule set by the department under this paragraph may not
213 exceed $500 per day for the first 3 days late and $1,000 for
214 each late day thereafter. Fines paid to the department under
215 this paragraph shall be transferred to the General Revenue Fund.
216 (f) This subsection shall stand repealed on July 1, 2027,
217 unless reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the
218 Legislature.
219
220 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
221 And the title is amended as follows:
222 Delete lines 7 - 12
223 and insert:
224 circumstances; amending s. 39.4085, F.S.; requiring
225 the department and each community-based care lead
226 agency to coordinate with certain organizations and
227 meet at least quarterly for a specified purpose;
228 authorizing such meetings to be held in person or via
229 teleconference or other electronic means; requiring
230 that such meetings have a formal agenda; requiring the
231 department and each community-based care lead agency
232 to make certain information available on their
233 respective websites; requiring, beginning in a
234 specified year, the department and each community
235 based care lead agency to publish on their respective
236 websites a biannual report containing specified
237 information; amending s. 409.175, F.S.; revising the
238 definition of the terms “personnel” and “placement
239 screening”; amending s. 409.912, F.S.; requiring a
240 physician to provide to a pharmacy a copy of certain
241 documentation, rather than a signed attestation, with
242 certain prescriptions; amending s. 409.993, F.S.;
243 requiring the Office of Insurance Regulation, in
244 collaboration with the department and other entities,
245 to review and analyze certain data; requiring the
246 office to provide a certain report to the Governor and
247 Legislature; requiring certain entities to respond to
248 certain requests for information; authorizing the
249 office and the department to levy fines upon or
250 otherwise penalize insurance companies and community
251 based care lead agencies and their subcontractors,
252 respectively, for failure to timely reply to certain
253 requests for information; limiting the amount of
254 certain fines to specified amounts; requiring the
255 transfer of such fines to the General Revenue Fund;
256 providing for legislative review and repeal; providing
257 an effective date.