2022 Legislation

Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality
Effective Date: July 1, 2022 
HB 5 (Full Text)

Summary:

The bill adds definitions of “fatal fetal abnormality” and “medical abortion,” and revised the definition of “gestation” in section 390.011, Florida Statutes. The law prohibits an abortion after a gestational age of 15 weeks and provides an exception to the prohibition when a fetus has not achieved viability under section 390.01112, Florida Statutes, and two physicians certify in writing that the fetus has a fatal fetal abnormality based on reasonable medical judgment. The bill clarifies the requirement for monthly reporting to the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), on a form adopted by rule, of surgical and medical abortions by the director of a medical facility where abortions are performed. The bill also requires physicians who perform abortions outside of a medical facility to submit a monthly report to AHCA. The bill specifies that if a woman having the abortion provides evidence that she is a victim of human trafficking, this information is required to be included in the monthly report as the reason the abortion was performed. The bill also requires that the monthly report include the number of drug regimens dispensed or prescribed for a medical abortion.   

Administration of Vaccines (Pharmacy)
Effective Date: July 1, 2022
HB 1209 (Full Text)

Summary:
The bill authorizes a certified registered pharmacy technician to administer vaccines and immunizations to adults under the supervision of a certified pharmacist. To become certified by the Board of Pharmacy, a registered pharmacy technician must complete six hours of approved immunization-related training. As a renewal condition, an additional two hours of approved continuing education must be completed.

The bill updates the authorized immunizations or vaccines that may be administered as listed in the Adult Immunization Schedule by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recommended by the CDC’s Health Information for International Travel, and those licensed or authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as of March 31, 2022.

Professional Counselors Licensure Compact (491)
Effective Date: July 1, 2022
HB 1521 (Full Text)

Summary:
Effective upon enactment of the Professional Counselors Licensure Compact (compact) into law by 10 states, the bill enacts and authorizes Florida to join the compact.

The bill requires the Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling to appoint an individual to serve on the compact Commission. Upon enactment of the compact, the bill authorizes eligible Florida licensed mental health counseling practitioners to apply for licensure to provide services to out-of-state patients through either telehealth or in-person across compact states. Likewise, out-of-state licensed professional counselors in compact states will be authorized to provide services to Florida patients through telehealth and in-person. The bill exempts out-of-state licensed practitioners who practice under the compact from the licensure requirements in this state.

Additionally, the bill requires the Department of Health to report any significant investigation information relating to mental health counselors practicing under the compact to the established data system and authorizes the Board to take adverse action against a mental health counselor’s authority to practice under the compact and impose disciplinary actions for violation of prohibited acts. The bill requires mental health counselors practicing under the compact to withdraw from all practice under the compact if the mental health counselor is in an impaired practitioner program.

Public Records and Meetings/Professional Counselors Licensure Compact (491)
Effective Date: Upon Enactment into Law
HB 1523 (Full Text)

Summary:
The bill provides an exemption from public records requirements for certain information held by the Department of Health or the Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling pursuant to the Professional Counselors Licensure Compact. The bill creates a public meeting exemption for a meeting or a portion of a meeting of the Commission at which matters specifically exempted from disclosure by federal or state law are discussed. The bill also creates a public meeting exemption where sensitive matters listed in the statute are addressed.

Telehealth (Dentistry, Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Nursing, Podiatric Medicine)
Effective Date: July 1, 2022
SB 312 (Full Text)

Summary:
The bill authorizes telehealth providers to prescribe controlled substances listed in Schedule III, Schedule IV, and Schedule V of section 893.03, Florida Statutes, without limitation. The bill also authorizes telehealth providers to prescribe controlled substances listed in Schedule II of section 893.03, Florida Statutes, when treating a psychiatric disorder, inpatient care at a hospital, a patient receiving hospice services, or a resident of a nursing home facility.

Drug-related Overdose Prevention (Pharmacy)
Effective Date: July 1, 2022 
SB 544 (Full Text)

Summary:

The bill added pharmacists as health care practitioners who are authorized to order and dispense an emergency opioid antagonist with an auto-injection delivery system or intranasal application delivery system for a patient or caregiver for use in accordance with section 381.887, Florida Statutes. The bill expanded the list of persons authorized to possess, store, and administer emergency opioid antagonists as clinically indicated and specified that they are immune from any civil liability or criminal liability as a result of administering an emergency opioid antagonist. In addition to existing provisions for emergency responders and crime laboratory personnel, the bill added personnel of a law enforcement agency or any other agency, while acting within the scope or course of employment, who come into contact with a controlled substance or persons at risk of experiencing an opioid overdose.    

Military Occupational Licensure
Effective Date: July 1, 2022
SB 562 (Full Text)

Summary:
The bill amends section 456.024, Florida Statutes eliminating provisions for temporary licensure of military spouses while establishing expedited, full licensure for an active-duty military spouse that is licensed in another state. The bill eliminates all Department licensure fees for military spouses.

Mental Health Professional Licensure (491)
Effective Date: Upon becoming law
SB 566 (Full Text)

Summary:
The bill amends the minimum educational requirements specified in section 491.004, Florida Statutes, for marriage and family therapy and mental health counseling licensure by examination. Marriage and family therapy applicants must graduate with a master’s degree from a Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) or a Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)accredited program or complete a master’s degree at any institutionally accredited college or university with a major emphasis in marriage and family therapy or a closely related field with a degree conferred date prior to September 1, 2027.  After September 1, 2027, applicants must have graduated from a COAMFTE or CACREP accredited program.  
Existing statutory language requires that beginning July 1, 2025, mental health therapy licensure by examination applicants must graduate from a CACREP-accredited program. The bill added the accrediting body, “Masters in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council,” or other equivalent accrediting body to the list of accepted programs.     

Occupational Therapy
Effective Date: July 1, 2022 
SB 632 (Full Text)

Summary:
Occupational Therapy; The bill amends the definitions of “occupational therapy” and the “practice of occupational therapy”. It creates the protected term “occupational therapist doctorate”, provides an exemption from licensure, and a registration process for individuals fulfilling an occupational therapy doctoral capstone experience.    Section 490.014(1)(b), Florida Statutes, and Section 491.014(2), Florida Statutes, were amended to add Occupational Therapy to a listing of exempted professions. 

Licensure Examinations for Dental Practitioners (Dentistry)
Effective Date: Upon becoming law 
SB 926 (Full Text)

Summary:
The bill authorizes dentist and dental hygienist examination candidates to demonstrate clinical skills on a manikin with typodont teeth, rather than a live patient, for licensure in Florida.   The bill: 

• Removes medical malpractice insurance, arrangements for patients requiring follow-up care, and academic record risk reviews from dental school written plan protocols; and  
• Repeals the authority of the Board of Dentistry to require medical malpractice insurance from dental and dental hygienist examination applicants. 

Nonemergent Patient Care (EMT/Paramedic, Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Pharmacy)
Effective Date: July 1, 2022 
SB 1222 (Full Text)

Summary:
The bill expands the scope of Class III institutional pharmacies to authorize them to dispense, distribute, compound, and fill prescriptions for medicinal drugs for inpatient treatment to a patient receiving acute and post-acute hospital care at their residence through a program approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Agency for Health Care Administration. The bill authorizes paramedics to perform basic life support services and advanced life support services to patients receiving acute and post-acute hospital care at home under the supervision of a physician or standing orders as described in sections 401.265, 458.348, or 459.025, Florida Statutes. Physicians who supervise or provide medical direction to a paramedic are liable for any act or omission of the paramedic while acting under supervision or medical direction.  

Clinical Lab Testing (Clinical Lab Personnel)
Effective Date: July 1, 2022 
SB 1374 (Full Text)

Summary:
The bill amends section 483.801, Florida Statutes, adding an exemption from licensure for a registered nurse performing alternate-site testing. Registered nurses who are determined by the clinical laboratory director to be qualified under 42 C.F.R. may be authorized to perform moderate-level or waiver-level clinical laboratory testing within the hospital or hospital-based off-campus emergency department with a separate federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) program clinical laboratory certification under 42 C.F.R. part 24 493. 

Department of Health
Effective Date: July 1, 2022
SB 768 (Full Text)

Section 8: Designated Health Care Professionals – Information Required for Licensure
The bill requires health care professionals licensed under chapters 458, 459, 460, or 461, Florida Statutes, to provide specified information upon initial licensure or upon license renewal including the medical school attended and coursework completed; the name of each hospital where the applicant has privileges; the address of primary practice; any certification received from a specialty board; the year the applicant began practicing; any appointment to the faculty of a medical school; relevant professional qualifications; information regarding any criminal convictions; and any final disciplinary action. The bill requires submission of proof that applicants licensed under chapters 458, 459, or chapter 461, Florida Statutes, provide proof of payment of assessments to fund the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association required under section 766.314, Florida Statutes.

Section 9: Chiropractic Medicine – Initial Licensure Requirements
The bill clarifies the minimum licensure requirements for chiropractic medicine. Due to recent changes in accreditation nomenclature at the U.S. Department of Education, all accreditation references in this section were changed from “regionally” to “institutionally” accredited college or university.

Sections 10 and 11: Nursing – Licensure by Examination
The bill removes the requirement for graduates from an approved program who have not taken the licensure examination within 6 months of graduation to complete a board-approved licensure examination preparatory course.

Sections 12-16: Midwifery
The bill clarifies the definitions for “approved midwifery program”, “preceptor”, and “prelicensure course”. The bill clarifies approved midwifery program education standards and clinical training requirements and aligns midwifery program approval standards with accreditation and licensing standards for direct entry midwifery programs. The bill also refines requirements for licensing midwives by examination and endorsement and clarifies requirements for temporary certification of midwives in areas of critical need and expanded access to midwifery care in areas of critical need by designating additional practice settings in conformance with other licensed health care professions.

Section 17: Orthotists and Prosthetists
The bill clarifies the method for the collection and processing of applicant fingerprint records for the purpose of background screening. Due to recent changes in accreditation nomenclature at the U.S. Department of Education, all accreditation references in this section were changed from “regionally” to “institutionally” accredited college or university.

Section 18: Clinical Laboratory Personnel
Due to recent changes in accreditation nomenclature at the U.S. Department of Education, all accreditation references in this section were changed from “regionally” to “institutionally” accredited college or university.

Sections 19, 20, 21: Psychology
The bill clarifies the definitions and educational requirements for psychologists applying for licensure by examination or provisional licensure. The bill defines a “doctoral degree from an APA accredited program” as a Psy.D., an Ed.D. in psychology, or a Ph.D. in psychology from a psychology program at an educational institution that, at the time the applicant was enrolled and graduated had both an institutional accreditation from an agency recognized and approved by the U.S. Department of Education or was recognized as a member in good standing with the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, and had programmatic accreditation from the American Psychological Association (APA).

The bill further defines “doctoral degree in psychology” as a Psy.D., an Ed.D. in psychology, or a Ph.D. in psychology from a psychology program at an educational institution that, at the time the applicant was enrolled and graduated, had institutional accreditation from an agency recognized and approved by the U.S. Department of Education or was recognized as a member in good standing with the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. The bill requires psychologists applying for licensure to have obtained a doctoral degree from an APA accredited program or the equivalent of a degree from an APA-accredited program from a school or university located outside the United States which was officially recognized by the government of the country in which it is located as an institution or program to train students to practice professional psychology. Provisional licensure applicants must have earned a degree from an APA accredited program.

Section 22: Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling
The bill clarifies the method for registration, payment of fees, and completion of the national examination. Due to recent changes in accreditation nomenclature at the U.S. Department of Education, all accreditation references in this section were changed from “regionally” to “institutionally” accredited college or university.

The bill creates three pathways to licensure for applicants for a marriage and family therapy license to meet the minimum educational requirements by one of the following methods:

• A minimum of a master’s degree from a Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE);
• A minimum of a master’s degree with an emphasis in marriage and family therapy from a college or university that is accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP); or
• A minimum of a master’s degree with an emphasis in marriage and family therapy or a closely related field, with a degree conferred before September 1, 2027, from an institutionally accredited college or university.

The bill also updates the education requirements for marriage and family therapists by correcting an obsolete reference to accreditation by Commission on Recognition of Postsecondary Accreditation (CORPA), which was dissolved in 1997. The bill replaces the CORPA with the CHEA or its successors.

Existing statutory language requires that beginning July 1, 2025, mental health therapy licensure by examination applicants must graduate from a CACREP-accredited program. The bill adds the accrediting body, “Masters in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council,” or other equivalent accrediting body to the list of accepted programs.

Sections 24 and 25: Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association (NICA)
The bill changes references from the “Department of Business and Professional Regulation” to the “Department of Health” as it relates to the payment of the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation by applicants and licensees. The bill makes the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association (“Association”) responsible for making all assessments required by the Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Plan except for initial assessments of physicians licensed by the Department of Health and certain casualty insurers. The bill modifies the frequency for the Department of Health to provide the Association electronic reports of all physicians licensed under Chapters 458 and 459, Florida Statutes, to monthly. The bill authorizes the Association to file suit in circuit court to collect assessments under certain circumstances and requires the Association to notify the Department of Health and the applicable board of any unpaid final judgments against a physician within seven days after the entry of a final judgment.