FSR Advocates Help Lead Charge to Support Florida’s Rheumatology Community

Session in Tallahassee is coming to a close, but FSR’s advocates have been busy working to support rheumatology friendly policies. FSR advocates sent 245 letters of support to their elected officials through the online action center between February and April. These alerts are part of the foundation that helps the rheumatology community share their stories with legislators in Tallahassee. To help support the letter writing campaign efforts, FSR leadership frequently visited the capital city to partake in key legislative meetings with the governor’s office, state agencies, and legislative leadership.

Most recently, Dr. Robert Levin (Clearwater), traveled to Tallahassee to provide committee testimony in support of the Prescription Drug Reform Act, which targets several bad practices pharmacy benefit managers (PBMS) use that impacts affordability and access to prescription drugs.Most recently, Dr. Robert Levin (Clearwater), traveled to Tallahassee to provide committee testimony in support of the Prescription Drug Reform Act, which targets several bad practices pharmacy benefit managers (PBMS) use that impacts affordability and access to prescription drugs. The 49-page bill, which is expected to pass and be signed into law, has protections from steering patients to preferred pharmacies, a 60-day notice for switching medications within the plan year, new requirements for reporting, and numerous other protections for pharmacies and patients.

2023 Legislative Priorities

  • Senate Bill 1550 – Prescription Drug Reform Act.
  • House Bill 203 – Limiting payor mandated white bagging.
  • Senate Bill 46 / House Bill 1063 – Ensure a patient’s co-pay assistance is applied to their deductible.
  • Senate Bill 746 – Protections from switching a patient’s medications within the plan year for non-medical reasons.
  • House Bill 805 – Mandatory insurance coverage for biomarker testing.
  • Senate Bill 1500 / House Bill 1545 – Transparency for health insurance identification cards.
  • House Bill 1067 – Opposition to allow nurse practitioners and other non-physician groups to engage in specialty medical practice and provide completely unsupervised services in every medical specialty.

Advocacy efforts will continue throughout the year as the Society prepares for legislative committee weeks in the fall. FSR advocacy leaders encourage members to consider getting more involved by participating in the annual capitol day in Tallahassee. This opportunity and others will be discussed and presented at the FSR annual meeting in July.

Question about advocacy or how to get involved? Contact Kevin Daley at kdaley@hhs.com.