Florida NP Bill Passes House Committee

Dear AANP Florida members,

With just about one month left in the Florida 2019 regular legislative session, legislation that has the potential to impact our patients and profession continues to advance in the Florida state legislature. Here’s what is important to know and where legislation is in the process:

House Bill 821 (Pigman)

• Representative Pigman filed House Bill 821 (H.B. 821) on February 13.
• Last week, the full Florida House Health and Human Services Committee voted to pass favorably and advance H.B. 821.
• The bill is now eligible for consideration by the full House on the Florida House floor.
• H.B. 821 has been added to the Florida House special order calendar for April 17, 2019.
• The bill as passed by the House committee would, among other things, recognize APRN signatures on forms related to patient care and retire the supervisory protocol requirement for select APRNs who meet specific requirements including 2,000 hours in practice in a protocol agreement.
• The bill took on language in a prior hearing that added changes for physician assistant practice requirements and made conforming changes to several Florida statutes.
• H.B. 821 in its current form has the potential to reduce patient barriers to NP direct access to care in Florida.
• In February, Senator Brandes filed Senate Bill 972 (S.B. 972), legislation with similar language to the introduced version of House Bill 821. The Senate bill has not advanced since introduction and referral to Senate committees of jurisdiction.

AANP members can track this and other NP legislation on the AANP State Legislation Tracking Center. Local AANP NP Organizations may have added information. AANP member organizations can be located through the Member Directory.

The AANP State Government Affairs team will monitor any proposed changes as these bills move through the legislative and regulatory process, and we will work closely with stakeholders to ensure legislation effectively reduces barriers for patient access to NP care. We will continue to inform Florida members of further developments to the state practice environment.

Thank you,

Arlene Wright, AANP South Florida State Representative

Stacia Hays, AANP North Florida State Representative

Ashley Shew, AANP State Policy Analyst