FL
Florida House Bill H0721

Florida 2023 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0721 Compare Versions

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1010 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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14+A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to paid family leave insurance; 2
1616 amending s. 624.406, F.S.; authorizing life insurers 3
1717 to transact paid family leave insurance; creating s. 4
1818 624.6086, F.S.; defining terms; providing 5
1919 circumstances under which paid family leave insurance 6
2020 may be issued and purchased under group disability 7
2121 income policies and group insurance policies; creating 8
2222 s. 627.445, F.S.; defining terms; providing 9
2323 circumstances under which family leave insurance 10
2424 benefits may be provided; requiring that paid family 11
2525 leave insurance policies specify details and 12
2626 requirements relating to covered circumstances, 13
2727 benefit periods, waiting periods, benefit amounts, 14
2828 certain offsets, and payment of benefits; providing 15
2929 that eligibility for family leave insurance benefits 16
3030 may be limited, excluded, or reduced, but any such 17
3131 limitation, exclusion, or reduction must be specified 18
3232 in the policy; providing circumstances under which 19
3333 limitations, exclusions, and reductions are 20
3434 permissible; providing applicable provisions for 21
3535 calculating rates; provi ding that paid family leave 22
3636 insurance policy forms and riders are subject to 23
3737 review by the Office of Insurance Regulation; 24
3838 specifying the means by which a policy must offer 25
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4747 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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5151 family leave insurance benefits; authorizing the 26
5252 Financial Services Commission to a dopt rules; 27
5353 providing an effective date. 28
5454 29
5555 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 30
5656 31
5757 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 624.406, Florida 32
5858 Statutes, is amended to read: 33
5959 624.406 Combinations of insuring powers, one insurer. —An 34
6060 insurer which otherwise qualifies therefor may be authorized to 35
6161 transact any one kind or combination of kinds of insurance as 36
6262 defined in part V except: 37
6363 (1) A life insurer may also grant annuities, but shall not 38
6464 be authorized to transact any other kind of ins urance except 39
6565 health insurance, disability income insurance, paid family leave 40
6666 insurance, excess coverage for health maintenance organizations, 41
6767 or excess insurance, specific and aggregate, for self -insurers 42
6868 of a plan of health insurance and multiple -employer welfare 43
6969 arrangements. 44
7070 Section 2. Section 624.6086, Florida Statutes, is created 45
7171 to read: 46
7272 624.6086 "Paid family leave insurance" defined; paid 47
7373 family leave insurance issuance and purchase. — 48
7474 (1) As used in this section, the term "paid family leave 49
7575 insurance" means insurance issued to an employer which is 50
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8484 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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8888 related to a benefit program provided to an employee to pay for 51
8989 a percentage or portion of the employee's income loss due to: 52
9090 (a) The birth of a child or the adoption of a child by the 53
9191 employee; 54
9292 (b) Placement of a child with the employee for foster 55
9393 care; 56
9494 (c) Care of the employee's family member who has a serious 57
9595 health condition; or 58
9696 (d) Circumstances arising out of the fact that the 59
9797 employee's family member who is a servicemember is on activ e 60
9898 duty or has been notified of an impending call or order to 61
9999 active duty. 62
100100 63
101101 As used in this subsection, the terms "child," "family leave," 64
102102 and "family member" have the same meanings as in s. 627.445(1). 65
103103 (2) Paid family leave insurance may be issued to and 66
104104 purchased by an employer as an amendment or a rider to a group 67
105105 disability income policy, included in a group disability income 68
106106 policy, or issued as a separate group insurance policy. 69
107107 Section 3. Section 627.445, Florida Statutes, is created 70
108108 to read: 71
109109 627.445 Paid family leave insurance. — 72
110110 (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 73
111111 (a) "Armed Forces of the United States" means an officer 74
112112 or enlisted member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, 75
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121121 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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125125 Space Force, or Coast Guard of the United States, the Florida 76
126126 National Guard, or the United States Reserve Forces. 77
127127 (b) "Child" means a person who is: 78
128128 1. Under 18 years of age, or 18 years of age or older and 79
129129 incapable of self-care because of a mental or a physical 80
130130 disability; and 81
131131 2. A biological, an adopted, or a foster son or daughter; 82
132132 a stepson or a stepdaughter; a legal ward; or a son or a 83
133133 daughter of a person to whom the employee stands in loco 84
134134 parentis. 85
135135 (c) "Family leave" means any leave taken by an employee 86
136136 from work for any of the ci rcumstances specified in subsection 87
137137 (2). 88
138138 (d) "Family member" means a child, a spouse, a parent, or 89
139139 any other person defined as a family member of the employee in 90
140140 the policy. 91
141141 (e) "Health care provider" means a hospital licensed under 92
142142 chapter 395, a health care institution licensed under chapter 93
143143 400 or chapter 429, or an individual licensed under chapter 458, 94
144144 chapter 459, chapter 460, chapter 461, chapter 464, or chapter 95
145145 466. 96
146146 (f) "Parent" means a biological, foster, or adoptive 97
147147 parent; a stepparent; a l egal guardian; or other person who 98
148148 stood in loco parentis to the employee when the employee was a 99
149149 child. 100
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158158 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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162162 (g) "Serious health condition" means an illness, an 101
163163 injury, an impairment, or a physical or mental condition, 102
164164 including, but not limited to, a pregna ncy complication that 103
165165 threatens the life of the mother or unborn child; 104
166166 transplantation preparation and recovery from surgery related to 105
167167 organ or tissue donation which involve inpatient care in a 106
168168 hospital, hospice, or residential health care facility; 107
169169 continuing treatment; or continuing supervision by a health care 108
170170 provider. Continuing supervision by a health care provider 109
171171 includes a period of incapacity which is permanent or long -term 110
172172 due to a condition for which treatment may not be effective and 111
173173 during which the family member need not be receiving active 112
174174 treatment by a health care provider. 113
175175 (2) COVERED FAMILY LEAVE INSURANCE BENEFITS. —Family leave 114
176176 insurance benefits provided in a paid family leave insurance 115
177177 policy may be provided for any leave taken by an employee from 116
178178 work for any of the following circumstances: 117
179179 (a) Participation in providing care, including physical or 118
180180 psychological care, for a family member made necessary by a 119
181181 serious health condition of the family member; 120
182182 (b) Bonding with the emp loyee's child during the first 12 121
183183 months after the child's birth or the first 12 months after the 122
184184 placement of the child for adoption by or foster care with the 123
185185 employee; 124
186186 (c) Addressing a qualifying exigency as interpreted under 125
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195195 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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199199 the Family and Medical Le ave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. s. 126
200200 2612(a)(1)(E) and 29 C.F.R. s. 825.126(a)(1) -(8), arising out of 127
201201 the fact that the spouse, child, or parent of the employee is on 128
202202 active duty or has been notified of an impending call or order 129
203203 to active duty in the Armed Force s of the United States; 130
204204 (d) Caring for a family member who was injured in the line 131
205205 of duty while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States; 132
206206 or 133
207207 (e) Caring for a family member or other leave as specified 134
208208 in the policy. 135
209209 (3) REQUIRED POLICY SPECIF ICITY.—A paid family leave 136
210210 insurance policy must specify all of the following: 137
211211 (a) Details and requirements with regard to each of the 138
212212 covered circumstances specified in subsection (2). 139
213213 (b) The length of family leave insurance benefits 140
214214 available for each covered circumstance, which may not be less 141
215215 than 2 weeks during a period of 52 consecutive calendar weeks. 142
216216 (c) Whether there is an uncovered waiting period and, if 143
217217 so, the terms and conditions of the uncovered waiting period, 144
218218 which may include, but ar e not limited to, whether: 145
219219 1. The period runs over a consecutive calendar -day period; 146
220220 2. The period is counted toward the annual allotment of 147
221221 covered family leave insurance benefits or is in addition to the 148
222222 annual allotment of covered family leave insu rance benefits; 149
223223 3. The period must be met only once per benefit year or 150
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232232 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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236236 must be met for each separate claim for benefits; and 151
237237 4. The employee may work or receive paid time off or other 152
238238 compensation during the period. 153
239239 (d) The amount of benefits that w ill be paid for covered 154
240240 circumstances specified in subsection (2). 155
241241 (e) The definition of the wages or other income upon which 156
242242 the amount of benefits will be issued. 157
243243 (f) The method by which such wages or other income will be 158
244244 calculated. 159
245245 (g) If the family leave insurance benefits are subject to 160
246246 offsets for wages or other income received or for which the 161
247247 insured may be eligible, all such wages or other income that may 162
248248 be set off and the circumstances under which the family leave 163
249249 insurance benefits may be offset. 164
250250 (h) The frequency of payments due for covered benefits. 165
251251 (4) CALCULATION OF 52 CONSECUTIVE CALENDAR WEEKS. —For 166
252252 purposes of this section, 52 consecutive calendar weeks may be 167
253253 calculated by: 168
254254 (a) A calendar year; 169
255255 (b) Any fixed period starting on a particular date, such 170
256256 as the effective date or anniversary date of the policy; 171
257257 (c) The employee's hiring date or anniversary of hiring 172
258258 date; 173
259259 (d) The period measured forward from the employee's first 174
260260 day of family leave; 175
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269269 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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273273 (e) A rolling period measured by looking back from the 176
274274 employee's first day of family leave; or 177
275275 (f) Any other method specified in the policy. 178
276276 (5) PERMISSIBLE LIMITATIONS, EXCLUSIONS, OR REDUCTIONS. —179
277277 Eligibility for family leave insurance benefits under this 180
278278 section may be limited, excluded, or reduced, but any 181
279279 limitation, exclusion, or reduction must be specified in the 182
280280 policy and not conflict with the Florida Insurance Code. 183
281281 Limitations, exclusions, or reductions are permissible for any 184
282282 of the following circumstances: 185
283283 (a) For any period during which the required notice and 186
284284 medical certification as prescribed in the policy have not been 187
285285 provided; 188
286286 (b) For any leave period related to a serious health 189
287287 condition or other harm to a family member brought about by a 190
288288 willful act by the employee; 191
289289 (c) For any period during which the employee performed 192
290290 work for remuneration or profit; 193
291291 (d) For any period for which the employee is eligible to 194
292292 receive remuneration or maintenance from her or his employer, or 195
293293 from a fund to which the employer has contributed; 196
294294 (e) For any period during which the employee is eligible 197
295295 to receive benefits under any other statutory program or 198
296296 employer-sponsored program, including, but not limited to, 199
297297 unemployment insurance benefits, workers' compensa tion benefits, 200
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306306 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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310310 or any paid time off or employer's paid leave policy; 201
311311 (f) For any period commencing before the employee becomes 202
312312 eligible for family leave insurance benefits under the policy; 203
313313 (g) For any period during which more than one person seeks 204
314314 family leave for the same family member under the same policy, 205
315315 unless the policy specifies otherwise; or 206
316316 (h) For any other reasons specified in the policy. 207
317317 (6) PAYMENT OF FAMILY LEAVE INSURANCE BENEFITS. —Family 208
318318 leave insurance benefits provided under a po licy that complies 209
319319 with this section must be paid periodically and promptly, as 210
320320 specified in the policy, except as to a contested period of 211
321321 family leave and subject to any of the limitations, exclusions, 212
322322 or reductions permitted under subsection (5). 213
323323 (7) INSURANCE POLICY.— 214
324324 (a) Rates for policies or riders providing paid family 215
325325 leave insurance benefits must be calculated in accordance with 216
326326 the rate standards provided in s. 627.062. 217
327327 (b) Forms for policies or riders providing paid family 218
328328 leave insurance benefits are subject to review by the office 219
329329 under s. 627.410. 220
330330 (c) A policy issued under this section must meet the 221
331331 requirements of s. 624.6086(2). 222
332332 (8) RULEMAKING.—The commission may adopt rules to 223
333333 administer this section. 224
334334 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 225