Florida 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0955 Latest Draft

Bill / Introduced Version Filed 12/20/2023

                               
 
HB 955  	2024 
 
 
 
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A bill to be entitled 1 
An act relating to prescriptive authority for 2 
psychologists; creating s. 490.0065, F.S.; defining 3 
terms; requiring the Board of Psychology to certify 4 
psychologists to exercise prescriptive authority if 5 
they meet specified criteria; requiring the board to 6 
develop procedures and adopt rules relating to 7 
prescriptive authority certification; authorizing the 8 
board to require that a prescribing psychologist 9 
correct certain deficiencies under certain 10 
circumstances; specifying certification application 11 
requirements; requiring the board to adopt rules 12 
providing for certification renewal; specifying 13 
continuing education requirements for certificate 14 
renewal; specifying requirements for the prescribing 15 
of drugs and controlled substances by a prescribing 16 
psychologist; prohibiting specified prescribing 17 
actions; requiring a prescribing psychologist who is 18 
authorized to prescribe controlled substances to file 19 
his or her federal Drug Enforcement Administration 20 
registration number with the board within a specified 21 
timeframe; requiring the board to maintain a current 22 
record of every prescribing psychologist authorized to 23 
prescribe controlled substances; requiring a 24 
prescribing psychologist to maintain professional 25     
 
HB 955  	2024 
 
 
 
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liability insurance; exempting specified licensees 26 
from certain certification requirements; requiring the 27 
Board of Psychology to establish an interim panel for 28 
a specified purpose by a specified date; providing 29 
panel membership; requiring the panel to submit 30 
recommendations for rules to the board by a specified 31 
date; requiring the panel to develop a formulary for 32 
prescribing psychologists; providing requirements for 33 
the formulary; providing for the dissolution of the 34 
panel; amending s. 627.6131, F.S.; revising provisions 35 
related to health care insurance claims to provide for 36 
prescribing psychologists; providing applicability; 37 
providing an effective date. 38 
  39 
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 40 
 41 
 Section 1.  Section 490.0065, Florida Statutes, is created 42 
to read: 43 
 490.0065  Certification for pres criptive authority.— 44 
 (1)  DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 45 
 (a)  "Clinical experience" means a period of supervised 46 
training and practice during which an individual learns and 47 
conducts diagnoses and interventions under the supervision of a 48 
physician. 49 
 (b)  "Controlled substance" has the same meaning as in s. 50     
 
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893.02. 51 
 (c)  "Drug" has the same meaning as in s. 499.003. 52 
 (d)  "Prescribing psychologist" means a psychologist who 53 
has received from the board a certificate for prescriptive 54 
authority which has not been revoked or suspended. 55 
 (e)  "Prescription" has the same meaning as in s. 465.003. 56 
 (f)  "Prescriptive authority" means having the authority to 57 
prescribe, administer, discontinue, or distribute drugs or 58 
controlled substances recognized o r customarily used in the 59 
diagnosis, treatment, or management of an individual who has a 60 
psychiatric, mental, cognitive, nervous, emotional, 61 
developmental, or behavioral disorder within the scope of the 62 
practice of psychology. 63 
 (2)  DUTIES OF THE BOARD. —The board shall do all of the 64 
following: 65 
 (a)  Certify psychologists who meet the requirements listed 66 
in subsection (3) to exercise prescriptive authority. 67 
 (b)  Develop and implement procedures to review education 68 
and training requirements for certification . 69 
 (c)  Adopt rules to deny, modify, suspend, or revoke a 70 
psychologist's prescriptive authority certification. The board 71 
may require remediation by a prescribing psychologist to correct 72 
deficiencies in his or her training or practice upon the board's 73 
determination that such deficiencies could reasonably be 74 
expected to jeopardize the health, safety, or welfare of the 75     
 
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public. 76 
 (3)  CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS. — 77 
 (a)  A psychologist who applies for prescriptive authority 78 
certification must demonstrate all of the f ollowing by an 79 
official transcript or other official evidence deemed 80 
satisfactory by the board: 81 
 1.  A current license as a psychologist. 82 
 2.  Graduation from a doctoral program in psychology. 83 
 3.  A passing score on an examination developed by a 84 
nationally recognized body, such as the Psychopharmacology 85 
Examination for Psychologists offered by the Association of 86 
State and Provincial Psychology Boards, and approved by the 87 
board to establish competency in prescriptive authority. 88 
 4.a.  Consistent with the Am erican Psychological 89 
Association's established policies for education of 90 
psychologists in preparation for prescriptive authority, 91 
successful completion of an organized sequence of study in a 92 
program offering intensive didactic education which includes 93 
core areas of instruction in basic sciences, neurosciences, 94 
physical examination, interpretation of laboratory tests, 95 
pathological bases of disease, clinical medicine, clinical 96 
neurotherapeutics, systems of care, pharmacology, clinical 97 
pharmacology, psychophar macology, psychopharmacology research, 98 
and professional, ethical, and legal issues. The program must 99 
consist of an appropriate number of hours of didactic 100     
 
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instruction, as determined by the board, to ensure that the 101 
applicant has the knowledge and skills re quired to prescribe 102 
drugs in a safe and effective manner. 103 
 b.  Consistent with the American Psychological 104 
Association's established policies for the training of 105 
psychologists in preparation for prescriptive authority, 106 
relevant clinical experience sufficien t for the applicant to 107 
attain competency in the psychopharmacological treatment of a 108 
diverse patient population or at least 2 years practicing under 109 
the supervision of a licensed physician whose practice involves 110 
the pharmacological treatment of mental, ne rvous, emotional, 111 
behavioral, substance abuse, or cognitive diseases. 112 
 113 
The educational and training requirements under this 114 
subparagraph may be met as part of a doctoral program, 115 
postdoctoral training, or a fellowship in psychology. 116 
 (b)  A psychologist is exempt from the educational 117 
requirements established under paragraph (a) if he or she has 118 
completed the United States Department of Defense 119 
Psychopharmacology Demonstration Project. 120 
 (4)  CERTIFICATION RENEWAL. — 121 
 (a)  The board shall establish by rule a m ethod for the 122 
renewal of prescriptive authority certification, to occur in 123 
conjunction with licensure renewal pursuant to s. 490.007. 124 
 (b)  Each applicant for renewal must present satisfactory 125     
 
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evidence to the board demonstrating completion of 20 hours of 126 
continuing education relevant to prescriptive authority during 127 
the previous 2-year licensure period. 128 
 (5)  PRESCRIPTION PRACTICES. — 129 
 (a)  A prescribing psychologist may use his or her 130 
prescriptive authority certification in accordance with rules 131 
adopted by the board. 132 
 (b)  A prescribing psychologist shall: 133 
 1.  Maintain a record of all of a patient's prescriptions. 134 
 2.  Consult and collaborate with a patient's primary care 135 
physician and concur with that physician before prescribing a 136 
drug, altering a drug tr eatment plan, or discontinuing a drug. 137 
 (c)  A prescribing psychologist may not: 138 
 1.  Issue a prescription unless the psychologist holds a 139 
valid and current prescriptive authority certification that has 140 
not been revoked or suspended. 141 
 2.  Delegate the auth ority to prescribe drugs to another 142 
person. 143 
 3.  Issue a prescription to a patient who does not have a 144 
primary care physician. 145 
 (d)  A prescription issued by a prescribing psychologist 146 
must do all of the following: 147 
 1.  Be written in a manner as determined by the board. 148 
 2.  Comply with all applicable state and federal laws. 149 
 (6)  CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE PRESCRIPTION AUTHORITY. — 150     
 
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 (a)  Upon the board authorizing a psychologist to prescribe 151 
controlled substances, the prescribing psychologist must file 152 
with the board, within 10 days after the authorization, his or 153 
her federal Drug Enforcement Administration registration number. 154 
 (b)  The board shall maintain a current record of every 155 
prescribing psychologist authorized to prescribe controlled 156 
substances. 157 
 (7)  FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. —A prescribing psychologist 158 
must maintain at least $250,000 of professional liability 159 
insurance coverage. 160 
 (8)  EXEMPTION.—A person holding an active license as a 161 
physician or physician assistant under chapter 458 or chapter 162 
459 or an advanced practice registered nurse holding an active 163 
license under chapter 464 is exempt from the certification 164 
requirements of this section. 165 
 (9)  INTERIM PANEL.—By October 1, 2024, the board shall 166 
establish an interim panel to provide recommendations for 167 
proposed rules governing prescriptive authority for 168 
psychologists. The interim panel shall consist of a psychiatrist 169 
licensed under chapter 45 8 or chapter 459 and a pediatrician, 170 
both selected by the Board of Medicine; a pharmacist who holds a 171 
doctoral degree, selected by the Board of Pharmacy; and two 172 
psychologists who hold postdoctoral master's degrees in clinical 173 
psychopharmacology, selected by the Board of Psychology. The 174 
panel shall submit its recommendations for proposed rules to the 175     
 
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board by February 1, 2025. 176 
 (a)  The interim panel shall establish a formulary that: 177 
 1.  Authorizes the prescribing of drugs recognized and 178 
customarily used for the management of mental, nervous, 179 
emotional, behavioral, substance abuse, and cognitive diseases. 180 
 2.  Establishes guidelines for the pharmacological 181 
treatment of patients younger than 18 years of age. 182 
 3.  Limits the prescribing of Schedule II control led 183 
substances to those drugs recognized and customarily used for 184 
the management of mental, nervous, emotional, behavioral, 185 
substance abuse, and cognitive diseases. 186 
 4.  Prohibits the prescribing of drugs primarily used to 187 
pharmacologically treat patients for other primary conditions, 188 
unless specifically defined and authorized in the formulary. 189 
 (b)  This subsection expires May 1, 2025. 190 
 Section 2.  Subsection (18) of section 627.6131, Florida 191 
Statutes, is amended to read: 192 
 627.6131  Payment of claims. — 193 
 (18)  Notwithstanding the 30 -month period provided in 194 
subsection (6), all claims for overpayment submitted to a 195 
provider licensed under chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, 196 
chapter 461, or chapter 466, or chapter 490 must be submitted to 197 
the provider within 12 months after the health insurer's payment 198 
of the claim. A claim for overpayment may not be permitted 199 
beyond 12 months after the health insurer's payment of a claim, 200     
 
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except that claims for overpayment may be sought beyond that 201 
time from providers con victed of fraud pursuant to s. 817.234. 202 
 Section 3.  The amendments made to s. 627.6131(18), Florida 203 
Statutes, by this act apply to claims for services provided on 204 
or after October 1, 2024. 205 
 Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 206