Lawmakers in the Florida Senate passed a handful of health related bills Tuesday morning, including:
- A measure that would make it more difficult for patients who voluntarily seek hospital treatment for mental illnesses to get a permit for a gun.
- A bill that paves the way for pharmacists to prescribe “biosimilars,” or generic versions of biologic drugs.
- A requirement for doctors to provide medical care for babies who are born alive during a botched abortion.
The bill to create state Sen. Joe Negron’s Healthy Florida plan to use federal funds to provide health coverage to 1.1 million uninsured Floridians is scheduled for a floor vote later Tuesday.
In other legislative news, lawmakers in the House have added an amendment to the texting while driving ban to include a ban on commercial truck drivers from using handheld devices to talk or text on interstate highways, the Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau reports.
Meanwhile, a bill that would speed up executions for death row inmates after they’ve exhausted all of their appeals is headed to Gov. Rick Scott’s desk for his signature, the Florida Current reports.
A bill from the Senate to limit the liability of Florida doctors in malpractice cases has hit a snag in the House, the Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau reports. State Rep. James Grant, R-Tampa, expressed concern that patients’ information would be used by insurance companies to increase rates; he filed amendments that strip a number of provisions of the bill.