TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Following Governor
DeSantis’ Executive Order 19-190
expanding the state of emergency to all 67 counties in Florida as the state
prepares for Hurricane Dorian, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR)
issued the following notice to all health insurers, managed care organizations
and other health entities licensed by OIR:
To:
All Health Insurers, Managed Care Organizations and Other Health Entities
RE:
Florida Law Reminder for Early Prescription Refills
DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY BY GOVERNOR
This
notice is a reminder that all health insurers, managed care organizations and
other health entities must comply with the provisions of section 252.358,
Florida Statutes, which allows for early prescription refills in the event that
the Governor issues an Executive Order declaring a State of Emergency or when a
county Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is activated. This mandate remains in
effect until the Governor’s Executive Order is rescinded or expires. See below for
reference materials:
- Governor’s
Executive Order: 19-190
- Florida
Statute language:
252.358 Emergency-preparedness
prescription medication refills.—All health insurers, managed care
organizations, and other entities that are licensed by the Office of Insurance
Regulation and provide prescription medication coverage as part of a policy or
contract shall waive time restrictions on prescription medication refills,
which include suspension of electronic “refill too soon” edits to pharmacies,
to enable insureds or subscribers to refill prescriptions in advance, if there
are authorized refills remaining, and shall authorize payment to pharmacies for
at least a 30-day supply of any prescription medication, regardless of the date
upon which the prescription had most recently been filled by a pharmacist, when
the following conditions occur:
(1) The person seeking the prescription
medication refill resides in a county that:
(a) Is under a hurricane warning issued by
the National Weather Service;
(b) Is declared to be under a state of
emergency in an executive order issued by the Governor; or
(c) Has activated its emergency operations
center and its emergency management plan.
(2) The prescription medication refill is
requested within 30 days after the origination date of the conditions stated in
this section or until such conditions are terminated by the issuing authority
or no longer exist. The time period for the waiver of prescription medication
refills may be extended in 15- or 30-day increments by emergency orders issued
by the Office of Insurance Regulation.
This section does not excuse or exempt an
insured or subscriber from compliance with all other terms of the policy or contract
providing prescription medication coverage.
The
Governor has issued an emergency order for all counties and many counties have
activated their EOC's.
PLEASE
BE GOVERNED ACCORDINGLY
For
questions, please contact Carolyn Morgan at (850) 413-5233 or by email at carolyn.morgan@floir.com.
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