SESSION WATCH
Died SENATE · SESSION 2026

No. SB 70

Step-therapy Protocols
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SPONSOR
Harrell
FILED BY
Gayle Harrell — District 31, Republican [search donations]
EFFECTIVE
Except as otherwise expressly provided in this act and except for this section, which shall take effect upon this act becoming a law, this act shall take effect October 1, 2026
DIED IN
Health Policy

Filed under Healthcare.

PROVIDED SUMMARY

Step-therapy Protocols; Requiring the Agency for Health Care Administration to approve drug products for Medicaid recipients for the treatment of serious mental illness without step-therapy prior authorization under certain circumstances; directing the agency to include rate impacts resulting from the act in certain rates that become effective on a specified date, etc.

Full bill text →

Plain English Summary

AI-GENERATED
Requires Medicaid to waive step-therapy rules for some serious mental illness drugs.

Creates a new legal definition of 'serious mental illness' covering bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, paranoid personality or other psychotic disorders, schizoaffective disorders, and schizophrenia for Florida's Medicaid statutes.

Expands the diagnoses that let a Medicaid drug bypass step-therapy prior authorization from only schizophrenia-spectrum disorders to the full, broader list of serious mental illnesses defined by this bill.

For drugs treating a serious mental illness, the agency must approve the bypass once a physician documents medical necessity, rather than simply having discretion to approve it as with other drugs.

Directs the state Medicaid agency to fold the cost of this change into managed care capitation rates that take effect October 1, 2026, when the rest of the act also takes effect.

KEY PROVISIONS
§ 1 Defines 'serious mental illness' for Medicaid drug rules majors. 409.901

AICreates a new statutory definition of serious mental illness listing specific psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorders, major depressive disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, paranoid personality or other psychotic disorders, schizoaffective disorders, and schizophrenia.

“means any of the following psychiatric disorders as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” bill text, line 23 →
§ 2 Makes the step-therapy bypass mandatory for these drugs majors. 409.912

AIFor a drug product treating a serious mental illness, the agency must approve the drug without the usual step-therapy prior authorization once the documentation criteria are met, instead of merely having discretion to approve it.

“in the case of a drug product for the treatment of a serious mental illness, must be approved” bill text, line 350 →
§ 3 Broadens which diagnoses qualify for the step-therapy exception majors. 409.912

AIThe step-therapy exception for a patient already stabilized on a specific drug used to apply only to schizophrenia, schizotypal, or delusional disorders. It now applies to any diagnosis covered by the broader serious mental illness definition.

“The drug product or medication of a similar drug class is prescribed for the treatment of a serious mental illness” bill text, line 361 →
§ 4 Directs Medicaid rates to absorb the cost of this change moderate

AIThe Agency for Health Care Administration must build the rate impact of this act into the Medicaid managed medical assistance program and long-term care managed care program rates effective October 1, 2026.

“is directed to include the rate impact of this act in the Medicaid managed medical assistance program” bill text, line 405 →
TIMELINE
3/13/2026
Died in Health Policy
1/13/2026
Introduced
10/6/2025
Referred to Health Policy; Appropriations Committee on Health and...
9/23/2025
Filed
STATUTES IT CHANGES
s. 409.901
+77 / −0
s. 409.912
+32 / −13
s. 409.910
+3 / −3
s. 409.901
+0 / −0