No. SB 782
Filed under Healthcare.
Health Care Freedom Act; Citing this act as the “Health Care Freedom Act”; repealing provisions relating to the prohibited use of state funds for travel to another state for purpose of abortion services, the prohibited use of state funds for sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures, and the right of medical conscience of health care providers and health care payors, respectively; creating the “Health Care Transparency and Accessibility Act”; requiring a covered entity to, by a specified date, adopt a policy relating to providing written notice of a complete list of its refused services to patients, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDMoves Florida's abortion cutoff from 6 weeks of pregnancy to the third trimester, and removes the narrower fatal-fetal-abnormality and rape-incest-trafficking exceptions built around the old 6-week cutoff, since the new general rule already reaches further than either did.
Repeals the ban on gender-affirming care for minors and its related civil-liability law, and adds a new Medicaid mandate to cover medically necessary treatment for gender dysphoria without discriminating based on gender identity. Also drops a related basis for emergency child-custody actions.
Repeals Florida's stand-alone medical-conscience law for providers and payors. In its place, any facility that refuses a service must publicly list every refused service, notify patients in writing beforehand, and report the list to the Department of Health or face a daily fine.
Narrows the state-funded Pregnancy Care Network's services, cutting funded parenting classes and material aid like diapers and car seats, while raising required program spending to 90% of contract funds and keeping a 12-month postpartum window for direct services.
AIThe general ban on abortion no longer kicks in at 6 weeks of pregnancy. It now applies only in the third trimester, and the narrower fatal-fetal-abnormality and rape-incest-trafficking exceptions built around the old 6-week cutoff are removed as unnecessary.
AIRemoves the ban on using telehealth to perform an abortion and the requirement that abortion medication be dispensed only in person. Medication abortion can again be prescribed by telehealth and is no longer barred from being sent by mail or courier.
AIRepeals s. 456.52, which restricted prescribing, administering, or performing sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures for patients younger than 18, and repeals s. 766.318, the civil-liability law tied specifically to providing that care to minors.
AIAdds a new Medicaid mandate: the agency must reimburse medically necessary treatment for gender dysphoria, and cannot deny or reduce that reimbursement based on a recipient's gender identity or transgender status.
AIAny health care facility relying on a law that lets it opt out of a service must adopt, by October 1, 2026, a written policy listing every refused service, give patients that list in writing before treatment begins, and report the list to the Department of Health.
AIRemoves the ground that let a Florida court claim emergency jurisdiction over a child based on the child being subjected to sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedures, and removes the parallel listing of that care as 'serious physical harm' for a warrant to seize physical custody of the child.
AIRepeals s. 381.00321, the state's general statute recognizing a right of medical conscience for health care providers and payors to decline to participate in services they object to.
AIRaises the share of contract funds the Florida Pregnancy Care Network must spend on direct services from 85% to 90%, while removing the carve-out that let network-awareness spending skip counting toward that threshold.