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House Speaker Steve Crisafulli apologizes for Matt Gaetz’s tweet

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House Speaker Steve Crisafulli late Thursday night apologized for a controversial Twitter post made by state Rep. Matt Gaetz. Crisafulli said he “does not condone the Tweet by @MattGaetz. He is an agitator, yes, but not a racist. Please accept my apology to those offended.” Gaetz started a Twitter war Thursday afternoon after remarking that the Senate Democrats’ lawsuit filed at the Florida Supreme Court “rea(d) like it was researched and drafted by Sen. Joyner and spell checked by Sen. Bullard.” It’s not…

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The latest on five legislative food fights

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Where things stand on a number of “legislative food fights” is a complicated question in today’s adversarial climate at the Capitol. The $4 billion chasm between the House and Senate budget proposals is casting a shadow on every corner of legislative business, both appropriations and policy measures. “Bill aren’t just dying; they’re being massacred,” state Rep. Frank Artiles told this reporter in line at a Shell station on Monroe Street in Tallahassee Saturday evening. Nonetheless, the show must go on in the…

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Senate panel OKs nursing bill; it’s now a healthcare train

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The Senate Appropriations Committee quickly moved a healthcare train with little-to-no debate. The underlying nursing bill became a “train” after the committee tagged on two House priorities: direct primary care and site selection for new veteran nursing homes or HBs 7047 and 7045, respectively. Both bills were developed by the House Health Innovation Subcommittee. The underlying bill, CS/CS/SB 532, is filed by state Sen. Denise Grimsley and it allows advanced registered nurse practitioners to order medications for patients in hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, or mobile surgical…

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Another healthcare train developing in Senate but medical tourism left behind

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Nursing bills are becoming healthcare trains in the Florida Senate. The Senate Appropriations Committee is poised to add two House healthcare priorities  to  CS/CS/SB 532, when it meets today: direct primary care and site selection for new veteran nursing homes or HBs 7047 and 7045, respectively. Both bills were developed by the House Health Innovation Subcommittee. The underlying bill is filed by state Sen. Denise Grimsley and it allows advanced registered nurse practitioners to order medications for patients in hospitals, ambulatory…

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Mitch Perry Report for 4.21.15 — Odds looking better for David Jolly for Senate in ’16?

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A week ago I spoke with someone close to David Jolly about the fact that the Pinellas County congressman was going to take some time to consider a candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 2016. There were and are a number of pros and cons, of course, for the still newbie Republican representative to contemplate in making such a momentous career decision. The biggest downside is the very real possibility that after yearning to serve in Washington for perhaps his entire…

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Step therapy amendment added to latest healthcare train bill

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A Senate committee tagged a controversial healthcare bill to a measure expanding the scope of practice for Florida’s nurses, a priority for the Florida House this year. The Senate Rules Committee on Monday committee agreed to tack on an amendment to CS/CS/SB 614, which would allow doctors to override step therapy protocols within 24 hours if a physician believes, based on sound medical evidence, that the step therapy treatment would be ineffective or would cause an adverse reaction. Former Senate President Don Gaetz…

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Senate grills, then confirms AHCA Secretary Liz Dudek

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The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee voted 8-1 to approve Liz Dudek‘s appointment as head of the state Agency for Health Care Administration but only after she answered more than an hour’s worth of questions regarding Low Income Pool funding, Medicaid expansion and how negotiations are evolving with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Senators asked some pointed questions and Dudek–a longtime state healthcare planner who is held in high regard by the Florida Legislature–gave senators the answers…

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