TALAHASSEE – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed 12 bills into law on Monday, including measures regarding boating safety and drug benefit managers.
The Boating Safety Act (SB 606), which takes effect July 1, will require Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-approved boating safety courses and temporary certificate exams to include material on the benefits of safety switches. engine shutdown for motorboats and personal watercraft.
The law will also require programs to address hazards associated with passengers traveling on “a seat back, gunwale, transom, bow, engine cover or any other area of a vessel” not designed for seating and the dangers associated with people falling overboard and the operation of boats near people in the water.
DeSantis also signed a bill (HB 357) that will lead to increased scrutiny of pharmacy benefit managers, who serve as a sort of middleman between health insurers and pharmacies.
The bill, in part, will give the Office of Insurance Regulation more authority over drug benefit managers. Small pharmacies have long complained about pharmacy benefits managers, who represent health insurers in negotiations with drug companies and pharmacies.
Michael Jackson, executive vice president and CEO of the Florida Pharmacy Association, welcomed the signing in a prepared statement.
“Long past PBMs (pharmacy benefit managers) will now be subject to existing regulation under the Office of Insurance Regulation, ensuring they meet strict requirements designed to protect community and independent pharmacies, patients in the need and hard-working taxpayers,” Jackson said. , which was part of a coalition known as EMPOWER Patients that backed the measure.
The bills were passed in the legislative session that ended in March.
CBS Miami Team
