Florida Senate - 2016 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. SB 662 Ì234508-Î234508 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House . . . . . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— The Committee on Health Policy (Gaetz) recommended the following: 1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 2 3 Delete everything after the enacting clause 4 and insert: 5 Section 1. Section 408.0641, Florida Statutes, is created 6 to read: 7 408.0641 Clearinghouse for compassionate and palliative 8 care plans; public records exemption.— 9 (1) Information held in the clearinghouse for compassionate 10 and palliative care plans at the Agency for Health Care 11 Administration or its designee under s. 408.064 is confidential 12 and exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 13 Constitution. 14 (2) The agency or its designee may disclose such 15 confidential and exempt information to the following persons or 16 entities upon request after using a verification process to 17 ensure the legitimacy of the request and the requestor’s 18 identity: 19 (a) A physician who certifies that the information is 20 necessary to provide medical treatment to a patient with a 21 terminal illness who has a plan in the clearinghouse. 22 (b) A patient or the legal guardian or designated health 23 care surrogate of a patient with a terminal illness who has a 24 plan in the clearinghouse. 25 (c) A health care facility that certifies that the 26 information is necessary to provide medical treatment to a 27 patient with a terminal illness who has a plan in the 28 clearinghouse. 29 (3) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset 30 Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed 31 on October 2, 2021, unless reviewed and saved from repeal 32 through reenactment by the Legislature. 33 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 34 necessity to make confidential and exempt from disclosure 35 information held in the clearinghouse for compassionate and 36 palliative care plans which would identify a patient, his or her 37 terminal illness, or the patient’s family members. Such personal 38 identifying information, if publicly available, could be used to 39 invade the personal privacy of the patient or his or her family. 40 The decisions made under a compassionate and palliative care 41 plan for a terminal condition are a private matter. Furthermore, 42 the public disclosure of such information could hinder the 43 effective and efficient administration of the clearinghouse for 44 compassionate and palliative care plans. Public access to such 45 information could reduce participation and minimize the 46 effectiveness of compassionate and palliative care plans to meet 47 the needs of individuals. Finally, access to such information 48 could be used to solicit, harass, stalk, or intimidate 49 clearinghouse participants or terminally ill patients or their 50 families. Therefore, the Legislature finds that information held 51 in the clearinghouse for compassionate and palliative care plans 52 which would identify a patient participating in the 53 clearinghouse or which contains or reflects the patient’s 54 medical information should be confidential and exempt from 55 public records requirements. 56 Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that 57 SB 664 or similar legislation takes effect if such legislation 58 is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension 59 thereof and becomes a law. 60 61 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 62 And the title is amended as follows: 63 Delete everything before the enacting clause 64 and insert: 65 A bill to be entitled 66 An act relating to public records; creating s. 67 408.0641, F.S.; creating an exemption from public 68 records for identifying information in compassionate 69 and palliative care plans filed with the clearinghouse 70 for compassionate and palliative care plans at the 71 Agency for Health Care Administration or its designee; 72 authorizing the disclosure of certain information to 73 certain entities and individuals; providing for future 74 legislative review and repeal of the exemption under 75 the Open Government Sunset Review Act; providing a 76 statement of public necessity; providing a contingent 77 effective date.