Bill Text: FL S1518 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Alternative Treatment Options for Veterans

Spectrum:

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-05-01 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 501 (Ch. 2019-148) [S1518 Detail]

Download: Florida-2019-S1518-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2019                                    SB 1518
       
       
        
       By Senator Wright
       
       
       
       
       
       14-01832B-19                                          20191518__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to alternative treatment options for
    3         veterans; creating s. 295.156, F.S.; providing
    4         definitions; specifying eligibility to receive
    5         alternative treatment; authorizing the Department of
    6         Veterans’ Affairs to contract with certain individuals
    7         and entities to provide alternative treatment options
    8         for certain veterans; requiring direction and
    9         supervision by certain licensed providers; authorizing
   10         the department to adopt rules; providing an effective
   11         date.
   12          
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Section 295.156, Florida Statutes, is created to
   16  read:
   17         295.156 Alternative treatment options for veterans.—
   18         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   19         (a) “Accelerated resolution therapy” means a process that
   20  replaces negative images and sensations with positive ones, uses
   21  specific eye movements in conjunction with controlled
   22  verbalization about details of the prior traumatic experience,
   23  and uses metaphors and other interventions to assist the patient
   24  in recalling less distressing images while retaining the facts
   25  of the original experience.
   26         (b) “Alternative treatment” means a treatment that is not
   27  part of the standard of medical care established by the United
   28  States Department of Veterans Affairs for treating traumatic
   29  brain injury or posttraumatic stress disorder but has been shown
   30  by at least one scientific or medical peer-reviewed study to
   31  have some positive effect for the treatment of traumatic brain
   32  injury or posttraumatic stress disorder.
   33         (c) “Equine therapy” means the use of interaction with
   34  horses under the supervision of a trained equine instructor to
   35  improve the patient’s sense of trust and self-efficiency;
   36  increase communication, socialization, and emotional management
   37  skills; and decrease isolation.
   38         (d) “Facility” includes a hospital, a public health clinic,
   39  an outpatient health clinic, a community health center, and any
   40  other facility authorized under Department of Veterans’ Affairs
   41  rule to provide hyperbaric oxygen therapy under this section.
   42         (e) “Health care practitioner” means a person who is
   43  licensed to provide medical care or other health care in this
   44  state and who has prescriptive authority, including a physician.
   45         (f) “Hyperbaric oxygen therapy” means a medical treatment,
   46  provided at a facility in compliance with applicable state fire
   47  codes, which is used in the prevention, treatment, or cure of a
   48  disease or a condition in human beings by delivering a
   49  saturation of 100 percent oxygen in a mono-place or multi-place
   50  hyperbaric chamber or a total body chamber approved by the
   51  United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or in a device
   52  that has an appropriate FDA-approved investigational device
   53  exemption, in which atmospheric pressure is increased and
   54  controlled.
   55         (g) “Music therapy” means the use of music listening or
   56  performance to address the patient’s physical, emotional,
   57  cognitive, and social needs and to facilitate communication and
   58  expression.
   59         (h) “Physician” means a person licensed to practice
   60  medicine under chapter 458 or chapter 459.
   61         (i) “Service animal training therapy” means a technique
   62  that allows the patient to work directly with an animal trainer
   63  to train animals as therapy or service animals.
   64         (j) “Traumatic brain injury” means an acquired injury to
   65  the brain. The term does not include brain dysfunction caused by
   66  congenital or degenerative disorders or birth trauma.
   67         (k) “Veteran” means an individual who has served in any of
   68  the following:
   69         1. The United States Armed Forces, including the United
   70  States Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Marine Corps.
   71         2. The Florida National Guard.
   72         3. A reserve component of the United States Armed Forces.
   73         (2) A veteran qualifies to receive alternative treatment
   74  under this section if he or she:
   75         (a) Has been diagnosed with service-connected posttraumatic
   76  stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury by a health care
   77  practitioner; and
   78         (b) Voluntarily agrees to such alternative treatment.
   79         (3) Subject to legislative appropriation, the Department of
   80  Veterans’ Affairs may contract with one or more individuals,
   81  corporations not for profit, state universities, hospitals, or
   82  Florida College System institutions to provide the following
   83  alternative treatment options for veterans who have been
   84  certified by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or
   85  any branch of the United States Armed Forces as having a
   86  traumatic brain injury or posttraumatic stress disorder:
   87         (a) Accelerated resolution therapy.
   88         (b) Equine therapy.
   89         (c) Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which must be provided at a
   90  registered hyperbaric oxygen facility.
   91         (d) Music therapy.
   92         (e) Service animal training therapy.
   93         (4) The provision of alternative treatment must be under
   94  the direction and supervision of an individual licensed under
   95  chapter 458, chapter 459, chapter 460, chapter 490, or chapter
   96  491.
   97         (5) The Department of Veterans’ Affairs may adopt rules to
   98  implement this section.
   99         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.