TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Home healthcare services will be easier to access this summer.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill this month allowing advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants to order medically necessary home health care services for people on Medicaid.
“Now we’re catching the Medicaid population up with federal and private insurers,” Rep. Gallop Franklin, (D) Tallahassee, said.
The Affordable Care Act allows advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants to order home services for patients with private insurance or Medicare. A new law Governor Ron DeSantis signed this month expands that to Medicaid patients.
“The truth of the matter is Medicaid patients have a real challenge in accessing health care services. Now we’ve opened up that door,” Rep. Franklin said.
Under the new law set to take effect July 1, 2024, healthcare services offered in the home may include:
- Doctor care
- Nursing care
- Physical, occupational, respiratory, or speech therapy
- Home health aide services
- Medical social services
- Homemaker/companion services.
“This really minimizes and eliminates those needless trips to the doctor’s office. Just to get a prescription changed or a new prescription written,” AARP Associate State Director of Advocacy Karen Murillo. “This bill in particular helps with physical access more than anything else. It eliminates the need for transportation which can be expensive or in some cases isn’t available.”
This is just one of many efforts the state legislature took this year to expand healthcare access. The Live Healthy Act offers money for providers to invest in recruiting and telehealth technology.
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