Contributor

Following Governor DeSantis’ Executive Orders 21-150 and 21-151 in response to Tropical Storm Elsa, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) issued the following notice to all health insurers, managed care organizations and other health entities licensed by OIR.

To: All Health Insurers, Managed Care Organizations, and Other Health Entities Authorized to do Business in Florida 

RE: Tropical Storm Elsa – Notice of Florida Law for Early Prescription Refills 

This notice is a reminder that all health insurers, managed care organizations, and other health entities must comply with must comply with the provisions of section 252.358, Florida Statutes, which allows for early prescription refills in the event that the Governor issues an Executive Order declaring a State of Emergency or when a county Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is activated.

This statute has now been triggered due to Tropical Storm Elsa for Alachua, Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Columbia, Dixie, Franklin, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Sumter, Suwanee, Taylor, and Wakulla counties. This mandate remains in effect until the Governor’s Executive Orders are rescinded or expires.

Declaration of Emergency by Governor DeSantis

The Governor’s Executive Orders 21-150, and 21-151 are available here.

In accordance with section 252.358, Florida Statutes, Emergency-preparedness prescription medication refills:

• All health insurers, managed care organizations, and other entities that are licensed by the Office of Insurance Regulation and provide prescription medication coverage as part of a policy or contract shall waive time restrictions on prescription medication refills, which include suspension of electronic “refill too soon” edits to pharmacies, to enable insureds or subscribers to refill prescriptions in advance, if there are authorized refills remaining, and shall authorize payment to pharmacies for at least a 30-day supply of any prescription medication, regardless of the date upon which the prescription had most recently been filled by a pharmacist, when the following conditions occur:

• (1) The person seeking the prescription medication refill resides in a county that:
  • (a) Is under a hurricane warning issued by the National Weather Service;
  • (b) Is declared to be under a state of emergency in an executive order issued by the Governor; or
  • (c) Has activated its emergency operations center and its emergency management plan.
• (2) The prescription medication refill is requested within 30 days after the origination date of the conditions stated in this section or until such conditions are terminated by the issuing authority or no longer exist. The time period for the waiver of prescription medication refills may be extended in 15- or 30-day increments by emergency orders issued by the Office of Insurance Regulation.

This section does not excuse or exempt an insured or subscriber from compliance with all other terms of the policy or contract providing prescription medication coverage.

PLEASE BE GOVERNED ACCORDINGLY.

About the OIR
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has primary responsibility for regulation, compliance, and enforcement of statutes related to the business of insurance and the monitoring of industry markets. For more information about OIR, please visit our website or follow us on Twitter @FLOIR_comm.