Florida SB 794: Mandatory Human Reviews of Insurance Claim Denials

Bill Text

794 
Agency for Persons with Disabilities 
2026-02-26T08:19:21Z 
Requiring level 2 employment screening for all employees of residential facilities and adult day training programs; providing background screening requirements for such employees; requiring the agency to solicit input and conduct publicly noticed hearings for a specified purpose in each service region; requiring the agency to use certain information to identify certain core competencies and performance metrics and make recommendations for standardizing assessments, etc. 
Committee Substitute 2 
2026 
S 
GB 
General Bill 
c2 

 Florida Senate - 2026 CS for CS for SB 794 

 By the Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services; 
 the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; and 
 Senators Jones and Garcia 

 603-03212-26 2026794c2 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to the Agency for Persons with 
 3 Disabilities; amending s. 393.0655, F.S.; requiring 
 4 level 2 employment screening for all employees of 
 5 residential facilities and adult day training 
 6 programs; providing background screening requirements 
 7 for such employees; requiring the agency to contract 
 8 with a state university to develop and administer 
 9 certain surveys for a specified purpose; specifying 
 10 requirements for such surveys; requiring the state 
 11 university to submit a final report to the agency by a 
 12 specified date; requiring the agency to solicit input 
 13 and conduct publicly noticed hearings for a specified 
 14 purpose in each service region; requiring the agency 
 15 to conduct or contract for a gap analysis to make 
 16 certain assessments; requiring the agency to use 
 17 certain information to identify certain core 
 18 competencies and performance metrics and make 
 19 recommendations for standardizing assessments; 
 20 requiring the agency to submit a report of its 
 21 findings and recommendations to the Governor and the 
 22 Legislature by a specified date; amending s. 393.063, 
 23 F.S.; revising the definition of the term 
 24 “developmental disability”; defining the term “Tatton 
 25 Brown-Rahman syndrome”; providing effective dates. 
 26 
 27 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 28 
 29 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 393.0655, Florida 
 30 Statutes, is amended to read: 
 31 393.0655 Screening of direct service providers.— 
 32 (1) MINIMUM STANDARDS.—The agency shall require level 2 
 33 employment screening pursuant to chapter 435 for direct service 
 34 providers who are unrelated to their clients, including support 
 35 coordinators, and all employees managers and supervisors of 
 36 residential facilities or adult day training programs licensed 
 37 under this chapter and any other persons, including volunteers, 
 38 who provide care or services, who have access to a client’s 
 39 living areas, or who have access to a client’s funds or personal 
 40 property. Background screening for all employees must include 
 41 employment history checks as provided in s. 435.03(1) and local 
 42 criminal records checks through local law enforcement agencies. 
 43 (a) A volunteer who assists on an intermittent basis for 
 44 less than 10 hours per month does not have to be screened if a 
 45 person who meets the screening requirement of this section is 
 46 always present and has the volunteer within his or her line of 
 47 sight. 
 48 (b) Licensed physicians, nurses, or other professionals 
 49 licensed and regulated by the Department of Health are not 
 50 subject to background screening pursuant to this section if they 
 51 are providing a service that is within their scope of licensed 
 52 practice. 
 53 (c) A person selected by the family or the individual with 
 54 developmental disabilities and paid by the family or the 
 55 individual to provide supports or services is not required to 
 56 have a background screening under this section. 
 57 (d) Persons 12 years of age or older, including family 
 58 members, residing with a direct services provider who provides 
 59 services to clients in his or her own place of residence are 
 60 subject to background screening; however, such persons who are 
 61 12 to 18 years of age shall be screened for delinquency records 
 62 only. 
 63 Section 2. (1)(a) For purposes of enhancing the quality, 
 64 capacity, and consistency of waiver support coordination 
 65 services, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities shall 
 66 contract with a state university to develop and administer 
 67 surveys regarding waiver support coordination services. The 
 68 university shall administer surveys to owners and operators of 
 69 all qualified organizations in this state; support coordinators 
 70 currently employed by a qualified organization; and iBudget 
 71 clients and their parents, caregivers, or legal guardians. 
 72 1. The surveys must, at a minimum, solicit data and input 
 73 regarding: 
 74 a. The quality, consistency, and accessibility of services