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Department of Health Effective Date: July 1, 2025HB 1299 (Bill Information)

Summary:The bill revises laws relating to Florida’s health care workforce, health care services, and health care practitioner licensure and regulation related to the Florida Department of Health.

• Prohibits discrimination based on vaccination status - The bill postpones until June 1, 2027, the scheduled repeal of the statutory definition of “messenger ribonucleic acid vaccine” (mRNA vaccine) to maintain statutory prohibitions against discrimination based on knowledge or belief of a person’s status relating to vaccination with any mRNA vaccine, including by governmental entities, business establishments, and educational institutions.

• Clarifies licensure and reporting requirements of medical marijuana businesses - The bill requires medical marijuana treatment centers (MMTCs) to report any actual or attempted theft, loss, or diversion of medical marijuana to the Department of Health. It also specifies which owners, employees, and managers are subject to criminal background screening requirements for both MMTCs and certified medical marijuana testing laboratories.

• Revises licensure requirements of the Mobile Opportunity by Interstate Licensure Endorsement (MOBILE) Act - The bill revises the active practice requirement for licensure by endorsement under the MOBILE Act from three years to two years. It also establishes that reported conduct in the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) does not disqualify an applicant from licensure under the MOBILE Act if the reported conduct would not constitute a violation of Florida law or rule and grants the applicable regulatory board, or the Department if there is no board, specified discretion regarding applicants with adverse actions reported to the NPDB.

• Expands opportunities for newly trained allopathic physicians seeking licensure by endorsement - The bill creates an exception to the active practice requirement specified in the MOBILE Act for allopathic physicians who successfully completed a board-approved postgraduate training program or clinical competency examination within the specified time frame.

• Expands the list of educational institutions at which full-time faculty are eligible for medical faculty certificates - The bill adds Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine, Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in Orange Park, Florida, and Loma Linda University School of Medicine - AdventHealth in Orlando, to the list of institutions at which full-time faculty may be issued a medical faculty certificate.

• Recognizes the American Board of Physician Specialties throughout Florida law - The bill replaces the term “American Association of Physician Specialists” with the current name of the certifying body “American Board of Physician Specialties” in several different statutes relating to controlled substance prescribing, pain management clinics, and anesthesiologist assistants.

• Refines the Areas of Critical Need Program: The bill specifies that a temporary certificate to practice in an area of critical need may be issued to a physician assistant who possess a valid license to practice in any state of the United States or the District of Columbia, effectively excluding other United States territories.

• Defines the term “party state” specific to the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact - The bill addresses one material deviation from the compact by defining the term “party state” and makes conforming changes.