Latest news with #DavidRamba
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Health care titles and eyeball wars
Florida Capitol The Florida Senate Rules Committee tackled health care scopes of practice and a longstanding fight between optometrists and ophthalmologist once coined the 'eyeball wars.' The latest iteration of the battle is contained in SB 172, a 10-page bill that broadens the state's authority to prosecute professionals regulated by the Department of Health who mislead, deceive, or fraudulently misrepresent their qualifications to the public. The Rules Committee approved the bill by a 22-1 vote. It now heads to the full Senate for consideration. The bill would amend legislative intent language to make clear the public health, safety, and welfare could be harmed by health care providers who misrepresent their ability to practice a profession. Although he voted for the bill, Sen. Jason Pizzo, an attorney, noted the broad regulatory power it would give the Florida Department of Health when prosecuting health care providers for advertising. 'If a person engages in the unlawful practice of law, it's because they actually took up a matter, conducted a transaction, gave advice, all of that stuff. I guess very specifically for legislative intent, the wording of your bill sort of suggests just using the title alone — without actually like seeing a patient or engaging in any conduct or behavior — standing alone just using the titles is the unlawful practice of medicine,' he said. In addition, the bill amends the laws regulating allopathic physicians, referred to as 'M.D.s,' and osteopathic physicians, referred to as 'D.O.s,' to include a list of 39 specialities practitioners are authorized to call themselves. It would be a violation for any other health care professionals to use those titles. The bill provides exceptions for chiropractic physicians, podiatric physicians, dentists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and anesthesiology assistants, allowing them to call themselves by certain titles already in their practice acts or included in their specialty certifications. There is no exception for optometrists, who are often referred to as eye doctors or, according to Florida Optometric Association lobbyist David Ramba, optometric physician. The list of 39 protected titles does not include the term physician or medical doctor but includes a variety of specialties such as anesthesiologist; cardiologist; dermatologist; endocrinologist; and gastroenterologist. It also includes the term surgeon. The optometrists did not publicly oppose the bill in committee Tuesday but Ramba said the group isn't on board. 'The bill says we can use whatever titles are in our practice act. Never before in state law has it required titles to be in a practice act or even in state law. Since the Senate has blocked any optometry practice act updates since 2013, we are opposed to legislation that would not allow us to use titles commonly used in the field such as 'optometric physician,'' he said. Scope of practice refers to the range of health care services authorized by statute and the educational requirements these providers must attain. Proposals to change scope of practice can be some of the most controversial bills legislators deal with, as they balance economic interests against patient care. Sen. Don Gaetz iconically dubbed the long-standing fight between optometrists and ophthalmologists and the care the two professions can offer patients as the 'eyeball wars' in the mid-2000s, when he served as Senate president. Sen. Kathleen Passidomo said she's been working on this for nearly a decade. A 2023 version of the bill was passed when Passidomo was Senate president but it was vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Pizzo asked whether there were assurances that this year's version of the bill wouldn't be vetoed. Passidomo said, 'We shall see.' Before the governor could approve the bill, it first it has to pass. As the 2025 session approaches its midway point, the House companion, HB 1341, has yet to be heard. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Election supervisors say verified voters should be able to maintain vote-by-mail requests
The Brief Elections supervisors in Florida are asking state lawmakers to revamp laws surrounding mail-in ballot requests. The current law, passed in 2021, mandates that voters renew their mail-in ballot requests every two years. Officials say that law has led to a big drop in vote-by-mail participation. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A significant decline in mail-in ballot requests is prompting Florida election supervisors to call for legislative changes. Why you should care The decrease comes after a 2021 law mandating that voters renew their mail-in ballot requests every two years, leading to confusion and reduced participation. Speaking before the Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections in Tallahassee on Tuesday, election officials outlined the impact of the 2021 legislation on recent special congressional primaries. In the primary for Congressional District 1, requests for mail-in ballots fell nearly 90% compared to the previous year. Similarly, in Lake County's District 6 primary, there was a 75% decline in requests. The 2021 law requires county election supervisors to purge mail-in ballot requests every two years. Voters must now provide personal identification details, such as a driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number, when requesting a mail-in ballot. Previously, voters could opt to receive mail-in ballots for up to four years by selecting a checkbox on their ballot envelope—a feature that has since been removed. The removal of this option has led to widespread confusion among voters, who were unaware of the need to submit new requests. READ: Governor DeSantis unveils $115.6B proposed budget for 2025-26 fiscal year What they're saying David Ramba, representing the Florida Supervisors of Elections, noted that officials have received numerous complaints from individuals surprised by the absence of their expected mail-in ballots. "We've now redone the voting rolls twice," Ramba told lawmakers on Tuesday. "It's extremely expensive and staff intensive to go and recruit and let everybody know and educate them that their vote by mail has expired. So one of our priorities is to advocate bringing back a way to allow for the voter to choose that when they return their ballot." The Florida Supervisors of Elections Association is urging lawmakers to reinstate the checkbox on mail-in ballot envelopes, incorporating the new identification requirements. They believe this change is essential to facilitate voter participation and reduce administrative burdens. "Our theory is if (voters) had the luxury of checking a box in that general election return ballot that said, 'please keep my vote by mail request valid,' Then we could have continued to send them their vote by mail ballot for the special election," said Lake County Supervisor of Elections Alan Hays, a Republican. CLICK HERE:>>>Follow FOX 13 on YouTube What's next Election supervisors are hopeful that these proposed adjustments will be enacted during the upcoming legislative session to ensure a more accessible and efficient voting process for all Floridians. The recommendations underscore the ongoing debate in balancing election security with voter accessibility. The Source Information for this story was collected by FOX 13's Matthew McClellan. STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
