Agency for Health Care Administration Highlights 2022 Accomplishments

TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) in Florida highlighted its 2022 efforts.

“As Secretary for the Agency of Health Administration, I’ve been honored to support Governor DeSantis in his dynamic agenda and work alongside the dedicated public servants who tirelessly execute the Agency’s mission to pave a pathway to a healthier Florida,” said AHCA Secretary Simone Marstiller.

“While I am proud of all we have accomplished in 2022, I am confident it is only getting started. Under Governor DeSantis, the Agency will continue to strengthen Florida’s health care system by prioritizing Florida’s seniors and most vulnerable, protecting Florida’s children and youth, ensuring resources are available for our health care providers, and continuing to look for opportunities to increase the quality of care for all Floridians.”

The agency noted DeSantis’ vision for Florida’s healthcare system to be cost-effective, transparent and of high quality. The AHCA highlighted key accomplishments by the agency in 2022 including protecting minors from irreversible gender surgeries and drugs pushed by “WOKE ideologists.”

Marstiller requested that the Florida Medicaid program review whether treatments for gender dysphoria are consistent with generally accepted professional medical standards.

In June, the agency issued a report based on its research and analysis as well as five written assessments provided by subject-matter experts that the agency retained for the purpose of protecting minors. The report recommended against covering sex reassignment treatments as reimbursable health services because they are “not consistent with generally accepted professional medical standards and are experimentational and investigational.”

In August, the agency promoted a rule based on its report. The rule states that “Florida Medicaid does not cover” as “treatment of gender dysphoria,” the use of  “puberty blockers,” “hormones or hormone antagonists,” “sex reassignment surgeries,” or “other procedures that alter primary or secondary sexual characteristics.” The FDA found some of these “treatments” may cause irreversible damage and severe long-term health issues, including brain aneurysms.

In April, DeSantis signed the Reducing Fetal and Infant Mortality Act to prohibit all abortions after 15 weeks of gestation which was the most significant protections for life in Florida history.

The AHCA visited all licensed abortion clinics in Florida to ensure that they were in compliance with Florida law and following safety protocols when providing health services to women, upholding abortion clinics to the same standards as all other licensed health care facilities in Florida. These visits resulted in the AHCA issuing Emergency Suspension Orders to those not following the law and compromising patient safety.

DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis dedicated $100 million for cancer research and care in Florida’s 2022-2023 Budget, an increase of $37 million over prior year funding to support cancer centers across the state. The Freedom First Budget included more than $150 million to support individuals enrolled in Medicaid who receive services at Florida’s National Cancer Institute designated cancer centers.

The AHCA worked with other state healthcare leaders and launched Florida Cancer Connect, Florida’s centralized website providing tools for individuals and families battling cancer.

In April, Marstiller and other state leaders joined DeSantis and other state leaders to sign the No Patient Left Alone Act, guaranteeing Florida families the fundamental right to visit their loved ones receiving care in hospitals, hospices, and long-term care facilities. No health care facility in Florida can require a vaccine as a condition of visitation and every health care facility must allow their residents and patients to be hugged by their loved ones.

In 2019, the governor directed the AHCA to expedite the development of Florida’s transparency web tools to offer facility-level pricing and quality information through FloridaHealthFinder and Florida Health Price Finder. They aim to support consumer awareness of Florida’s online health care data and pricing transparency tools. By linking quality and price information, the agency said Floridians have a clearer picture to make more informed health care decisions.

The governor’s Freedom First Budget invested nearly $4 million to increase transparency in prescription drug prices. The funds support the modernization of Florida’s prescription drug price transparency website known as MyFloridaRx and complete additional analysis on Medicaid pharmacy claims for potential fraud, waste and abuse.

In July, DeSantis issued an Executive Order to provide reforms to state agency contracts with Pharmacy Benefit Managers and directed the AHCA to implement provisions in the Freedom First Budget to directly negotiate prescription drug prices ineligible for importation. Under DeSantis’ leadership, the AHCA placed efforts to increase access to essential medications for vulnerable Floridians while saving taxpayer dollars through the Canadian Prescription Drug Importation Program.

In May, the Agency for Health Care Administration and Agency for Persons with Disabilities announced the approval of up to $502.7 million in Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funding to be distributed to eligible providers.

The state proposed a historic amount of financial assistance for direct care service providers. With the recent approval of Florida’s FMAP proposal, funds will be distributed to enhance, expand and strengthen Home and Community-Based Services offerings for Floridians with disabilities and to support healthcare workers under the Medicaid program.

At the height of Hurricane Ian, the AHCA worked with the Florida Department of Health to evacuate over 9,000 people from 200 health care facilities that were in mandatory evacuation zones or impacted by the severe weather.

Ahead of Hurricane Ian, the AHCA ensured that all nursing homes and assisted living facilities had generators in compliance with Florida law. This helped all nursing homes remain operational and with power while the southwest Florida community was impacted by the storm and recovery.

This year, the Agency oversaw more than $3.6 billion in record funding for supplemental health care operation programs, including the Low Income Pool, Hospital Directed Payment Program and Indirect Graduate Medical Education payment programs.

These programs allow uninsured Floridians to receive health care by making payments to providers. Program participants are subject to the Agency’s Bureau of Medicaid Program Finance to set the reimbursement rates and monitor the financial performance and health of Medicaid managed care plans.

Over the past year, the AHCA has heard from healthcare professionals across the state working to address record increases in operational costs and challenges in recruiting and retaining staff. DeSantis and the Florida Legislature provided a $486 million investment to increase wages for workers in the AHCA Medicaid provider offices.