The Department of Revenue has announced that, effective June 1, 2024, the state sales tax rate imposed under section 212.031, Florida Statutes (F.S.), on the total rent charged for renting, leasing, letting, or granting a license to use real property (also known as “commercial rentals”) is reduced from 4.5% to 2.0%. Information about the proper reporting of tax due on commercial rentals is available on the Department’s website at floridarevenue.com/forms. For more information, please review the Department’s Taxpayer Information Publication.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

South Florida Community Care Network, LLC d/b/a Community Care Plan (Community Care Plan) currently provides behavioral health services. Beginning May 1, 2024, referrals, coordination and rendering of these services will also be provided by Ontrak Health. Members can receive behavioral health services from providers in Community Care Plan and Ontrak Health’s network. Community Care Plan is an SMMC (Statewide Medicaid Managed Care) plan operating in region 10. 

For dates of service beginning May 1, 2024, Ontrak Health’s network providers should bill Ontrak Health for services rendered to Community Care Plan members. Community Care Plan’s network providers should continue to bill Community Care Plan for behavioral health services. Providers participating in both Community Care Plan and Ontrak Health’s network should use a unique Ontrak Health ID number when submitting their claims. Ontrak Health will be providing additional information for providers including the billing process.  

Questions related to this transition may be directed as follows: 

• Community Care Plan Member Services: 1-866-899-4828  
• Community Care Plan Provider Services: 1-855-819-9506 
• Ontrak Health Provider Services: 1-855-840-3627 

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) scheduled a hearing for Rule 59G-1.010, F.A.C., Definitions on April 3 from 2:00 pm to 2:30 pm.  

LOCATION:  

Agency for Health Care Administration
   2727 Mahan Drive
    Building 3
    Tallahassee, FL 32308 

A virtual option or call-in number will not be available for this meeting. 

Official notice of the meeting published in Vol. 50/No. 50, of the Florida Administrative Register (FAR) on March 12, 2024. A copy of the notice may be found at: www.flrules.org  

Please note that a preliminary draft of the reference material, if available, will be posted prior to the workshop on the AHCA Rules web page. 

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

The Agency for Health Care Administration has rescheduled the hearing for Rule 59G-4.250, F.A.C., Prescribed Drug Services, noticed in Vol. 50, No. 31, February 14, 2024, Florida Administrative Register, for March 20, 2024, from 2:00 to 2:30 p.m. at the Agency for Health Care Administration, 2727 Mahan Drive, Building 3, Tallahassee, FL 32308. 

A call-in number or virtual option will not be available for this hearing. Official notice of the rescheduled hearing published in Vol. 50, No. 40, of the Florida Administrative Register (FAR) on February 27, 2024. A copy of the notice may be found on the FAR website. 

Please note that a preliminary draft of the reference material, if available, will be posted prior to the workshop on our Rules Web page.  

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

The Agency for Health Care Administration (Agency), along with its fiscal agent Gainwell Technologies, has updated the NPI (National Provider Identifier) Mapping Logic that is used by the Florida Medicaid Management Information System (FL MMIS). Detailed information on the upcoming NPI Mapping Logic can be viewed on the NPI Initiative FAQ. The FAQ and additional information about the NPI Initiative can be obtained by visiting the Florida Medicaid Public Web Portal at mymedicaid-florida.com and navigating to Agency Initiatives, and selecting NPI Initiative. 

The NPI to Medicaid ID Search Engine was removed from the public Web Portal and is only available to those logged into their secure Web Portal. The enhanced tool is available by clicking the NPI to Medicaid ID Search Engine link under the Quick Links box within the secure Web Portal. 

The NPI to Medicaid ID Search Engine is accessible on the public Web Portal only for those applying and entering an NPI for full, limited or ROPA (Referring, Ordering, Prescribing and Attending) enrollment through the Online Enrollment Wizard. 

For more information, visit the Florida Medicaid Public Web Portal at mymedicaid-florida.com and navigate to Agency Initiatives, and select NPI Initiative. 

For information on how to perform a password reset for a secure Web Portal user account that is locked, refer to the Secure Web Portal Account Maintenance Quick Reference Guide (QRG) 

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) released his Focus on Florida’s Future Budget recommendations for Fiscal Year 2024-25. The proposed budget comes in at $114.4 billion, which is a $4.6 billion decrease compared to the state’s FY 2023-24 budget. Governor DeSantis’ Focus on Florida’s Future Budget supports more than $1.1 billion in tax relief and the renewal of four traditional sales tax holidays as well as more than $153 million from the nationwide Opioid Settlement Agreement to continue support for the Office of Opioid Recovery, an accredited Graduate Medical Education program to increase the number of psychiatric residents and for other initiatives that support education, treatment and prevention for individuals with substance use disorders. The full budget highlights are available online.   

Also in Florida, the Agency for Health Care Administration (Agency) has filed six (6) new Durable Medical Equipment and Medical Supply Services Coverage Policies for adoption in the Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.). These new policies took effect on January 10. Please visit the Agency’s website at  Adopted Rules – Main Page (myflorida.com) for details on the new Durable Medical Equipment and Medical Supply Services Coverage Policies. 

Finally in Florida, the Agency for Health Care Administration (Agency) has been working on modifying the way diabetic supplies are provided to Floridians served through the State’s Medicaid program by transitioning reimbursement for diabetic supplies from the durable medical equipment (DME) fee schedule to the pharmacy point of sale system. The Agency plans to release the Preferred Product List as referenced in proposed rule 59G-4.002, along with a resource toolkit to assist providers with billing for diabetic supplies through the pharmacy point of sale system. Until further direction is given, the Agency will continue to reimburse DME providers for all currently available diabetic supplies listed on the Durable Medical Equipment and Medical Supply Services Provider Fee Schedule using the existing reimbursement process.  

All interested parties should continue to check the Agency’s Pharmacy Policy webpage periodically and read all Agency alerts that are sent out regarding these changes. Interested Parties may also email the Agency at PharmacyPolicy@ahca.myflorida.com with any questions.  

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

Due to a delay in verifying the Medicaid weekly funding, provider payments will not be available until November 17. Please note that the “Payment Issue Date” on the remittance advice and all other generated information will remain the same. If you need assistance or have questions about provider payments, please contact the Provider Services Contact Center at 1-800-289-7799, option 7. This is a one-time delay with the regular weekly Thursday payment schedule. Due to the holiday falling on the regular weekly Thursday schedule, payment will be made on November 22.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

Eleven entities have responded to the statewide Medicaid Managed care invitation to negotiate, including all of the health plans that currently participate in the program. Two of the respondents, ImagineCare and Sentara Care Alliance, do not currently participate in the program. The Agency of Health Care Administration is soliciting comments from providers who have experience with the 11 respondents. The comments are a component of the Invitation to negotiate and are considered when the state decides which entities to award contracts. Providers have until 5:00 pm on November 9 to electronically submit their comments to the state. The agency will only consider comments submitted by providers in the same region as the plan. 

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

The Agency for Health Care Administration (Agency) announces that it is soliciting comments from providers which it will consider as part of the re-procurement of the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care (SMMC) program. (See Section 409.966(3)(a)(8), F.S.)  

The Invitations to Negotiate (ITNs) and information about the re-procurement, including anticipated timelines and instructions for submission of provider comments, can be found on the Department of Management Services’ Vendor Bid System at: MyFloridaMarket Place Vendor Information Portal.  

Key dates to note are: 

October 27, 2023: Anticipated Posting of ITN (invitation to negotiate) Respondent Names for Provider Comment 

November 9, 2023: Deadline for Receipt of Provider Comments, due by 5:00 PM 

The reference number for the SMMC program ITN is AHCA (Agency for Health Care Administration) ITN 010-22/23.  

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.