TALLAHASSEE --- Calling it the “Health Care Medical Freedom Act,” a House Republican on Monday filed a bill that says health-care providers could not “discriminate” against patients based on vaccination status and seeks to add disclosure requirements when children get vaccinated.
The bill (HB 917), filed by Rep. Jeff Holcomb, R-Spring Hill, for the legislative session that will start Jan. 13, comes as state health officials look to do away with certain vaccine mandates for schoolchildren.
It also comes as U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, has fueled controversy about vaccinations — and as many physicians and health groups have pushed back by touting the importance of vaccines in preventing the spread of diseases.
Holcomb’s bill, in part, would prevent health-care facilities and providers from discriminating based on vaccination status, a scenario, for example, that could occur if a doctor did not want to have an unvaccinated patient.
Similarly, the proposal would tweak what is known as the Florida Patient’s Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. The bill of rights already seeks to protect health-care access based on a variety of factors, and Holcomb’s bill would add vaccination status.
“A patient has the right to impartial access to medical treatment or accommodations, regardless of race, national origin, religion, handicap, vaccination status, or source of payment,” the proposal says.
Providers who violate the discrimination ban could face discipline, under the bill.
The proposal also would require providers to inform parents of children about the “unique risks, benefits, safety and efficacy of each vaccine” included in a vaccination schedule. Providers would have to use materials approved by the Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine.
Holcomb’s bill also would create an exemption based on “conscience” to a state requirement that children have health exams within one year before they enroll in school. Parents already can seek exemptions from the requirement based on religious grounds.
In addition, the bill would allow people to obtain the antiparasitic drug ivermectin without prescriptions. Pharmacists would be able to sell the drug from behind the counter. Ivermectin drew heavy attention — and controversy — for its use during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of Monday afternoon, a Senate version of Holcomb’s bill had not been filed.
The Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis during the past few years have targeted such things as COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
Also, the Florida Department of Health this month held a workshop about a proposal that includes removing vaccination requirements for hepatitis B; varicella, commonly known as chickenpox; Haemophilus influenza type b, or Hib, which can cause meningitis; and pneumococcal conjugate, which can cause pneumonia and meningitis. The requirements are in state rules, which the Department of Health can go through a process to change.
Other vaccination requirements mandated by state law for school entry — including for polio, diphtheria, rubeola, rubella, mumps and tetanus — would remain in place unless the Legislature changes them.
