Florida House leaders on Tuesday announced a package of healthcare legislation that would implement changes to Medicaid eligibility and workforce regulation while imposing new controls on prescription drug pricing and pharmacy benefit managers.
House Speaker Daniel Perez said the initiative, branded “Florida’s New Frontier in Healthcare,” is intended to align state law with recent federal healthcare changes enacted under President Donald Trump.
The package includes two primary measures: the Big Beautiful Healthcare Frontier Act, sponsored by Rep. Mike Redondo, and the Prescription Reduction Incentives and Competition Enhancement Act, known as the PRICE Act, sponsored by Rep. Kincart Jonsson.
The Big Beautiful Healthcare Frontier Act would revise eligibility and oversight rules for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The bill would limit eligibility for certain immigrants who are in the country illegally, reduce retroactive Medicaid and CHIP coverage to two months, and codify federal prohibitions on Medicaid payments to barred entities.
SNAP work requirements would expand from age 59 to 64, while parental exemptions would be narrowed to households with children under 14.
The measure also includes several healthcare workforce and deregulatory provisions. It would repeal remaining Certificate-of-Need requirements for nursing homes, hospice providers and intermediate care facilities serving individuals with developmental disabilities. Florida would join interstate licensure compacts for physician assistants and emergency medical services workers. The bill would authorize independent practice for all five advanced registered nurse specialties, remove supervisory limits on physician assistants and expand the scope of practice for dental hygienists.
“These policies reflect President Trump’s healthcare vision, which calls for fewer bureaucratic obstacles, more providers on the frontlines, and more freedom for patients to choose where and how they receive care,” said Rep. Redondo. “The Big Beautiful Healthcare Frontier Act ensures Florida is not just complying with federal reforms. We are leading their implementation to expand access, strengthen our workforce, and deliver better healthcare outcomes for families across our state.”
The PRICE Act would establish a “most favored nation” pricing framework for prescription drugs, tying allowable prices in Florida to the lowest prices paid in certain comparable foreign countries with market-based health systems.
Drug manufacturers would be required to report international pricing data as a condition of selling products in the state. The Agency for Health Care Administration would publish benchmark prices, which insurers and pharmacies would be prohibited from exceeding. Any savings generated would be required to be passed along through reduced premiums and patient cost-sharing.
The bill also targets pharmacy benefit managers, prohibiting them from requiring pharmacies to dispense medications at a financial loss or steering prescriptions toward affiliated manufacturers when lower-cost alternatives are available. Insurers and PBMs would also be required to maintain “frozen formularies,” preventing mid-year drug removals, tier changes or cost-sharing increases when manufacturers agree to stable pricing for the full plan year.
“This bill is about restoring fairness, competition, and transparency to a system that has become deeply tilted against patients,” said Rep. Jonsson. “Following President Trump’s leadership on drug pricing reform, Florida is standing up for families at the pharmacy counter by demanding market-based pricing, cracking down on abusive PBM practices, and ensuring patients can rely on stable access to the medications they need.”
House leaders said both bills will be taken up for consideration during the upcoming legislative session.
