Floridians may soon be able to opt for a pharmacy for the flu
Bottom Line: It’s no secret that getting sick isn’t any fun. It’s also no secret that getting sick and waiting around in the ER is even less fun. You’re probably also aware that it gets pretty expensive pretty quickly. Would you like the ability for non-emergency sickness to be diagnosed and treated without having to see a doctor? There’s a new bill for that in the upcoming session.
It’s House Bill 111 and here’s what it says...
Testing for and Treatment of Influenza and Streptococcus: Requires specified licensed pharmacists to report certain information to DOH; authorizes pharmacists to test for & treat influenza & streptococcus & provides requirements relating thereto; requires that written protocol between pharmacist & supervising physician contain certain information, terms, & conditions; requires Board of Pharmacy to adopt rules; requires pharmacist to notify patient's primary care provider within specified period after providing testing or treatment.
It’s like this. If this passes you can go to your usual pharmacy to be tested for the flu and strep. Once they’ve tested you, they’d also be able to able to provide whatever treatment they’d recommend to deal with what ails you. If that sounds a lot easier, it is. It also means it’d be a lot cheaper as well. Florida Tax Watch just reviewed this proposal and found the following...
Based on last year’s numbers:
- 333,326 Floridians would have benefited from this proposal
- $469 million would have been saved by those patients
A quick calculation reveals that if you put those two numbers together you get this...
- Per patient savings of $1,407
Faster care and savings of more than $1,400? ER visits aren’t cheap and there tends to be a lot more generally unneeded testing that takes place. This reform seems like it’s a no-brainer. This is one to watch and I’ll be doing just that as the session picks up.