Lawmakers seem to be knee deep once again this year.
A House health care spending committee unanimously approved a bill (HB 1561) that closes loopholes in a statute regulating Brazilian pool lifts (BBLs) passed last year.
“I know we’ve heard this before. It’s an ongoing problem here in Florida. People are coming all over the country to complete this process,” HB 1561 sponsor, Rep. Demi Cabrera Busattasaid members of the House Health Appropriations Subcommittee.
BBLs, or buttock fat grafting, are the fastest growing plastic surgery procedure in the country. BBLs involve two steps: liposuction of fat from the abdomen or back and injection of the pure fat into the subcutaneous layer of the buttocks, which lies beneath the skin but above the gluteal muscle.
Florida Law requires surgeons to register their practices with the Department of Health (DOH) if they perform a liposuction procedure that removes more than 1,000 cubic centimeters of subcutaneous fat. The law also requires surgeons who perform BBLs to use ultrasound for the part of the procedure where the fat is injected back into the patient’s body.
The 2023 law was intended to settle an ongoing regulatory dispute between surgeons and Florida’s two state medical boards, but as written, it gives leeway to surgeons who don’t want to register their offices with the state, according to the bill’s sponsor .
HB 1561 changes the law to make clear that physicians are required to register their practices as surgical centers if 1,000 cubic centimeters of fat is removed, regardless of whether the removal is temporary or permanent. The bill also strengthens current law to make clear that a doctor must register his practice with the state if any liposuction is performed that requires the patient’s body to be moved 180 degrees or more, or if a buttock fat grafting procedure is performed.
The financial penalties that surgeons face for not registering their offices with the state also change under HB 1561 from a fine of $5,000 per day to a fine of $5,000 per violation. The change, said Cabrera Busatta, allows the DOH to “impose a fine on a physician for multiple offenses committed on the same day.”
According to personal account analysis There are currently 724 surgery centers registered with the DOH.
The bill requires all of these surgery centers to re-register with the state according to a yet-to-be-released DOH schedule. State surgery center inspections must be done in person. The bill includes a new provision that would allow the DOH to refer state Office of Health Administration office surgery centers if the DOH determines that the centers would pose a significant safety risk and that patients would be better served at ambulatory surgery centers or hospitals.
There was no public debate on the bill and little discussion by members of the subcommittee other than a comment made by the member. Michelle Saltzmanwho said, “I look forward to supporting this good bill, but not for this.”
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