{"id":71168,"date":"2025-12-04T15:52:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T15:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/71168\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T15:52:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T15:52:10","slug":"new-florida-laws-take-effect-january-1-2026-heres-what-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/71168\/","title":{"rendered":"New Florida laws take effect January 1, 2026: Here\u2019s what to know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – After the champagne is popped symbolizing the start of 2026, a few new laws will take effect in Florida<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From requiring pet insurance companies to clearly explain to people applying for or holding pet insurance how they decide on claim payments to having diagnostic or additional breast exams fully covered for employees on state health insurance plans, here are the new laws to know.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Animal Cruelty Database\u00a0 <\/p>\n

HB 255:<\/p>\n

Starting January 1, 2026, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) will put on its website the names of people who have been found guilty or have pleaded guilty or no contest to animal cruelty. This list will be easy to search on their website. Click here<\/a> to read the bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pet Insurance\u00a0 <\/p>\n

HB 655:<\/p>\n

Pet insurance companies have to clearly explain to people applying for or holding pet insurance how they decide on claim payments. They also need to share any rules about required medical exams for pets. People buying pet insurance can look over their policies and cancel them within a certain time if they want.<\/p>\n

Insurance companies can refuse to cover preexisting health problems, but they have to prove those conditions existed before. They can also set waiting periods for some illnesses or conditions, but not for accidents. After you buy a policy, the company can ask for a pet exam, but they can\u2019t require one just to renew your policy. Finally, whether you qualify for pet insurance can\u2019t depend on whether you take part in wellness programs or not. Click here<\/a> to read the bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Breast Examinations\u00a0 <\/p>\n

SB 158:<\/p>\n

Starting January 1, 2026, the state\u2019s health insurance plans for employees won\u2019t require you to pay any extra costs (like co-pays or deductibles) for diagnostic breast exams or additional breast exams. This means these exams will be fully covered without you having to share the cost. Click here<\/a> to read the bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Insurance Claims <\/p>\n

SB 944:<\/p>\n

Starting January 1, 2026, health insurance companies and HMOs will have only 12 months (instead of 30 months) to ask licensed psychologists to pay back any overpaid claims. This change means psychologists will have the same 12-month time limit as other health care providers, like doctors, chiropractors, and dentists. Click here<\/a> to read the bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Patient Refunds\u00a0 <\/p>\n

SB 1808:<\/p>\n

If a health care provider or facility finds out a patient paid too much, they must give the extra money back within 30 days. If they don\u2019t, they could face disciplinary action or fines. However, this rule doesn\u2019t apply to overpayments made by insurance companies\u2014those are handled by different laws. Click here<\/a> to read bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Source: This article was written with information found on the Florida Senate website.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Florida<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – After the champagne is popped symbolizing the start of 2026, a few new laws will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[47,28,30,29,115,628],"class_list":["post-71168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}