Copyright 1999 The Tribune Co. Publishes The Tampa Tribune
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April 13, 1999, Tuesday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: FLORIDA/METRO, Pg. 6
LENGTH: 582 words
HEADLINE:
TALLAHASSEE;
BODY:
Pupil health, safety
bills move ahead
Students would be wearing seat belts on daily school
bus rides and more nurses might be available to treat their needs under
bills that cleared the Senate Education Committee on Monday.
Safety
belts would be required on school buses bought on or after Jan. 1, 2001.
They would not be required on older buses.
Sen. Anna Cowin,
R-Leesburg, noted in arguing for her bill that most school bus accidents
involve side or rear collisions that risk pupils being tossed from their
seats.
A separate bill encourages schools and businesses to join efforts
to bring more nurses into public schools.
It also requires that
such health professionals undergo background checks.
Florida currently
has 3,000 public schools with 2.3 million students and only about 800 school
nurses.
Both Senate bills need to be approved by other committees
on their way to a full floor vote, and both have companion bills currently
in the House. Making the grade might get easier
Students entering
high school next year might find it a little easier to earn an "A" under a bill
approved Monday by the Senate Education Committee.
The bill would
expand the value of a letter grade so that: An "A" would be given for grades of
90 or or better; a "B" for grades of 80 to 89 points; a "C" for grades of
70 to 79; a "D" for grades 60 to 69; and an "F" for 59 or lower.
Lawmakers in 1987 narrowed the range to encourage students to work for
higher grades, and currently an "A" is awarded students earning a 94 or
better in a class.
Florida students are being penalized unfairly,
senators argued Monday, because school systems in other states are not so
restrictive.
The changes, if adopted, are to be phased in beginning next
year. Oral contraceptive coverage advances
A bill
that would require insurers to cover prescription oral contraceptives won
approval Monday before the Senate Banking and Insurance committee.
Dubbed the "Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive
Coverage Act," and sponsored by Sen. Patsy Ann Kurth, D-Palm Bay,
the bill provides for the coverage of oral contraceptives.
Kurth said
that almost half of the insurance companies currently do not provide such
coverage in Florida.
Opponents to the measure included Sen. James
Sebesta, R-St. Petersburg, who described contraceptives as "a question of
choice."
Likening the use of the pill to a consumer's choice in eye
wear, Sebesta explained: "They are not a drug, not a medicine. They're
kind of like sunglasses."
The bill, which passed the committee 7 to 4,
now moves on to the Senate's Fiscal Policy committee. Gynecological
coverage may be expanded
The Senate Banking and Insurance committee
voted 8-2 to approve a bill that would require health plans to allow women
to visit their gynecologist twice a year, rather than once annually that is
standard now.
The insurance industry argued against that bill,
saying there aren't any medical data showing women should see a
gynecologist more than once a year if they are healthy.
Currently, most
plans allow unlimited visits if a woman is found to have a medical condition
during a normal checkup.
Sen. Pat Thomas, D-Quincy, and Sen. Jim
King, R-Jacksonville, voted against the measure.
The bill still must go
to the Fiscal Policy Committee. A House version has gone through committee
and is waiting to be heard by the full House. A Tribune staff, wire report
GRAPHIC: SIGNATURE
TYPE:
CAPITOL ROUNDUP LEGISLATURE '99
LOAD-DATE: April 14,
1999 
