Bill > H1431

This bill extends sovereign immunity, which is a legal protection that shields government entities and their employees from lawsuits, to individuals and entities that provide healthcare services under contract with a governmental contractor. Specifically, it clarifies that health care providers, and their employees or agents, who deliver healthcare services to low-income recipients as an agent of a governmental contractor are considered agents for the purposes of sovereign immunity under section 768.28(9) of Florida Statutes. This means that if a patient suffers harm due to the actions or omissions of these healthcare providers while acting within the scope of their contract, the exclusive legal recourse for the patient is to sue the governmental contractor, not the individual provider or their staff. The bill also updates the definition of "officer, employee, or agent" in section 768.28(9) to explicitly include health care providers and their employees or agents when they are providing services under section 766.1115, reinforcing this protection.