The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rule to amend Rule 59A-8.0099, Florida Administrative Code, which governs the minimum training requirements for home health aides serving medically fragile children. The proposed changes implement Senate Bill 1156 (Chapter 2025-171, Laws of Florida) and update both training curriculum requirements and data reporting obligations for participating home health agencies.

What’s Changing

Under the proposed rule, AHCA would revise and expand several components of the family home health aide training framework, including:

• Increased minimum training hours for aides serving medically fragile children
• Expanded pediatric-specific curriculum content, including complex medical conditions, enteral care, respiratory support, and emergency response
• Clearer requirements for in-person skills demonstration and clinical competency validation, even when coursework is delivered online or through a hybrid format
• Reaffirmation of registered nurse (RN)-led training and supervision requirements
• Updated adverse incident reporting and annual data submission requirements

Importantly, the rule reinforces that aides serving medically fragile children are employees of the home health agency, must operate within the scope of their training, and may provide only those services delegated and supervised by a registered nurse.

Public Workshop Details

AHCA will hold a public workshop to receive input on the proposed rule:

Date: February 19, 2026

Time: 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Location:

Agency for Health Care Administration

2727 Mahan Drive, Tallahassee

Building 3, Conference Room B

Call-In Option:

(888) 585-9008 | Conference Code: 998-518-088#

Workshop materials and the full proposed rule text are available on AHCA’s rulemaking webpage.

Share Your Feedback With HCAF

HCAF is actively reviewing the proposed rule and welcomes input from member agencies on:

• Feasibility of the revised training hour requirements
• RN training and supervision capacity
• Use of online or hybrid training models
• Clinical validation logistics
• Data reporting timelines and penalties
• Any unintended operational or workforce impacts

Please send your comments, concerns, or suggested revisions to HCAF, and we will incorporate provider feedback into our engagement with AHCA and during the public workshop.

Our Role as Your Advocate

HCAF remains committed to ensuring that regulatory changes protect medically fragile children while remaining practical and sustainable for providers. We will continue to advocate for clear rules, reasonable implementation timelines, and training standards that reflect both patient safety and operational realities.

As always, we are here to be a resource and to represent your voice throughout the rulemaking process.