New Florida laws that take effect on January 1

• Three new Florida laws regarding health care and pet insurance will go into effect on January 1, 2026.
• State employees will receive insurance coverage for diagnostic and supplemental breast exams without cost-sharing.
• Pet insurance will be formally regulated, and healthcare providers must refund patient overpayments within 30 days.

More than 250 new bills were signed into law in 2025, counting relief bills and city and county ordinances. More than 130 state laws started on July 1 and nearly 30 more kicked in on Oct. 1.

Are any new laws going into effect Jan. 1, 2026?

Three. State employee breast exam coverage, regulation of pet insurance and pet wellness programs in the state, and penalties for healthcare practitioners not refunding overpayments in a timely manner.

But there are several other laws, already in effect, that include provisions or deadlines that fire up at the beginning of the new year. Here’s what to know.

New Florida laws going into effect Jan. 1, 2026:

SB 158: Coverage for Diagnostic and Supplemental Breast Examinations

• What it does: Prohibits the state group insurance program from imposing any cost-sharing liability for diagnostic and supplemental breast examinations in health benefit plans/contracts for state workers.
• What it means for you: State regulation already prohibits diagnostic breast examinations without cost sharing. The new law removes cost-sharing for supplemental exams and tests such as magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasounds, etc.

HB 655: Pet Insurance and Wellness Programs

• What it does: Formally recognizes coverage for pet accidents, illnesses, or diseases under Florida law,
• What it means for you: Explicitly includes pet insurance in the definition of “property insurance” and requires companies selling pet insurance in the state to use specified definitions, make disclosures and enforces consumer protections. Also cracks down on unfair or deceptive practices from pet wellness programs and prohibits the marketing of pet wellness programs as insurance.

SB 1808: Refund of Overpayments Made by Patients

• What it does: Requires health care practitioners, facilities, providers, and anyone who accepts payment from insurance for services rendered by health care practitioners to refund any overpayment made by the patient no later than 30 days after determining that the patient made an overpayment.
• What it means for you: If a health care practitioner fails to timely refund an overpayment after they determine an overpayment was made, they can face disciplinary action. If a facility or provider licensed by the Agency for Health Care Administration does it, they can face a penalty up to $500.

Florida laws with Jan. 1 provisions or deadlines

The following laws are already in effect but have aspects that go into effect Jan. 1 or have Jan. 1 deadlines:

• HB 164: Vessel Accountability – This law cracking down on derelict watercraft went into effect in July. The bill also creates a free long-term anchoring permit, starting Jan. 1, 2026, for vessels anchoring within 1 linear nautical mile of a documented anchorage point for 14 days or more within a 30-day period.
• HB 255: Aggravated Animal Cruelty (Dexter’s Law) – Named after a decapitated and mutilated dog found in a plastic bag in Fort DeSoto State Park, the law increases penalties for aggravated animal cruelty. That part went into effect July 1, but the law also requires the state to create and maintain a public database  by Jan. 1, 2026, of people who have been found or pleaded guilty to cruelty to animals so that services that offer pet adoption can screen applicants. 
• HB 531: Public Education of Background Screening Requirements – Requires the Agency for Health Care Administration to create a public webpage and provide a central source for care provider background screening education, regulations and awareness by Jan. 1, 2026.
• HB 677: State Group Insurance Program Coverage of Standard Fertility Preservation Services – Requires state employee group health insurance program policies issued on or after January 1, 2026, to cover standard fertility services for enrollees who have been diagnosed with cancer for which the necessary treatment may cause infertility.
• HB 913: Condominium and Cooperative Associations – This massive bill went into effect in July to provide welcome relief for condo owners and associations hit hard with financial burdens added by the previous condo inspection law. Deadlines for public posting of material, including minutes of administrative meetings, videos, affidavits and other material go into effect Jan. 1, 2026, along with deadlines for when condo owners and associations have to post items.
• SB 944: Insurance Overpayment Claims Submitted to Psychologists – The law reduces the timeframe for a health insurer or health maintenance organization (HMO) to submit claims for overpayment to a licensed psychologist from 30 months down to 12 months, starting with claims for services on or after Jan. 1, 2026.
• SB 954: Certified Recovery Residences – Requires local governments to establish streamlined procedures to review and approve of alcohol-and drug-free living environments for people in recovery, called certified recovery residences or “sober houses.” Jan. 1 is the deadline for local counties or municipalities to adopt those procedures.
• SB 1080: Local Government Land Regulation – Starting Jan. 1, 2026, restrictions go in effect restricting how local governments can raise impact fees.
• HB 1105: Education – This omnibus bill included a lot of individual measures, including a ban on elementary and middle school students from using wireless devices (phones, tablets, etc) from “bell to bell.” It also established a Jan. 1 deadline for the Department of Education to create documents that detail alternative education programs for students who fail to earn diplomas.
• SB 1490: Children’s Medical Services Program – Various Florida statutes regulating the state’s Children’s Medical Services network will be repealed on Jan. 1. Operation of the department was transferred from the Department of Health to the Agency for Health Care Administration, with an expanded scope.
• SB 7012: Child Welfare – This law, which addresses workforce issues in the child welfare system, creates a pilot program for treatment foster care and enhances the data and information the state must collect and report related to commercial sexual exploitation of children. The Department of Children and Families is required to get the pilot program started by Jan. 1.

Studies due in January

Some bills also required some studies and reports to be completed by Jan. 1. They include:

• HB 1359: Feasibility Study Relating to Statewide Pawn Data Database – Required the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to study the feasibility of creating a statewide pawn database for law enforcement agencies.
• SB 1470: School Safety – Required a workgroup of different state agencies, educational organizations, first responders, school-based mental health professionals, and threat management practitioners to make recommendations for the establishment of a Florida Institute of School Safety.
• SB 2514: Health and Human Services – The Agency for Health Care Administration must contract with a third-party vendor to conduct a comprehensive study of nursing home quality incentive programs in other states, an in-depth review of emerging and existing technologies applicable to nursing home care, and other states’ Medicaid add-on payment structures. Report is due Jan. 5, 2026.