Will Florida Keep Telehealth Renewals for Medical Marijuana Patients?

Florida’s medical marijuana patients spent years asking lawmakers to keep telehealth renewals after the COVID-era emergency rules expired. Now, the big question is whether those remote recertifications are truly here to stay—or could still be rolled back.

How We Got Telehealth Renewals in the First Place

During the pandemic, Governor Ron DeSantis temporarily allowed physicians to use telehealth for medical marijuana follow-up visits under emergency orders. Those waivers expired in June 2021, forcing patients back to in-person appointments.

In 2023, lawmakers responded with CS/CS/HB 387, a bill specifically expanding the use of telehealth for medical marijuana recertifications. The measure passed with strong bipartisan support and was signed into law, taking effect July 1, 2023.

What the Law Says Today

Telehealth for medical marijuana is now written directly into Florida Statutes §381.986. The law draws a bright line between initial certifications and renewals:

• Initial certification: The first time a patient is certified, the physician must perform an in-person physical examination in the same room as the patient.
• Renewal certification: For subsequent renewals, the same qualified physician who did the original in-person exam may conduct the exam via telehealth, as defined in Florida’s general telehealth statute (s. 456.47).

Patients must still be recertified at least every 210 days (roughly every seven months). Clinic guides and state-focused resources consistently confirm that these recertifications may now be done via virtual appointments, so long as the doctor–patient relationship was first established in person.

In plain terms, established patients can renew remotely; new patients still have to show up in person at least once.

Is Telehealth Renewal “Permanent”?

From a legal standpoint, telehealth renewals are not a temporary pilot or emergency rule anymore—they are built into the main medical marijuana statute itself, with no sunset clause or automatic expiration date. That means:

• Telehealth renewals will remain allowed unless and until the legislature amends §381.986 or repeals the relevant provisions.
• The Department of Health, the Board of Medicine, and the Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU) are now operating under the assumption that telehealth renewals are part of the long-term program design, not a short-term patch.

Could that change? Yes, in theory. A future legislature could tighten telehealth rules, raise standards for remote exams, or reverse the change entirely. But with broad bipartisan support for HB 387 and strong backing from patient-advocacy groups, there is currently no major push in Tallahassee to scrap telehealth renewals.

What Patients Should Watch Going Forward

For now, Florida patients can reasonably plan around remote renewals—especially those with mobility issues, long travel distances, or chronic conditions that make frequent office visits difficult. However, they should keep an eye on:

• Legislative sessions: Any bill amending §381.986 or the telehealth statute could affect renewals.
• OMMU and Board of Medicine updates: Rule changes can clarify how video visits must be conducted and what documentation physicians need to keep.

So, will Florida permanently allow remote medical marijuana recertification? As of late 2025, telehealth renewals are about as “permanent” as any statute can be: firmly embedded in state law, widely used by clinics, and politically stable—but always subject to the next round of legislative debate.