The tax and spending legislation the House voted to send to President Donald Trump’s desk on Thursday, enacting much of his domestic agenda, cuts federal health spending by about $1 trillion over a decade in ways that will jeopardize the physical and financial health of tens of millions of Americans. The bill, passed in both the House and the Senate without a single Democratic vote, is expected to reverse many of the health coverage gains of the Biden and Obama administrations.
Health Care
American Doctors Are Escaping to Canada. Guess Why.
The Medical Council of Canada said in an email statement that the number of American doctors creating accounts on physiciansapply.ca, which is “typically the first step” to being licensed in Canada, has increased more than 750% over the past seven months compared with the same time period last year — from 71 applicants to 615. Separately, medical licensing organizations in Canada’s most populous provinces reported a rise in Americans either applying for or receiving Canadian licenses, with at least some doctors disclosing they were moving specifically because of the new regime in the United States.
The Hidden Epidemic of Violence Against Nurses
An alarming 8 in 10 nurses face violence at work. As a result, health care workers are more than four times as likely to be injured by workplace violence than workers in all other industries combined. Despite these staggering numbers, the full extent of this epidemic may not be fully understood because nurses and other health care workers chronically underreport violent encounters.
Republicans Are Slashing Health Insurance for the Poor to Extent Trump’s Tax Cut for the Rich
The House last week approved a Republican budget plan that could shrink Medicaid spending by $880 billion over 10 years, only partially paying for an extension of expiring tax cuts from President Donald Trump’s first term, plus some new ones he has promised, totaling as much as $4.5 trillion. Providers, patient advocates, disabled people, and family members are furious.
The Moral Dimension of America’s Flawed Health Care System
The killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has set off soul-searching among many Americans. Part of that reflection is about the public reaction to Thompson’s death and the sympathy the suspect received online, with some people critical of the insurance industry celebrating the assailant as a sort of folk hero. Frustrations are no excuse for murder. But it has become a moment of wider reflection on health care in America, and why so many patients feel the system is broken.
Why Americans Are Furious With Health Insurance CEOs
Over 8,000 Americans die every day, many unnecessarily. The United States still does not have in place a national health care system that guarantees everyone adequate medical attention. Some 25 percent of Americans have people in their family who have had to delay medical treatment for a serious illness because they couldn’t afford the care. Some 79 percent of America’s nurses, for their part, say they’re working in inadequately staffed health facilities.
Florida Leads the Nation in Affordable Care Act Enrollment
Florida leads the nation in Obamacare enrollment after a month of open enrollment. Data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services show that 1,458,792 Florida residents signed up for insurance coverage through the “Marketplace” for 2025. The Marketplace, obtainable through Healthcare.gov, is where customers can compare health plans and provides enrollment services and other help.
Biden Is Right: Over 100 Million Americans Would Lose Protection for Preexisting Conditions if ACA Is Repealed
A previous fact-check ruled Biden’s claim that 100 million Americans have preexisting conditions as in the ballpark, and nothing suggests that’s changed. Depending on the definition, the number could be smaller, but it also could be even greater and is likely to have increased since 2014.
Health Care’s Familiar Symptoms: GOP Wants Less Regulation, Democrats Want More
GOP health plans would allow more employers to bypass the landmark health insurance overhaul’s basic benefits requirements and most state standards. Democrats want to limit short-term plans’ length before people go into ACA plans. Meanwhile, many still struggle to afford deductibles or other costs.
How Often Do Health Insurers Say No to Patients? No One Knows.
Insurers’ denial rates — a critical measure of how reliably they pay for customers’ care — remain mostly secret to the public. Federal and state regulators have done little to change that.
Palm Coast Issues Certificate of Occupancy to AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway
The City of Palm Coast is excited to announce that the Certificate of Occupancy was signed on Thursday, June 29, for AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway, a 100-bed, four-story state-of-the-art hospital.
Planned Hospital on US 1 All But Dead, Mayor Says, as Advent, Baptist and Halifax Vie to Buy Flagler Health
Flagler Health+’s plans to build a hospital on a 70-acre parcel west of U.S. 1 and Palm Coast Parkway appear to have died. And the St. Augustine-based company is on the market, with AdventHealth, Halifax Health and Jacksonville-based Baptist Health competing to buy it, according to Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin.
Latest Lawsuit Against Obamacare Could End Free Preventive Healthcare for 150 Million Americans
More than 150 million Americans now have access to scores of preventive health measures at no cost, sparing many from illness and catching diseases early for others. They no longer will, if the latest GOP-backed effort to undo Obamacare is successful.
MedNexus in Palm Coast: ‘It’s Really About 6 Hands,’ Szymanski Says of Medical-Education Hub in Town Center
David Szymanski, the CEO of the University of Florida’s MedNexus–the emerging medical education innovator with a foothold in Palm Coast–was the keynote speaker at Flagler Tiger Bay’s monthly lunch series today, outlining what Palm Coast can expect of the initiative in Town Center.
Supreme Court Declines to Overturn ACA — Again. Florida Was Among Losing Plaintiffs.
By a vote of 7-2, however, the justices did not even reach the merits of the case, ruling instead that the suing states and the individual plaintiffs, two self-employed Texans, lacked “standing” to bring the case to court.
CareerSource Flagler Volusia Hosts Virtual Job Fair for Healthcare Careers on April 29
CareerSource Flagler Volusia will host the Virtual Job Fair for Healthcare Careers on Thursday, April 29, 2021 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Veterans and their eligible spouses will receive priority of service and may join the event starting at 10:00 a.m. The event will be open to the general public from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
Finally, the Biggest Healthcare Expansion in a Decade. Now Make It Permanent.
This victory is only one step in efforts to expand health care access. The next step is to make them permanent — or, better yet, move toward a public option or universal, Medicare for All system that doesn’t tie health care access to employment or income at all, argues Olivia Alperstein.
One Year Later, Stories of AdventHealth’s first Covid Patients Highlight Compassion in Medicine
On the one year anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaration of a global pandemic, AdventHealth officials reflected on the changes brought on by the virus and how it emphasized the hospital system’s founding mission of caring for the whole person – body, mind and spirit.
Far More Than Stimulus Checks: Premiums Will Fall for Many in Biggest Obamacare Revamp in 10 Years
The proposal would ensure no one who buys insurance on the exchanges pays more than 8.5% of income. It is part of the $1.9 trillion covid relief bill. But the Affordable Care Act revamp, largest in a decade, would expire in 2022.
Jacksonville University Plans Major Campus Expansion in Palm Coast in City’s 2nd Higher-Ed Partnership
Jacksonville University and Palm Coast announced a joint partnership that will open a JU campus in town–the university’s first-ever expansion beyond Jacksonville in its 86-year history–and enroll 150 to 200 full-time students within 24 months. The focus will be health-care education, and more specifically, nursing.
In Major Coup for Palm Coast, UNF in Town Center Is a Go as MedNex Initiative Survives Veto
The University of North Florida’s plan to build a satellite presence in Palm Coast’s Town Center as a feeder of health care practitioners to regional hospitals and clinics is a go as the $24 million dollar MedNex initiative survived Gov. Ron DeSantis’s veto pen today.
Physician Assistants and Certain Nurses Could Practice Independent of Doctors Under Proposed Law
Bill sponsor Cary Pigman, R-Avon Park, said the proposal (HB 607) would go a long way toward improving patients’ access to primary-care providers, especially in medically underserved areas of the state.
Elizabeth Warren’s Medicare For All: Unfair and Irresponsible
Elizabeth Warren’s Medicare for all proposal is right in principle but is not realistic, fair or honest and it ensures that Warren’s candidacy will not succeed at a time when a door knob should have the capabilities of defeating Donald Trump.
Obamacare Premiums Will Fall 4% and Number of Insurers Will Increase By a Third
The news comes despite the Trump administration’s persistent attempts to undermine the Affordable Care Act, which created the market with the goal of providing comprehensive health coverage at affordable prices and reducing the number of Americans without health insurance.
New Round of Medicare Penalties Hits 2,583 Hospitals, Including All Local Hospitals in 3 Counties
Although Medicare began applying the penalties in 2012, disagreements continue about whether they have improved patient safety. On the positive side, they have encouraged hospitals to focus on how their patients recuperate, and some now assist them in procuring medications and follow-up appointments.
Let Medicare For All End Cruelty of Using Health Care Coverage as a Bargaining Chip
If we already had Medicare for All, the United Auto Workers could be using their collective power to fight for higher wages and better benefits. Instead, GM gets to use the health of its employees as a bargaining chip.
Despite Repeated Calls For Unity, Democrats Throw Debate Punches On Health Plans
Unity was in the air on Thursday, as a trimmed-down cast of 10 Democratic presidential candidates met on the debate stage again and nodded to the stakes: the possibility of another four years of President Donald Trump.
St. Augustine’s Flagler Hospital Planning Medical Inroad in AdventHealth’s Palm Coast Backyard, on Matanzas Woods Parkway
Flagler Hospital–now Flagler Health Plus–has a contract to buy 4 acres on Matanzas Woods Parkway, where it would build a small medical-village type development, down the road from AdventHealth’s planned stand-alone emergency room.
Why Some CEOs Are Figuring Out That ‘Medicare For All’ Is Good For Business
As health costs continue to grow, straining employer budgets and slowing wage growth, CEOs and others in the business community are beginning to take the Medicare for All option more seriously.
A ‘Precedent-Setting’ Suit Puts Opioid Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson On Trial, Starting Today
Johnson & Johnson is accused of overstating the benefits of opioids and understating their risks in marketing campaigns that duped doctors into prescribing the drugs for ailments not approved by regulators.
Senate Approves Vast Deregulation of Hospital Expansions and Opens Way For Canadian Drugs
Under longstanding law, hospitals have needed to seek certificates of need from the state Agency for Health Care Administration to build facilities or to add certain services.THat would be eliminated.
Halifax Health Among Hospitals Paid Less By Medicare Over High Rates of Infections and Patient Injuries
The penalties pit hospitals against one another in a race to prevent the most infections, blood clots, cases of sepsis, bedsores, hip fractures and other complications. Each year, the quarter of general hospitals with the highest rates are punished, even if their records have improved from the previous year.
Voters in 3 Red States Approve Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion, Bringing Total to 36
Florida under Gov. Rick Scott repeatedly blocked Medicaid expansion, which provides benefits to all adults earning up to 38 percent above the federal poverty line, an annual income of $16,753 or less.
Avoidable Sepsis Infections Send Thousands Of Nursing Home Seniors To Gruesome Deaths
No one tracks sepsis cases closely enough to know how often these severe infections turn fatal. But the toll — both human and financial — is enormous, an investigation finds.
The $109,000 Heart Attack Bill Is Down To $332. What About Other Surprise Bills?
The hospital that overcharged a teacher cut the bill not before the huge charge sparked a national conversation over what should be done to combat surprise medical bills afflicting a growing number of Americans.
Obamacare Participants in Florida Will See Lowest Premium Increase In 8 Years
The rate increases are some of the lowest ever requested by Florida insurance companies since the federal health law passed in 2010.
Obamacare Out of ICU: Health Insurance Premiums Are Stabilizing Despite GOP Attacks
The improvements stem from less political uncertainty over health policy, steeper than necessary increases this year, and better understanding of the markets.
Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin Sales Pitch Downplayed Risks Of Opioid Addiction
More than 1,500 pending civil lawsuits, filed mostly by state and local governments, allege that deceptive marketing claims helped fuel a national epidemic of opioid addiction and thousands of overdose deaths.
Florida Hospital Flagler Will Change Name to AdventHealth Palm Coast in Companywide Rebranding
The change to AdventHealth Palm Coast, by Jan. 2, is part of a company-wide rebranding across all 47 Adventist Health System hospitals and dozens of other facilities in nine states.
In Governor’s Race, Democrats Push For Expanded Health Coverage For Floridians
Democratic candidates s are accentuating a split with Republicans in a campaign where health care has become one of the touchstone issues.
Shirley “Bird” Blanton, 1928-2018
Shirley “Bird” Blanton, 89, of St. Augustine, Florida went to her heavenly home to be her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on May 20, 2018.
Florida Hospitals and Halifax Health Named Among 150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare
Adventist Health System, which includes the Florida Hospitals in Volusia and Flagler counties, was recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of the top places to work in health care.
Unnecessary Medical Care Is More Common Than You Think
A study finds that in a single year more than 600,000 patients underwent treatment they didn’t need, at an estimated cost of $282 million. “Do no harm” should include the cost of care, too, the report author says.
Judge Lets Smokable Pot Case Go Forward, Rejecting State’s Motion to Dismiss
The suit challenges a state law, passed during a special legislative session last year, that bans medical-pot patients from smoking marijuana.
Doctors Join Chorus Against Limits on Painkiller Prescriptions, But Lawmakers Push On
The proposal to set legal limits on prescribing for pain medication continued moving forward when it was unanimously approved by the House Appropriations Committee.
To Stay on Medicaid, You May Have To Start Working: Trump’s Decision Sparks Fury
Trump’s decision to allow states to test a work requirement for adult Medicaid enrollees sparked criticism from doctors, advocates for the poor, and minority and disability rights groups.
O Canada: Can a Single-Payer Health-Insurance System Work in the United States?
American support for government-run, single-payer health care, once a fringe opinion, is picking up momentum, with doctors and patients increasingly supportive,
Despite Compressed Sign-Up Period, ACA Enrollment Nearly Matches Last Year’s
A day after Trump said the Affordable Care Act “has been repealed,” 8.8 million Americans had signed up for coverage on the federal insurance exchange in 2018.
Assisted Living Facilities Are Challenging Rule Requiring Generator Power in Emergencies
The Florida Senior Living Association representing 350 assisted living facilities argues the proposed rule creates requirements that are not authorized in state law.
Obamacare Enrollment Opens Wednesday For 5th Year: 5 Things You Should Know
Despite the efforts of President Donald Trump and the Republican-led Congress, the Affordable Care Act is still the law of the land. But there are changes.