Thirty-five percent of Hendry County’s 33,000 residents under 65 lack health insurance, but nearly a month after the health law’s expansion of coverage began, local health officials say little has changed for most uninsured residents.
Poverty
Florida Hospital Flagler CEO: State Must Extend Medicaid to Working Poor
The Florida Legislature still has the opportunity this year to draw down $51 billion in federal dollars already sent to Washington to help pay the cost of health insurance for those who cannot afford it, argues Floridfa Hospital Flagler CEO Ken Mattison.
Despite Florida’s Resistance, A New Era Of Health Insurance Begins for Millions
Thousands of previously uninsured Floridians woke up Wednesday morning with peace of mind for the first time in years. More than half of Florida’s nearly 4 million uninsured are projected to qualify for coverage through the Marketplace. Another million would qualify if the Florida Legislature would permit it.
Obamacare Dilemma:
High Deductibles vs. “Huge Fear”
Going without insurance “is like gambling,” says a 43-year-old social worker. But the high deductibles of Affordable Care Act plans make them a hard sell, as the plans sold on the exchange are not as generous as employer-sponsored insurance.
Medicaid Gap: A Reporter Who Covers Obamacare But Doesn’t Qualify For It
The Supreme Court allowed states to opt out of the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, as Florida did, but the law didn’t include subsidies for people in those states who earn less than the federal poverty level to buy coverage through the exchanges. They were supposed to be covered under Medicaid. And Medicaid is not there for them.
Despite $51 Billion For the Taking, Florida Unlikely to Expand Health Coverage in 2014
Consumer groups, hospitals and insurers are clamoring for Florida to take the $51 billion in federal funds that have been offered to the state over the next decade to provide health coverage to the working poor. But those who are tuned in politically — even those who desperately want it to happen — say it’s very unlikely in 2014.
Pantry Alert: Cuts in Food Stamps Benefits Will Affect 3.6 Million Floridians Staring Nov. 1
Florida’s food hardship rate is more than 21 percent, meaning that one in five Florida households reported that in the past year they struggled to buy enough food for the family. The state is one of the hardest-hit for food security.
When Domestic Violence Hits the Workplace: Businesses Contend With Collateral Damage
Gathered in a community where the city and county have approved workplace policies banning domestic and sexual violence, experts said Thursday that all employers should be aware that workplace violence affects not only victims but business profits.
ACLU Sues Florida DMV for Suspending Licenses of Those Too Poor to Pay Court Costs
More than 200,000 Florida drivers have had their licenses suspended for failure to pay legal fees as of the start of 2013–fees that are unrelated to penalties associated with their sentence. The suspensions disproportionately affect poor people, who, without a car, have even fewer means to hold a job and make good on payments.
Flagler Health Department Chief Defends Ban on Navigators, Citing Privacy and Logistics
Flagler County Health Department Director Patrick Johnson defended the state’s controversial ban from DOH property against outreach workers called Navigators, who help uninsured people sign up for subsidized health coverage under Obamacare–a law Florida officials have actively and chronically obstructed.
Flagler Health Department Launches “Gospel” to Combat Twin Killers: Tobacco and Obesity
Two initiatives will be the centerpiece of the Flagler Health Department’s strategy in the coming year: Tobacco Free Flagler and an effort to reduce the incidence of overweight and obese residents through more awareness of good nutrition, BMI and healthier activities.
Team Feed Flagler Kicks Off Food Drives at Local Events
Team Feed Flagler, the annual community Thanksgiving meal and food drive led and chiefly sponsored by Flagler County government, has scheduled several drop-off locations for donated food over the next three months. Chart included.
Predatory Human Traffickers Luring Teens and the Homeless as Cops Warn of Backyard Crisis
A nationwide crackdown last week by the FBI on child sex trafficking yielded 159 arrests and freed 105 children — nearly all girls between 13 and 17 — but experts say it’s the tip of the iceberg as 450,000 children run away from home each year and that one-third will be lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home.
After Pledging to End $20,000 Request, Second Harvest Asks Flagler To Double It Instead
Two years ago Second Harvest pledged that the annual $20,000 it was receiving from Flagler County government to pay for a food stamps outreach program would end this year. Instead, the agency today asked the county commission for $40,000.
Homelessness in Flagler Persists, But Minor Conflicts Cloud Accomplishments and Services
It’s not that there isn’t a homelessness problem in Flagler and Bunnell, but while numerous and at times generous services are being provided, minor conflicts targeting some homeless people in Bunnell are disproportionately affecting the debate, and draining attention from what’s being done to help.
Rotary’s June 9 Run/Walk Fund-Raiser for Flagler County Free Clinic Looking for Participants
The Rotary Club of Palm Coast is hosting the 7th annual Run for the Free Clinic this Sunday, June 9, 2013, a fund-raising event for the Flagler County Free Clinic, but more participants are needed.
Florida House Rejects $50 Billion in Federal Medicaid Help, Opting for Stingy Alternative
Florida’s rejection of federal aid for the expansion of Medicaid leaves the state with a bare-bones alternative to provide health care for the poor and uninsured while setting a defining marker against Obamacare and the federal vision of health care reform.
So Long, Teeny Weeny Bean Plan: Skeletal Health Plan for Florida’s Poor Is Dying
Sen. John Thrasher says he doubts Sen. Aaron Bean’s small-budget plan for some of Florida’s low-income uninsured will get a floor vote. Bean’s plan was criticized as not much of a plan at all, as it would have cost beneficiaries more than they might have benefited.
Publix’s Profitable Accommodation With Poverty: Not a Penny More for Tomato Pickers
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has been trying for years to get Publix to join the Fair Food Coalition, in which suppliers and purchasers agree to pay the workers a penny more per pound of tomatoes picked. Publix won’t even meet with the workers.
Assailed One Week, Celebrated the Next: Rev. Beth Gardner Honored by County Commission
A week after being “called on the carpet” before the Bunnell City Commission for providing an occasional shelter for the homeless at Bunnell’s First United Methodist Church, Rev. Beth Gardner this evening was honored by the Flagler County Commission for that same mission.
Bunnell Wants County, Palm Coast and Flagler Beach to Help Solve Its Homeless Problem
Bunnell’s First United Methodist Church is the closest thing Flagler County has to a homeless shelter, but a few residents are critical even of that limited help, claiming it’s blighting the city, while the City Commission wants county government, Palm Coast and Flagler Beach to pitch in for a solution.
Children’s Week at the Florida Capitol Contrasts With a Dearth of Kids-Friendly Bills
Bottom line: 19.2 percent of adults and 28.4 percent of children are sometimes hungry in Florida, compared to national averages of 16.1 percent for adults and 21.6 percent for children. About 21 percent of Florida children were living below the federal poverty level in 2009.
With 1 in 5 Floridian Uninsured, Backers of Broader Coverage Want Lawmakers to Act
Although Florida lawmakers have made it known they have no intention of going along with an expansion of Medicaid under the federal health care law, legislative leaders say they’re open to crafting an alternative that would find some way to expand health care coverage to many more uninsured as the law envisions.
The Problem With Florida’s Medicaid Program Isn’t Cost. It’s Too Many Working Poor.
Florida has too many working poor whose employers don’t provide health insurance. Rather than complaining about the costs of coverage, we should try to increase the earnings of our people, argues Rick Outzen.
Beyond Doctor’s Orders: When Health and Fitness Are Not Always a Matter of Choice
The discipline it takes aside, getting healthy can be costly, writes Milissa Holland, in many more ways than one: healthy food is more expensive, exercise isn’t always as easy as deciding to do it, and even health insurance plans for the poor are becoming intractable. An invitation to discuss a central issue in most people’s lives.
Quality Concerns as Florida Medicaid Moves Millions of Poor and Elderly to Managed Care
Senior said much of the state’s negotiations with federal officials have focused on safeguards to make sure that Medicaid’s new Florida version would be based on providing services in people’s homes and communities and would not be a “nursing home light” system..
Fiscal Deal Delays Big Cuts in Food Stamps For Florida’s Poor, and Farm Reform
The nine-month extension would ignore comprehensive packages by the agriculture committees of both chambers, including provisions for dairy industry reform, disaster relief and cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.
For Needy Children’s Christmas, Flagler Fire Fighters’ Union Answers the Call of the Year
Kyle Lockwood, a firefighter-paramedic with Flagler County Fire Rescue, organized a gift drive for 42 of the county’s neediest children and, with colleagues, delivered the gifts to children and their families Friday in the courthouse parking lot.