Signaling that health care could be a key issue during the 2024 legislative session, House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, announced Friday that he has created the House Select Committee on Health Innovation. The committee, which will be chaired by Rep. Kaylee Tuck, R-Lake Placid, will “review issues relating to access and affordability in health care,” Renner said in a memo to House members.
Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, also said during an appearance this summer on the “Deeper Dive with Dara Kam” podcast that she wants to take steps during the 2024 session to attract more health-care providers. “We do not have enough providers, whether it be physicians, nurses, technicians … facilities to handle our current population comfortably and easily,” Passidomo said. “You know, I hear oftentimes from constituents that if they want to have some kind of elective surgery, they have got to wait eight months to a year to get in.”
Without “creative solutions,” she said, “it’s only going to get worse.” Renner also announced Friday that he is recreating the Select Committee on Hurricane Resiliency & Recovery “to review Florida’s recovery efforts surrounding hurricanes and to ensure that we are prepared for future storms.”
The move came a little more than a week after Category 3 Hurricane Idalia hit parts of North Florida. Majority Leader Michael Grant, R-Port Charlotte, will chair the hurricane select committee. The 2024 session will start Jan. 9. The House has scheduled an initial series of subcommittee meetings on Sept. 19 to begin preparing for the session.
–News Service of Florida
Tony Mack says
Seriously? The only innovations these legislators will consider is how to eliminate more veterans and seniors from Medicaid and how to further restrict a woman’s right to select her own healthcare options. Additionally, they will consider how to penalize healthcare providers who would assist a woman with an abortion for any reason including her own health, and they also consider how to change the rules to allow insurance providers to gouge more money from Medicare and the ACA. Never gonna happen.
Laurel says
Tony Mack: I’m with you. Do these committees have both Democrats and Republicans on them? Nope. They are having new health care providers issues because of their new restrictive laws against women and trans people. Health care providers are leaving the state, oh, and so are insurance companies. Yeah, I don’t trust Renner.
Michael Cocchiola says
So, why did Floriduh (DeSinking) turn down millions in expanded Affordable Care funds?
Will this Republican committee look into this? Yeah, right.
Deborah Coffey says
Agreed. If they cared about healthcare, they would have expanded Medicaid in the first place. Now, they need votes so, they have to look like they care about not having enough doctors?
Jim says
Hey, everybody! Just relax! Renner and company did such a great job solving the home insurance problem in the last session! Why would you doubt their ability to improve health insurance for all of us?!?
It’s so comforting to know that Renner is concerned about our health care issues. But I don’t think I’ll hold my breath waiting on them to come up with solutions…. I fully expect when they get done, it will be worse than it is now….
Florida government is a mess from the very top to the very bottom……
Laurel says
REPEAL AND REPLACE!
REPEAL AND replace!
repeal and replace.
repeal
…um…never mind.