Florida’s rate of uninsured would have been lower had Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature not prevented the federally-funded expansion of Medicaid.
florida health care
Florida Insurers Requesting an Average 17.7% Rate Increase in Obamacare Plans for 2017
While the requested increases for Florida vary from zero to 40 percent, all requested increases for silver plans are under 14 percent, and half are under 3 percent.
Florida Health Summit Concludes With One Overriding Prescription: Expand Access to Care
While senators have focused heavily on access, the House and Scott have pushed for health-care changes that include reducing or eliminating some longstanding regulations. They contend that such ideas would create more competition and lower health-care costs.
2.8 Million Floridians Still Uninsured Even as Just 20% Fall in Medicaid Gap
It’s 1.1 million fewer than in 2013, but almost a third of the uninsured are eligible for Obamacare but haven’t enrolled, 15% have chosen not to enroll in employee-provided health care, and the rest are uninsured for a variety of other reasons.
Florida Teens’ Taste for E-Cigarettes Now More than Double That of Tobacco Sticks
Some 6.9 percent of Florida high-school students smoke cigarettes, but 15.8 percent use electronic cigarettes, which allow inhalation of vaporized nicotine.
Florida Doubles Rates For 36,000 KidCare Full Pay Children, and Blames Obamacare
Thousands of parents were slammed with new rates with less than a month to pay, though they’ll have a chance to leave Florida’s plan for Obamacare in a special enrollment period.
Childhood Cancer Clusters in Florida and The Department of Health’s Lethal Silence
Five years have passed since the University of West Florida’s Dr. Raid Amin and his team alerted the state to the presence of cancer clusters in Florida, the state Department of Health remains mum, seemingly uninterested in investigating the issue.
Administrator Patrick Johnson Calls It Quits as Flagler Health Department Endures Big Changes
Flagler County Health Department Administrator Patrick Johnson is resigning at the end of the month to take a public health post in North Carolina as county departments in Florida see their roles shift and diminish.
Proposals: Scrap Hospital Regulatory Process, Give Some Nurses More Power to Prescribe Drugs
House Republicans filed six bills Wednesday that delve into hot-button issues such as getting rid of a regulatory process for new or expanded hospitals and allowing advanced-registered nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe controlled substances.
As Gov. Scott Seeks Information For His Health Commission, Hospitals Signal He’s On His Own
As Gov. Rick Scott’s newly created health-care commission prepares to meet Wednesday to begin sifting through data about hospital funding, the governor’s request for information has been met with hospitals essentially telling him to go look it up.
Gov. Scott Seeks Court-Ordered Injunction Against Federal Government in Health Fight
Lawyers for the state asked Thursday for a federal judge to immediately bar the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from considering whether the state has expanded Medicaid as the agency weighs a decision on $2.2 billion in funding for hospitals and other health-care providers in Florida.
The Florida Legislature MessedUp. Ten Big Issues At Impasse and Beyond.
Lawmakers will come back sometime in May or June for a special session to negotiate and pass a budget. But with the 60-day regular session formally ending Friday, here is where 10 major issues stand.
With 800,000 Floridians in Health Insurance Limbo, Hopes Return for Medicaid Expansion
A coalition of businesses groups, local officials and healthcare industry representatives has rolled out a plan to insure nearly one million low-income Floridians who fall in the so-called Medicaid coverage gap.
Florida’s Obamacare Enrollment Projected To Rise to 1.1 Million by Next Year
The number of Floridians enrolled in individual health plans under the Affordable Care Act in June was 866,485, with a 23 percent increase projected by 2015.
Florida Insurers Owe $41.7 Million in Rebates to Individuals and Companies, Topping Nation
The latest round of paybacks brings Florida’s three-year total from the Affordable Care Act’s rebate program to almost $220 million. This year’s rebate will average $65 per family in Florida, according to the report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Florida Blue, State’s Biggest Health Insurer, Will Raise Rates in Response to Obamacare
Florida Blue snagged a third of all new policies under Obamacare, but rates are going up due to a lack of younger and healthy enrollees and a greater-than-expected surge in people seeking expensive health services.
Florida Inverse: 2nd Highest Level of Uninsured, Dead Last in Affordable Care Grants
Judging by the grant totals of other states, Florida appears to have forfeited at least $100 million and possibly $300 million or more, not even including $51 billion the state is forfeiting by saying no to Medicaid expansion.
For Floridians, Affordable Care Act Lives Up To Its Name: Average Monthly Premium Is $68
The $68 a month average premium is considerably less than the national average of $82. The plans are subsidized through tax credits taken in advance. Ninety-one percent of those who enrolled in Florida received the financial help, averaging $278 a month.
Red-Light Cameras, Guns, Pot, Tax Cuts: Rating the 2014 Legislative Session
Florida lawmakers ended the 2014 legislative session after passing a budget and a flurry of other bills dealing with issues such as child welfare and school vouchers. But hundreds of bills died as lawmakers headed home to gear up for re-election campaigns. Here are 10 issues that passed during the session and 10 issues that failed.
Mega Health Bill Favoring Nurse Practitioners, Trauma Centers and Drs. Without State License Clears House Panel
The bill would protect private for-profit trauma centers, allow for independent practice for nurse practitioners and allow out-of-state doctors to participate in telehealth without a Florida license. The Florida Medical Association opposes the latter two.
Obamacare Tally: Florida Subsidies Average $3,000, But Some Families Complain of Costly Exclusion
And yet only one in four Floridians who qualifies for a subsidy had enrolled in a plan by March 1, leaving 1 million eligible residents uninsured. A mother describes how the law’s employee-insurance provision barred her family from subsidies.
Senate President Says No to More Authority and Prescription Power For Nurse Practitioners
A House bill would give advanced-practice nurses more authority, including prescribing of controlled substances, and set up a pathway to independent practice, not supervised by physicians. But Senate President Don Gaetz opposes it.
Obamacare Enrollment Surging in Florida Despite Resistance from State Officials
By the end of January, nearly 300,000 Floridians had enrolled in a new health plan through Obamacare — a surge that left most other states in the dust, despite state officials’ opposition to the Affordable Care Act and the relative scarcity of helpers available.
Obamacare’s Popularity Overwhelms Florida Blue as System Crashes, Costing Enrollees
Many who signed up and paid Florida Blue for their new plan between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 say the insurer has lost them in its computer system. Now, when they go to the doctor or try to get a prescription filled, they have to pay the bill themselves or cancel.
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.
A Confederacy of Choices: Marketplace Plans Vary Widely In Costs, In Counties And Across U.S.
Consumers shopping in the new health insurance marketplaces will face a bewildering array of competing plans in some counties and sparse options in other places, with people in some areas of the country having to pay much more for the identical level of coverage than consumers elsewhere.
Florida Groups Helping Uninsured Are Getting “Intimidating” Letters from GOP Lawmakers
Eight groups that are hiring and training “navigators” to help uninsured Floridians enroll in Obamacare have been sent letters by 15 GOP members of a U.S. House committee seeking information on their activities — a letter the Obama administration called a “blatant and shameful attempt to intimidate.”
Insurance Commissioner’s Blurry Prediction of Rate Increases Under Obamacare Contradicted
RAND study findings stand in stark contrast to the widely publicized predictions of Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty that the individual market would see rate increases of 30 to 40 percent for next year.
Florida Cabinet Hypes Identity Thievery of Affordable Health Act “Navigators”
There is no danger that so-called “navigators” will steal people’s identities or feed information into a giant federal database, said Greg Mellowe, policy director for the consumer group Florida CHAIN. The group is one of the non-profits that will get a share of federal grant money for the “navigator” program.
Florida Snubs Millions in Federal Health Grants That Could Help Workers and the Poor
in a pattern of politically motivated rejections by Florida itself, the state got the lowest amount of health-care reform act grant funding per capita – behind all 50 states and the District of Columbia – in 2011. While state agencies received the bulk of federal health grants in other states, it was the reverse in Florida.
Florida’s Self-Insured Not Likely to See Premiums Drop Much as a Result of Obamacare
New York’s announcement last week that insurance premiums would drop 50 percent next year for individuals buying their own coverage in new online marketplaces made good talking points for proponents of the health law, but consumers in most states are unlikely to see similar savings.
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.
Sen. Aaron Bean’s “Health Choice Plus” Plan for Florida’s Poor: Flimsier Than a Band-Aid
What kind of health coverage can you buy for $20 to $30 a month? None. That may sum up the real-world prospects for Health Choice Plus, the plan for low-income uninsured Florida adults that State Sen. Aaron Bean’s committee approved Tuesday along party lines.
For Florida’s Poorest 600,000, a Stingy Health Care Proposal that Cuts to the Bone
The latest proposal to provide health care to Florida’s poorest snubs federal money while creating limited health accounts the poor may tap, but for limited services, and with burdensome conditions of employment–and premiums that most may not be able to afford.
1.7 Million Floridians Could Get Lower Premiums Under Obamacare, But Don’t Know It
The premium assistance, which begins Jan. 1, will come in the form of tax credits for low- and middle-income workers and their families. The money will flow directly to the patients’ health plans, which simplifies matters and means patients don’t have to come up with cash and wait for reimbursement.
Florida Speaker Weatherford’s Homeschool Blinders to the Poor and Uninsured
Rather than worship his homeschooling past, what Will Weatherford needs to be wondering is what Florida will be like if its 4 million uninsured citizens continue to go without health coverage, argues Rhonda Swan.
Bill To Close a Gap in Children’s Health Insurance Stalls as Tallahassee Dawdles
With a third of the annual regular legislative session already gone, a bill that would close gaps in access to health care coverage for Florida children has passed just one committee and appears in danger of not passing.
Florida Among States Where Out-of-Pocket Health Costs Exceed Reform Law’s Cap
Even when deductibles are included, 36 percent of policies offered to individuals on the private market exceed the new health law’s allowable limit. Once the cap is enforced, consumers may see higher premiums instead.
State Health Agency Corrects Inflated Costs of Obamacare Scott Had Used to Oppose Reform
Florida’s costs could be as low as $3 billion over 10 years — a huge drop from the nearly $26 billion figure that AHCA produced in a report last month. Even with the changes, it appears that the Scott administration believes that the state’s final tab over 10 years would be higher.
In a Shift, Gov. Scott Will Now Talk Health Care Reform, But With Reservations
Scott sent a conciliatory letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, but while seeking a meeting, Scott also expressed doubts about whether a key part of the Affordable Care Act would lower health costs.
Amendment 1: Floridians Will Get Their Say on Obamacare, But Only Symbolically
Lawmakers have proposed a constitutional amendment that, if passed, would say Floridians can’t be forced to buy health coverage. At least in the short term, the measure would appear to have little effect, but House sponsor Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, pointed to what he sees as a “basic right” that Floridians should not be “fined, taxed or penalized for our health care choices.”
Chronic, Scandalous Abuse and Worse at a Florida Brain-Injury Center Demands Attention
It is impossible to look at the pages-long list of abuse allegations at the Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation and not wonder how it is allowed to remain open: Sexual abuse. Mental abuse. Burns. Broken bones. Bruises. Cuts and punctures. Bizarre punishment. And much worse.
Scott Administration Downplays Northeast Florida Tuberculosis Spike; CDC Doesn’t
An April report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted a surge in cases of the highly contagious disease that appeared to be clustered in a homeless shelter, a jail and an outpatient mental health clinic in downtown Jacksonville.
When American Health Care Heads for Texas
If the Affordable Care Act is overturned, the rest of the country should take a good look at the situation in Texas, because this is what happens when you keep Medicaid enrollment as low as possible and don’t undertake insurance reforms.
Florida’s Prescription Express: Doctors Shoving Drugs at Poor Patients, for Millions
Florida regulators are finally getting around to stopping doctors from over-prescribing drugs, some of them risky, to Medicaid patients, and at times to the wrong patients, after enabling the practice despite signs of misconduct.
Rick Scott Opposes Electronic Health Databases Designed to Speed Up Patient Care
Florida’s Health Information Exchange, a national pioneer, replaces paper with electronic records, speeding up patient care and information exchanges between health providers. Rick Scott opposes it, claiming it doesn’t save money and breaches privacy.
Rubio’s Rig: Florida’s Answer to Obama Health Law Leaving Small Businesses Cold
Florida’s Marco Rubio-created insurance exchanges aren’t open to individuals, provide no subsidies or tax credits, and no essential health benefits, as federal plans do. The exchanges have not been popular.
Health Care Reform Ruling: 11th Circuit Court of Appeals’ 2-1 Decision
Full text of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals’ 2-1 ruling on Aug. 12, 2011 overturning parts of the Obama administration’s health care reform law, in a case from Florida.
Reform Minister: David Ottati’s Healthy Risks at Florida Hospital Flagler
David Ottati, Florida Hospital Flagler’s CEO, is investing, building, innovating, and taking risks despite–and because of–a sputtering economy and health care’s jaggedly changing landscape. So far, it’s paying off.
Bleeding Dangers: Has Your Dialysis Clinic Been Inspected Lately? Not Likely
The United States spends $20 billion a year to care for some 400,000 Americans who rely on chronic dialysis to live. Inspection rates vary from higher than 40 percent per year in some states to lower than 10 percent in others.