FlaglerLive | October 28, 2017
Though ample evidence shows breast-cancer radiation treatment for many can be drastically cut down, less than half those eligible received it despite the additional cost and inconvenience.
FlaglerLive | July 26, 2017
Senators are limited to 20 hours of debate, following which numberless amendments may be introduced–but not debated. It may get messy and difficult to follow.
FlaglerLive | April 22, 2017
The federal government has proposed requiring that accreditors release reports on the problems they find during hospital inspections. Right now, the reports are secret.
FlaglerLive | April 10, 2017
Organized labor and two lawmakers are leading the charge for a single, government-financed program for everyone in the state. Another legislator wants to create a commission that would weigh the best options for a system to cover everyone.
FlaglerLive | March 23, 2017
The GOP approach is called a “continuous coverage” penalty. It increases premiums for people who buy insurance if they have gone 63 consecutive days without a policy during the past 12 months.
FlaglerLive | March 14, 2017
A Senate committee today killed a proposal to create the sort of “recovery care centers” Palm Coast government and Florida Hospital Flagler oppose, but it agreed to expanded ambulatory care centers.
FlaglerLive | February 6, 2017
Expanding the use of such accounts, greatly favored by Wall Street, is part of almost every GOP replacement plan under consideration on Capitol Hill. But less well off people and the sick would not likely benefit.
FlaglerLive | January 12, 2017
Some of these Obamacare measures enjoy broad support and are taken for granted even though people often don’t realize they spring from the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans are working to repeal.
FlaglerLive | December 22, 2016
Despite the Affordable Care Act’s rising prices, decreased insurer participation and a vigorous political threat to its survival, consumer enrollment for 2017 is outpacing last year’s.
FlaglerLive | December 11, 2016
Tom Price, a Georgia physician who opposes the Affordable Care Act, abortion and funding for Planned Parenthood, among other things, could have a rapid impact without even a presidential order or an act of Congress.
FlaglerLive | July 18, 2016
Most health policy analysts — including those who are sympathetic to the idea — say moving from the current U.S. public-private hybrid health system to one fully funded by the government in one step is basically impossible. And that’s making a huge assumption that it could get through Congress.
FlaglerLive | May 31, 2016
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.
FlaglerLive | May 10, 2016
Property values are expected to improve by 4.5 percent, adding $2.5 million to county revenue absent tax-rate changes, but the county’s health costs are increasing dramatically, leaving county commissioners with difficult choices again.
FlaglerLive | March 2, 2016
Centra Care on Palm Coast Parkway is the latest urgent care clinic to open in the region as health care providers shift services away from emergency rooms when possible, to control costs. But Centra Care also helps channel patients to the Florida Hospital Flagler system.
FlaglerLive | February 17, 2016
The Senate on Wednesday listened to hospitals, nursing homes and hospice providers and killed a bill that would have weakened the “certificate of need” process that gives the state power to review and approval new health-care facilities.
FlaglerLive | February 15, 2016
The $15-million, 32-bed addition tips Florida Hospital Flagler past the 99-bed threshold, reducing its Medicare dollars by up to $12 million, but hospital officials see the expansion as meeting local needs.
FlaglerLive | October 19, 2015
Individuals can still enroll in a Cigna plan by seeing an insurance agent. But enrollment through the Marketplace, which begins Nov. 1, is the only way to obtain tax credits that subsidize the cost of premiums.
FlaglerLive | September 29, 2015
Hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli’s decision to raise the price of the lifesaving drug Daraprim from $18 to $750 per pill is emblematic of America’s pharmaceutical industry, where price-gouging is the norm.
FlaglerLive | May 27, 2015
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.
FlaglerLive | May 20, 2015
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.
FlaglerLive | May 9, 2015
Dramatic miscalculations and eagerness for showdown over health care derailed Florida lawmakers’ plans in the 2015 legislative session–impulses they must guard against if the special session is to go more smoothly.
FlaglerLive | February 11, 2015
Even though an unplanned pregnancy would cost an insurer a lot more than the contraceptives to prevent it, some insurers still try to limit what they cover.
FlaglerLive | April 10, 2014
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.
FlaglerLive | February 27, 2014
The proposal, opposed by numerous Florida hospitals, would help the HCA health-care chain keep trauma centers open and could short-circuit a debate about how the Florida Department of Health determines where new trauma centers should be allowed to open.
FlaglerLive | October 30, 2013
The $288,000 annual contract with Florida Hospital Flagler’s Prompt Care Clinic will allow 1,400 of the school district’s 1,700 employees to seek out primary care at no cost, but with some restrictions. The district hopes it will lower the annual increases in premiums that employees and taxpayers have been bearing.
FlaglerLive | September 23, 2013
A new study finds that preventable hospital mistakes that lead to patients’ death are far higher than previous estimates, making medical errors the third-leading cause of death in America, behind heart disease, which is the first, and cancer, which is second.
FlaglerLive | August 26, 2013
Reform was supposed to do away with bare-bones health plans that could leave consumers who become seriously ill on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in medical costs. It won’t, as plans with limited benefits may continue to be offered by some large businesses, especially those with low-paid workers such as restaurant chains and retailers.
FlaglerLive | August 22, 2013
Heritage Action for America, part of the hard-right Heritage Foundation, is hopscotching across the South, firing up the anti-Obamacare troops during Congress’ August recess, with a vote on defunding Obamacare scheduled for immediately after Labor Day.
FlaglerLive | August 20, 2013
With average family plan premium topping $16,000 for the first time, with workers paying on average $4,565, workers will feel an increased pinch: More than a third have annual deductibles of at least $1,000 before insurance kicks in, while wages continue to grow far more slowly than health insurance costs.
FlaglerLive | March 16, 2013
As more small employers avoid the health act’s requirements through self-coverage, small-business marketplaces intended to cover millions of Americans could break down and become unaffordable.
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