Thousands of children in Florida are without coverage after Medicaid unwinding

| 11/14/2023

Thousands of children in Florida are without coverage after Medicaid unwinding

Florida is halfway through its Medicaid unwinding process, and thousands of children have lost coverage. The state doesn't know how those kids are receiving care, now. Nearly a quarter of a million children were ineligible for Medicaid as the state is about halfway through its redetermination process, in which the Department of Children and Family Services is reevaluating eligibility for 5.5 million Floridians. [Source: WMFE]

How safe is your hospital? Most in South Florida saw a decline in patient safety ratings

How safe are you when you become a patient at a South Florida hospital? Not as safe as you should be, according to newly released ratings from the Leapfrog Group. The nonprofit watchdog organization’s fall 2023 ratings report revealed six hospitals in South Florida between Jupiter and Key Biscayne received a “D” grade for patient safety. Those hospitals are Jackson South in Miami, North Shore Medical Center in Miami, HCA Florida Northwest Hospital in Margate, Florida Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Baptist Health Boca Regional Hospital, and HCA Florida JFK Hospital in Atlantis. All six hospitals saw their scores decline from a C rating a year ago. [Source: South Florida Sun Sentinel]

Florida Senate President Passidomo puts her focus on health care

Amid population growth and a shortfall of doctors and nurses, the Florida Senate next week will start crafting legislation aimed at expanding access to health care. The Senate Health Policy Committee will hold a workshop Tuesday “to begin the process of fine-tuning ideas, putting pen to paper, and of course, hearing more input from stakeholders,” Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, wrote Thursday in a memo to senators. [Source: News Service of Florida]

Medical experts raise concerns about diabetes as Florida outpaces the national average

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 37.3 million Americans are living with diabetes, 96 million American adults are living with prediabetes, and about 1 in 5 people with diabetes are unaware that they have it. The American Diabetes Association stated that 11.6% of Floridians had diabetes compared to the national average of 9.4 percent. Diagnosed diabetes costs an estimated $25 billion in Florida each year and an estimated $327 billion in medical costs and lost work and wages nationally. [Source: WFLA]

UM, UF research team gets $3.2M grant to study cannabis in breast cancer treatments

A significant step toward understanding the role of medical cannabis and cannabinoids in breast cancer treatment comes in the form of a five-year, $3.2 million U01 award from the National Cancer Institute. The award was granted to a 12-member team led by Hu, in collaboration with experts from UF Health Cancer Center and the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. The research project aims to enroll 300 medical cannabis and cannabinoids users and 300 non-medical users, collecting data on patient characteristics, treatment plans, clinician-reported outcomes, adverse reactions, and patient-reported outcomes. [Source: Health News Florida]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› New report reveals lung cancer screenings too low in Florida [South Florida Hospital News]
Today, the American Lung Association in Florida released its 2023 “State of Lung Cancer” report, which finds that the rate of lung cancer screening in Florida is far too low at 2.4%, compared to the national average of 4.5%.

› Can All Children’s Hospital afford $261 million in damages? [Tampa Bay Times]
Attorneys for Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital appeared shell-shocked after a jury Thursday ruled against the hospital on every count of the high profile lawsuit decided in a Venice courtroom. They had good reason.

› Abortion rights are winning in red states. Florida may be the exception. [Politico]
Prominent Orlando trial attorney John Morgan could be considered the kingmaker of Democratic-focused ballot initiatives, having poured millions of dollars of his own money into successfully getting medical marijuana and a minimum wage increase passed. But when it comes to the push in Florida that aims to create a right to abortion up to at least 24 weeks of pregnancy — and undo the state’s 6-week ban — Morgan said he’s not getting involved.

› Florida health officials defend higher pot license fee [Tampa Bay Business Journal]
A formula used to set a $1.33 million price tag for medical marijuana license renewals properly carries out state lawmakers’ policy choices, Florida health officials argued as they try to swat down a challenge to the fee.

Tags: Health Care eNews

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