'Bold' changes to Medicaid OK'd
With the chief sponsor calling for "bold and transformative" changes, a Florida State Senate committee today approved a controversial proposal that would hand over most of the Medicaid program to managed-care plans. The Senate Health Regulation Committee unanimously approved a bill that calls for shifting hundreds of thousands of women, children and seniors into HMOs and other types of managed-care organizations. The full House is expected to pass its version of the Medicaid overhaul Thursday, setting up complicated negotiations in the coming weeks to reach agreement on a final compromise. Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Chairman Joe Negron, a Stuart Republican who is the chief sponsor, said the bill can improve care for Medicaid beneficiaries who have been "second-class citizens" under the current fragmented system. But lawmakers also want to use managed care to hold down costs in the $20 billion program. "It's crowding out funding for public education, for public transportation, public safety (and) economic development,'' Negron said. But debate during the meeting showed the trickiness of changing a program that serves 2.9 million low-income and disabled people. [Source: Health News Florida]MUST-KNOW FLORIDIAN
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Collier is Florida's healthiest county for second year in a row
Collier County has retained its healthiest county ranking in Florida for a second year in a row, which is being attributed to lifestyle and improved access to medical care, according to an analysis by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation's largest philanthropic group focused on improving the health of Americans. The analysis was done with the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. This is the second year the county health rankings has been done nationwide to help communities see where they stand in their state and where to focus efforts for improvement. After Collier, the other top healthiest counties, in order, are Seminole, St. Johns, Sarasota, Martin, Clay, Leon, Miami-Dade, Okaloosa and Broward. The 10 counties with the poorest health are Union, Putnam, Madison, Gadsden, Levy, Baker, Dixie, Hamilton, Washington, and Glades. The healthiest counties are clustered in the southern part of the state while the least healthy are primarily in the north. [Source: Naples Daily News]
» See all Florida county health rankings
Quarantine Area Expands, 5th Medfly Found in Broward County
The Florida Department of Agriculture has expanded quarantine and pesticide zones after finding a fifth Mediterranean fruit fly in Pompano Beach.
Officials say the egg-bearing fruit fly was found Saturday in a trap in a loquat tree.
The quarantine now covers 71 square miles in northeast Broward County. Fruit inside the quarantine area cannot be removed from the property on which it was grown.
Agriculture officials say they will strip fruit from trees and spray pesticide in the immediate area.
Medflies lay eggs that develop into maggots and cause fruit, vegetables and nuts to drop and rot.
[Source: AP]
Darden seeking one-of-a-kind tax break from Legislature
Darden Restaurants is lobbying the Florida Legislature for a tax break that would save the company as much as $5 million a year in sales taxes even as lawmakers weigh deep spending cuts to public schools, prisons and many other areas to cover a nearly $4 billion budget shortfall.
The Orlando-based owner of Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants wants lawmakers to approve a measure that would expand the annual tax credits the company receives through a package of incentives it got to build a $152 million corporate headquarters that opened in September 2009 in Orange County.
The legislation is written so that Darden — a Fortune 500 company that generated $7.1 billion in global sales during its most recent fiscal year — would be the only business that could receive the expanded tax credits. The legislative sponsors include an influential Central Florida lawmaker, state Rep. Chris Dorworth, a Republican from Lake Mary who is tentatively in line to become speaker of the Florida House in 2014.
[Source: Orlando Sentinel]
British industries talk space trade
A delegation of six U.K. space companies will discuss doing business with space companies in Brevard County and elsewhere in the U.S. during a two-day trade mission that starts today on the Space Coast.
Gov. Rick Scott and British Consul-General Kevin McGurgan are among those planning to attend. Agencies and companies also in attendance will include Space Florida, whose president, Frank DiBello, will make the opening remarks, as well as NASA, The Boeing Co., EADS and Raytheon.
Scott will host a discussion on how to strengthen the space industry by encouraging cooperation between U.S. and British firms.
This is at least the third meeting of Space Florida, the state agency that supports Florida's space industry, and British companies. Space Florida traveled in 2010 to the Farnborough International Airshow in England, where a memorandum of understanding was signed.
And in November, Sir Alan Collins came to Brevard. He's director-general of U.K. Trade & Investment, the agency that brings foreign investment opportunities to Britain and helps British companies expand internationally.
"We already have two deals working," DiBello said.
[Source: Florida Today]
Out of the Box
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