Florida led nation in people removed from Medicaid rolls after pandemic enrollment freeze

| 6/20/2023

Florida led nation in people removed from Medicaid rolls after pandemic enrollment freeze

About 1 million people have lost Medicaid coverage nationwide since April. Of that, about a quarter of them live in Florida. We are in the middle of something called the Medicaid unwinding. The government health insurance program for people with low incomes and those with disabilities grew to over 95 million people during the pandemic. There were special COVID protections - the federal government mandated states could not drop anyone from coverage and people did not have to reapply to stay on the program. Now those protections have ended, and states are starting to drop people - a lot of people, nowhere more so than Florida. More from NPR.

See also:
» Lose Medicaid? What you can do in Florida

Florida 31st in child ‘well-being,’ according to annual report

Florida ranks 31st in the country in child “well-being,” doing well in education but lagging on economic and health issues, according to an annual report released Wednesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The 2023 KIDS COUNT Data Book report measures states on a series of indicators, with Florida ranking fifth in education, 37th in economic well-being, 33rd in health and 32nd in what the foundation calls “family and community.” [Source: Action News Jax]

As autism prevalence increases, a Florida nonprofit is expanding programs and services

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the rate at which children in the U.S. are being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder has risen to one in 36 children. That number is based on 2020 data. It's up from one in 44 in 2018, and one in 101 in 2015. The increasing rate has driven a growing demand for education, therapy and other services for neurodivergent kids and their families — and their support networks. [Source: WUSF]

Burnout threatens primary care workforce and doctors’ mental health

Burnout in the health care industry is a widespread problem that long predates the covid-19 pandemic, though the chaos introduced by the coronavirus’s spread made things worse, physicians and psychologists said. Health systems across the country are trying to boost morale and keep clinicians from quitting or retiring early, but the stakes are higher than workforce shortages. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]

DeSantis signs measure allowing CNAs to become qualified med aides at nursing homes

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed 11 bills, including a measure that allows certified nursing assistants in nursing homes to become trained as “qualified medication aides.” The aides could then administer “routine” medications to residents, freeing up registered nurses to provide other needed care. The aides could also perform tasks such as checking blood glucose levels. [Source: Health News Florida]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› South Lee proton therapy cancer center celebrates site foundation, Lee Health subsidiary partnership [WGCU]
Southwest Florida Proton has a partner. The group building the state-of-the-art cancer center in south Lee County announced this week that Lee Healthcare Holdings, a subsidiary of Lee Health, will be an investor. Lee Health, besides putting up some of the $80 million-plus cost, will run the diagnostic imaging center in the facility.

› Does St. Petersburg hospital bear blame for mom’s suicide, Netflix doc asks [Tampa Bay Times]
This much, at least, is not disputed: Maya Kowalski was 10 years old when she arrived at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital with debilitating pain and vomiting. Almost everything else about the Venice girl’s life in 2016 — her mystery disease and treatments, her relationship with her mom and the state’s decision to remove her from her family and shelter her at the St. Petersburg hospital for three months — is at the center of a fiercely contested lawsuit.

› Duval County jail kept medical provider despite lawsuits and deaths [WJCT]
Despite hundreds of lawsuits against Armor Correctional Health Services, millions of dollars worth of settlements and dead inmates across the country, Jacksonville leaders signed contracts twice with the company, allowing it to run the Duval County jail’s health care for the last six years. Lawsuits, deaths and other problems with Armor were publicized by media across the country prior to Jacksonville finalizing either of its contracts with the for-profit company.

› $20 million for USF Sarasota-Manatee STEM nursing facility is included on DeSantis' veto list [WUSF]
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the 2023-24 state budget Thursday, but not before his veto pen nixed $510 million in proposed funding. Over $34 million was sliced from the budget for projects in Sarasota County that includes $20 million for a planned academic STEM nursing Facility on the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus.

Tags: Health Care eNews

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