Florida judge rules against state on kids living in nursing homes

| 7/18/2023

Florida judge rules against state on kids living in nursing homes

After a decade-long legal fight, a federal judge Friday ordered Florida to make changes to keep children with “complex” medical conditions out of nursing homes and help them receive care in their family homes or communities, U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks, siding with the U.S. Department of Justice, ruled that Florida has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the rights of children “who rely upon the provision of vital Medicaid services and are trying, in vain, to avoid growing up in nursing homes.” More from the News Service of Florida and the Tampa Bay Times.

Florida leads nation for number of patients dropped from Medicaid

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people enrolled in Medicaid in Florida reached a record-breaking 5 million. Following the end of the pandemic, eligibility screenings have resumed, and it has been projected by the state that approximately one million Floridians are no longer eligible. [Source: Bay News 9]

Column: Florida medical device sales tax exemption helps improve access to care

The lack of availability of affordable diapers and breast pumps underscores the persistent gaps in health care accessibility. These devices area essential for the health and well-being of individuals and their families. Yet, their high costs and limited insurance coverage restrict access, especially for those already facing financial difficulties. [Source: Florida Times-Union]

Florida hospitals comply with new immigration law with advocates 'on alert'

In a patchwork of ways, medical officials across Florida have started complying with the state’s new immigration law which requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to ask admitted patients their citizenship status. The law leaves room for discretion for health care administrators and allows hospitals to determine how much detail to include after "What is your citizenship status?" [Source: Tallahassee Democrat]

Women are fighting to change Florida's constitution to protect abortion

It’s been a little longer than a year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade— turning decisions about abortion access over to individual states. In that time, Florida has enacted a law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, passed a six-week ban that remains pending and prepared to challenge a privacy clause in the state constitution that has, in the past, been found to protect abortion rights. Now, abortion advocates are working to put language in the state constitution that explicitly protects abortion access. [Source: Health News Florida]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Future AdventHealth Lake Nona hospital to be a lot bigger than originally planned [Orlando Business Journall]
AdventHealth wants to build a much bigger hospital in east Orlando's Lake Nona community than it first planned. The Altamonte Springs-based nonprofit health system now has proposed a five-story, 300,000-square-foot hospital with an additional two stories of shell space with 75,000 square feet, according to city of Orlando documents.

› State reaches settlements with Miami-Dade clinics over 24-hour abortion waiting period [News Service of Florida]
In one of a series of similar cases, a Miami-Dade abortion clinic will pay $20,000 to the state to settle allegations that the clinic did not properly comply with a law that requires providing information to women at least 24 hours before abortions. The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration filed an order Wednesday at the state Division of Administrative Hearings ending the case against A Woman’s Choice LLC, a clinic in Hialeah.

› A look inside one county's mosquito management efforts to control malaria spread [WUSF]
Inside Hillsborough’s mosquito management lab in the eastern outskirts of Tampa, dead mosquitoes lie in petri dishes. They’re brought in from the more than two dozen traps staff have set up around the county to track mosquito activity. Lab workers examine the insects under microscopes to determine their species. “We have 40 different kinds of mosquitoes here in Hillsborough County that we’ve identified, and there are only five or six that actually can carry a disease and transmit it to humans,” said David Fiess, the county’s mosquito management services manager.

› Jackson’s registered nurses to get hefty raise after staff shortages fueled by pandemic [Miami Herald]
Fueled by a pandemic nursing shortage that led hospitals to struggle to staff their units, registered nurses at Jackson Memorial Hospital are about to get a 13 percent pay raise as part of a new three-year contract, the biggest raise in the union’s 31-year history. When combined with other benefits, such as extra pay for nurses who train new hires or nurses who work in certain areas such as behavioral health, some nurses could see up to a 17% pay increase by the end of the year.

Tags: Health Care eNews

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