Florida sees second-highest spike in uninsured children
Florida had the second-largest growth in the nation in the number of uninsured children from 2022 to 2024, according to a Georgetown University analysis of new census data. Florida non-profit groups held a press conference analyzing the data and emphasizing the state’s healthcare coverage gaps. Joan Alker is the executive director of Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families. Alker said that with the end of COVID-era protections and Medicaid unwinding, many in the state have lost coverage. [Source: WMNF]
Florida Trend Exclusive
Healing heart valves
More than 1.5 million Americans suffer moderate to severe tricuspid regurgitation due to damaged or defective heart valves. For decades, thousands of those patients have received synthetic valve replacements that often wear down and need replacement. There’s a reluctance to use them at all for infants with congenital birth anomalies since the replacement valve can’t grow with the child’s heart. Gainesville-based Corvivo Cardiovascular may be about to change that. [Source: Florida Trend]
Florida Rep. Buchanan leads a bipartisan push for nutrition training in med schools
U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida is leading a bipartisan push to improve nutrition education for future doctors, part of a broader effort by 14 lawmakers urging U.S. medical schools to strengthen their nutrition curricula. The initiative follows a recent call from the U.S. departments of Health and Human Services and Education for comprehensive nutrition training in medical education. [Source: WUSF]
Hepatitis B is rising in Florida. The vaccine against it will soon be optional for infants
Florida is lifting school mandates for some vaccines, including the shot to prevent hepatitis B despite state Department of Health data showing cases have risen sharply over the past two decades. There were 11 acute cases — or new infections — in Florida children in 2023, the most in a year since 2001. In 2005, Florida had 597 cases of chronic hepatitis B, the type that can lead to liver cancer and severe disease. By 2023, the latest year for which data are available, that number leapt nearly tenfold to 5,694. [Source: Health News Florida]
Report reveals positive trends in drug overdose deaths in Florida
A report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was recently released, highlighting those who died from drug overdoses from January to July 2024. Among the majority of drugs brought up in the report, such as fentanyl and heroin, most show a decrease in deaths compared to the same time in 2023. Matea Kearns, an Outreach Peer Specialist with the Recovery Epicenter Foundation, said she's encouraged by these numbers, but still sees a lot of problems in the community. [Source: Spectrum News]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› 'Worked out well': First patient at first new hospital on the Treasure Coast in decade makes history
The first hospital on the Treasure Coast in a little more than a decade is now officially open.
Dozens of people showed up at the Florida Coast Medical Center in Port St. Lucie to attend Tuesday's ribbon-cutting ceremony.
CEO Tyler Sherrill said they have worked for years to get to this point.
"It means a new era of health care," Sherrill said. "We just opened the doors on the first hospital in over a decade, and frankly, that's thrilling to me."
› Brevard tops Florida dengue cases, with 19 of 24 cases
Mosquitoes are inflicting a painful reality for some in Brevard County this summer: Dengue fever caught in our own back yards has doubled in just a month, to 19 cases. That's 80% of Florida's 24 cases of the potentially excruciating disease this year. While rarely fatal, it's called "breakbone fever" for a reason. Experts are still stumped as to why a disease typically found in the tropics is originating for the fist time from within Brevard's borders.
› Publix and autism therapy firm at war over $15 million in medical bills
Publix and a health care firm that provides therapy for autistic children are locked in a multimillion-dollar legal battle over unpaid medical bills for children of Publix workers. ABA Cares sued the Florida grocer on Aug. 25 on behalf of 10 Publix workers whose children have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Its lawsuit, filed in Broward County, states that Publix has refused to pay medical bills since October despite pre-authorizing therapy sessions through its self-funded health insurance plan.
› GOVO invests in Miami-based Virtual Vision Health
Virtual Vision Health, a Miami-based medical device technology and software startup, has raised a $1 million seed round led by GOVO Venture Partners and including individual investors. Co-founded and led by Matteo Ziff, Virtual Vision is on a mission to transform how eye care professionals diagnose and manage ocular conditions by providing virtual reality-based testing solutions.