As enrollment nears, premiums on popular Medicare Advantage plans stay low in Florida

Florida residents enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans will continue to pay little to no monthly premiums next year as more people flock to the program known locally for its competitive market, with providers offering “white-glove” services including such perks as Cuban coffee and bingo. Medicare Advantage is the private component of the public program in which the federal government allocates a certain amount of funding per person per month to private insurance providers running the plans. [Source: Miami Herald]

Best Buy sees growth in health care technology for elderly

The nation's largest consumer electronics chain, known for selling TV sets, cellphones and laptops, is looking to health care as a big source of its future growth. Best Buy Co. said last week that in five years it hopes to provide 5 million seniors with health monitoring services, which can range from sensors placed throughout a home to a pendant worn around the neck. It currently provides the service to 1 million. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

New report sheds light on the well-being of young girls in Florida

One out of five Florida middle and high school girls have thought about taking their own lives within the last year. The state of Florida has put a greater emphasis on access to mental health care in schools in recent years, but researchers say that’s only the first step. Researchers said access to mental health care needs to be improved in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. More from WCTV and the Miami Herald.

South Florida companies charged in $2.1 billion genetic testing scheme

Owners of telemedicine companies in Loxahatchee and Fort Lauderdale are among 35 people charged by federal authorities with targeting elderly cancer patients for unnecessary genetic testing and billing Medicare $2.1 billion. The 35 defendants, from numerous southern states, include nine doctors, according to a news release by the U.S. Department of Justice. [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

A nurse ordered 8,160 pain med tablets for patients, state says, but gave them only 1

A Broward County registered nurse has had her license restricted by the Florida Department of Health after, the department says, she ordered 8,160 oxycodone tablets and almost 10 liters of prescription cough syrup with codeine earlier this year. Problem was, Nadia Etienne’s four patients received only one oxy tablet and no cough syrup. [Source: Miami Herald]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› 30 charged in $86 million health care fraud case [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
A total of 30 people from across South Florida are facing federal fraud charges for allegedly billing Medicare, Medicaid and private health insurers for $86 million worth of unnecessary medical services, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.

› CDC considers health impact of toxic algae in Okeechobee [Health News Florida]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering initiating a study into the health effects of high exposure to toxic algae on Lake Okeechobee. The study would focus on 50 individuals at least 18 years of age with extensive occupational exposure to toxic blue-green algae or cyanobacteria on Lake Okeechobee.

› A hurricane destroyed a Keys hospital two years ago. Change is on the way [Miami Herald]
Two years ago, Hurricane Irma wiped out the only hospital in the middle of the Florida Keys. With the building in ruins, Fishermen’s Community Hospital set up tents in the parking lot 16 days after the storm. It looked like a military encampment in a war zone. Those tents evolved into temporary modular buildings. It still didn’t look like a city hospital. But a new, permanent building is on the way.

› One NSU pharmacist is advocating for Florida's bills to lower the price of insulin [WUSF]
Skyrocketing prices of insulin in recent years have increased medical costs for the millions of people living with diabetes around the country and in Florida. Congress has been putting pressure on drug companies to lower insulin prices. The price of insulin in the U.S. is 10 times higher than it was 20 years ago, according to a report by the U.S. House of Representatives released earlier this year.