Welcome back to Diagnosis, a vertical that focuses on the crossroads of health care policy and politics.
Florida Democrats gathered in Tampa over the weekend for their annual Leadership Blue convention.
And while health care was not a primary focus, it was still a central talking point — especially regarding abortion and the Supreme Court decision reversing the 50-year-old Roe v. Wade ruling.
Rep. Charlie Crist, who is running for Governor, also rolled out a significant insurance idea that would affect the state’s group health insurance plan.
As part of his “Freedom to Learn” proposal, Crist called for opening the $3.1 billion program to schoolteachers and school district employees across the state. However, Crist said the trade-off would require participating school districts to take the savings and use that money to pump teachers’ salaries.
Crist’s plan could require a substantial bump in state funding depending on how many districts choose to embrace the concept.
The recurring topic for Democrats was abortion. A panel of Black Democrats led by Sean Shaw, whose father penned a state Supreme Court ruling that maintained Florida’s privacy clause bars strict abortion restrictions, expressed fears that a clampdown on abortion rights would affect communities of color significantly because women would be unable to travel outside the state to seek services.
Aramis Ayala, a candidate for Florida Attorney General, also expressed concerns about whether health care providers, including obstetricians and gynecologists, would be targeted because of abortion restrictions. Under Florida’s new law, physicians can be charged with a third-degree felony if they perform an abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Ayala said that while the focus to date has been on pregnant patients, doctors also need protection — if they are prosecuted, women won’t be able to access abortions.
Senate Democrats also held a near-hour roundtable on reproductive freedom. Moderated by Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book, the message was clear: Democrats on the stump are making reproductive rights an issue. Book noted that matter isn’t only for women; male candidates must also bring their game.
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— Hospice is hot —
The state’s preliminary decisions to award a hospice program in one county and deny a program in another are being challenged in state administrative court.
Three different hospice providers recently notified the state they were challenging the decision to award a certificate of need (CON) to Affinity Care of Charlotte and De Soto LLC. Two challengers are providers seeking to put their hospice facility in Charlotte County: Florida Hospice, LLC, and Vitas Healthcare Corporation of Florida.
Empath Tidewell Hospice, the existing hospice provider in Charlotte County, also filed notice with the state that it was challenging the decision to award the CON to Affinity Care of Charlotte and De Soto LLC.
Empath opposed bringing an additional hospice into the area. An AHCA analysis of the three CON applications shows that Empath Tidewell opposed a new hospice program and noted that the agency did not publish a need for an additional hospice in the area.
The challenges will be heard in the state administrative court. At press time, no hearing date had been set.
Hospice care is provided to people who are nearing the end of life. The goal is to maximize comfort and ease treatment for underlying medical conditions causing death. Hospice services are provided by a team of health care professionals led by a physician. Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial health insurance provide coverage for hospice care. CON is a regulatory process where the state attempts to ensure high-quality health care and control the costs by limiting the proliferation of services. While the state eliminated CONs for hospitals, it still relies on the licensure program to regulate hospice, nursing homes, and intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled.
The tentative decision in Charlotte has drawn many challenges, but a decision in Palm Beach County has drawn just one. Palm Beach County Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care of Palm Beach County, LLC, is challenging AHCA’s decision to deny it a CON.
No notice of challenge was filed to the state’s decision to award a CON to Gulfside Hospice, Inc., which wants to open a 24-bed inpatient hospice facility in Pasco County.
Gulfside, which has been providing hospice services in the area for 32 years, anticipates finishing construction on the 23,469-square-foot building in December 2023 and will begin offering care on Jan. 1, 2024.
According to a review of its CON application, the new project is estimated to cost more than $13 million. More than half of those costs, or $7,890,400, are attributable to construction
The post Diagnosis for 7.18.22: Checking the pulse of Florida health care news and policy appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..
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