TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — After a year filled with issues that divided Floridians like LGBTQ representation in schools, guns and abortion, the leader of the Florida House of Representatives said next year’s focus for lawmakers would be on healthcare.
>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<
Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) said he saw taking on medical-related issues as another way to lower the cost of living for residents and visitors of the state, and suggested much of the 2024 session would be spent picking through topics that have frustrated other governments.
“The federal government through Obamacare captured a lot of the state’s control over healthcare, but there’s things we can do,” Renner promised.
The speaker’s agenda included tackling price transparency, which was partially – but not entirely successfully – addressed by the Trump administration in 2021. The federal rule required hospitals that negotiate with the government to make their prices available, but patients still have issues accessing that information to compare providers.
READ: Florida House speaker on state’s insurance market: ‘There’s a lot of positive’
“There’s a huge variance in the cost of that hip surgery, depending on where you go,” Renner said. “Oftentimes the cheaper places also do a lot of those surgeries and have a lower error rate.”
The speaker added that reciprocity – or the ability for doctors and nurses certified in other states to move to Florida – would also be on his list.
There is still time and opportunity for the political winds to change and for another issue to come to the forefront, and it’ll be months before Renner unveils HB 1 – the signature legislation of the session.
READ: Even in near-record low unemployment, Florida’s benefits portal remains broken
Renner’s list does not include expanding Medicaid to close the so-called “coverage gap,” or people who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance. His allies consider a wholesale expansion, which 39 other states have done, unnecessary and against the spirit of the program.
Instead, staffers said they’d look at targeted reforms to assist specific groups of people in need so Floridians wouldn’t face a “fiscal cliff,” which happens when a family gets an income increase that disqualifies them from receiving a benefit worth more than the extra money.
One example staffers pointed to was the government’s expansion of KidCare in 2023, which raised the income level for the program from a $60,000 maximum for a family of four to $90,000.
READ: Disney asks judge to throw state Reedy Creek lawsuit out
Jeff Johnson, State Director for AARP Florida, said he hoped lawmakers would take a more creative approach to reforming healthcare policy than in the past.
“What drives the bulk of the cost within the Medicaid program is the money spent on long term care. Most people think of nursing home care. It doesn’t have to be in nursing homes,” Johnson said. “If we spent more of those dollars on home and community based services or services that come to somebody’s home… it’s cheaper for the taxpayer, and we can serve more people.”
Many families spend more than $100,000 per year for nursing home care, and family caregivers spend an average of $7,000 or more of their money annually.
READ: Felony cases in limbo as ‘permitless carry’ becomes state law
Johnson said he supported increasing price transparency and reciprocity, and believed closing the coverage gap should be a priority for lawmakers, regardless of how they go about it.
“Provided people get care at the end of the day, I really don’t care what you call it,” he said.
Click here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2023 Cox Media Group
