http://www.healthnewsflorida.org/ We are an independent online news service and a not-for-profit journalistic enterprise. Our mission is to inform the public on state and local health policy and finance issues as they develop. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19473 By Phil Galewitz 9/2/2010 ©Kaiser Health News Employers shifted more of the cost of coverage to workers, who are paying an average of nearly $4,000 a year toward family coverage, an increase of 14 percent in one year, a survey says. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19464 By Christine Jordan Sexton 9/2/2010 © Florida Tribune Even as Florida leads a court fight to get the Affordable Care Act declared unconstitutional, state agencies have requested $11 million in grants to carry out its provisions, including plans to set up a health exchange. If they get the money, will the Legislature let them spend it? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19451 By Michael Peltier 9/1/2010 © The News Service of Florida Former State Rep. Gayle Harrell, a Republican who termed out in 2008, is a toss-up to retake Dist. 81 from Rep. Adam Fetterman, D-Port St. Lucie. Harrell, wife of a physician, pushes issues that favor health-care providers. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19455 9/1/2010 © Sun Sentinel Kara Jorud, who managed a Michaels Store, says she was pressured to return to work too soon after a double mastectomy, during chemotherapy, and was fired in violation of the medical leave act. The firm may appeal. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19456 9/2/2010 © St. Petersburg Times The Times' Kris Hundley, well-known to the health-care community because that was her beat for many years, wrote one of the stories that Greene says libeled him and caused him to lose the primary election. A Times editor called Greene a "sore loser." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19460 9/2/2010 © Orlando Business Journal Adventist Health System, which already dominates the Orlando area, officially acquired University Community Hospital system, forming a new region with five facilities, soon to be seven. John Harding, CEO of Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, was named president for the region. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19462 9/2/2010 Florida Times-Union Three people, including a Miami couple, pleaded guilty to Medicare fraud; doctors' identifications were stolen and used to bill Medicare for expensive infusion therapy. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19459 9/2/2010 © Palm Beach Post Democratic members of Congress from Florida asked Congress to act quickly to minimize disruptions to research that was halted last week. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19457 9/2/2010 © Miami Herald In July alone, Jackson Health System saw a drop of about 500 Medicaid patients and lost $11.4 million in Medicaid income from April through July. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19452 9/2/2010 © St. Petersburg Times It turned out to be a phony --- pipes taped together to look like a pipe bomb -- but it triggered the evacuation of more than  50 nursing home residents in Tampa.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19425 By Jim Saunders 9/01/2010 © Health News Florida After the Florida Supreme Court rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that targeted the new federal-health reform law, Rep. Scott Plakon, who sponsored the measure, vowed he'll lead a do-over. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19429 By Jim Saunders 9/01/2010 © Health News Florida A Palm Beach County hospital and psychiatrist are trying to fend off a medical-malpractice case in a patient's suicide by arguing that the child who would inherit any damages is not the patient's legal son. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19443 9/1/2010 © Health News Florida Florida may be leading the legal battle against the federal health law, but that isn't stopping the state's businesses and public agencies from taking advantage of money the law offers to help pay for early-retiree coverage. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19427 By Jim Saunders 9/1/2010 © Health News Florida AHCA Secretary Tom Arnold spent much of his last day in state government in familiar roles -- talking about the Medicaid "reform" pilot and looking for ways to cut the budget. Retiring after 31 years, he has "no plans yet."  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19437 9/1/2010 © Ocala Star-Banner Dr. Ben Spivey's ads said he could recreate smiles and restore youth. Instead, a state complaint alleges, patients ended up with dentures that didn't fit or charged for services they didn't authorize. In other news, a Jacksonville doctor's sentence was cut from 20 years to 10 in a child-sex sting. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19431 9/1/2010 © Sun Sentinel The bacterial infections that killed a British tourist and infected nine others at a Miami hotel last year came from the water supply, an investigation concluded. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19433 9/1/2010 © Sun Sentinel A keyless car may be a convenience, but it can be left running inadvertently and fill a garage -- and home -- with carbon monoxide. Palm Beach County has seen a huge leap in CO poisoning deaths. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19438 9/1/2010 © Miami Herald A venture capital fund of veteran healthcare entrepreneur Miguel "Mike" Fernandez announced the start of a $20 million angel fund to help small health-care start-ups in Florida.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19430 9/1/2010 © Miami Herald To settle a lawsuit, cash-strapped Jackson Health System has been forced to give a Pennsylvania collections agency  $310 million in uninsured patients' billings that it has never tried to collect.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19422 8/31/2010 © Florida Times-Union Three financially strapped public health clinics in Jacksonville must stop treating adults, including pregnant women, even as the area has begun to cut infant mortality. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19413 8/31/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Now that Rick Scott is their nominee for governor, Republicans embrace a candidate they fought to keep out of office and ignore the $1.7 billion fine to his company for overbilling Medicare. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19421 8/31/2010 © Naples Daily News Fort Myers urologist Lewis B. Chaikin, who has a history of drug problems, got a second chance. He blew it.  Meanwhile, a 75-year-old Hollywood doctor and five nurses pleaded guilty to home-health fraud. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19420 8/31/2010 © Orlando Sentinel Florida Blood Centers is offering $88,700 in cash this year to the Orange County Schools for rights to high-school donors; Community Blood Centers in Lauderhill would pay $86,780. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19418 8/31/2010 © Palm Beach Post State officials say better communication between agencies or more regulation wouldn't have prevented Haile Brockington's death from hyperthermia after she was forgotten in the child-care van. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19414 8/31/2010 © Miami Herald Nelly Gonzalez was shocked when she saw a $3,000 bill from a specialist she had thought was in her health network. Fortunately her employer offers help through Health Advocate, a company that provides muscle for patients in disputes. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19417 8/30/2010 © Tampa Tribune The family of a 21-year-old man who impersonated a teenager so he could play in a youth football league says he is trying to relive the childhood he missed.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19415 8/31/2010 © St. Petersburg Times St. Petersburg City Council chair Leslie Curran was reportedly in an induced coma in intensive care after falling from her bicycle Monday morning.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19412 8/31/2010 © Miami Herald The safety net didn't work when Teagan Marti, 12, rode Terminal Velocity, which involves free-fall from 140 feet. She survived, but can only blink to communicate. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19406 By Jim Saunders  8/30/2010 © Health News Florida Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek today vigorously defended the new federal health-care overhaul and blasted rival Charlie Crist for what appeared to be shifting positions on the issue. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19389 8/29/2010 Orlando Sentinel/Washington Post Florida Hospital System, with 18 facilities already, is on a buying binge for half a dozen more hospitals, doctors' practices and labs. Competitor Orlando Health is trying to catch up. The turf wars have triggered a medical arms race. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19392 8/28/2010 © Palm Beach Post Florida's suit against the Affordable Care Act attacks the requirement that each person obtain health coverage. If the suit eliminates the requirement and healthy customers don't buy coverage, actuaries say, the insurance market could collapse. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19391 8/28/2010 © Palm Beach Post Two Honduran sisters came to Florida expecting honest work, but instead were forced to work in nightclubs as sex slaves. This sort of human trafficking is a growing problem. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19387 8/28/2010 © St. Petersburg Times A foster mother accused of shaking a 14-month-old so badly that he eventually died was found not guilty after medical experts persuaded the jury that the science behind the syndrome is faulty. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19385 8/28/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Visits to emergency rooms by Medicaid patients, not just the uninsured, go up as physicians increasingly refuse to accept the low pay the state offers. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19384 8/29/2010 © Sun-Sentinel Anesthesiologist John Habib of Oakland Park, whose license was suspended after being charged with drug trafficking, said he doesn't know who it is. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19396 8/30/2010 © Miami Herald A South Miami-Dade mom, whose family has a history with the Florida Department of Children & Families, was charged with aggravated manslaughter one day after her 3-year-old son died after being left alone in a car. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19390 8/28/2010 © Florida Times-Union  The leaders of Mayo Clinic say they have a system that tracks controlled drugs, but admit that somehow a radiology tech defeated the system -- and infected at least three patients with hepatitis C. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19386 8/28/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Gov. Charlie Crist reestablished his opposition to President Obama’s health care law a couple of hours after he said he would have voted for it.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19388 8/29/2010 © Pensacola News Journal BP officials, confronted with evidence from Escambia County officials, admit there are extensive beds of weathered oil beneath the water near Pensacola. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19383 8/28/2010 © Miami Herald The Inspector General for the county criticized the close collaboration of Jackson Health System officials with the developers of a proposed office tower for hospital staff. Meanwhile, civic leaders proposed changes to the governing structure. var LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_INFINITE_LOOP_COUNT = 300; var LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_MAX_HIGHLIGHTS = 50; var LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_TOP_ID = "leoHighlights_top_iframe"; var LEO_HIGHLIGHTS_IFRAME_BOTTOM_ID = "leoHighlights_bottom_iframe"; var 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http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19366 8/27/2010 © Miami Herald The medical school said it's suspending enrollment in all cancer-research studies while FDA investigates one of them. In what UM said was a separate case, the agency sent a warning letter to an orthopedic oncologist and surgeon. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19381 8/27/2010 © WSJ Online Government retirees in FL dodged a bullet this spring when lawmakers agreed to keep paying a health-insurance subsidy of up to $150 a month. But the subject isnt' closed; FL's unfunded liabilities are among the nation's worst. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19365 8/26/2010 © The News Service of Florida Now that he's lost his race for governor, Atty. Gen. Bill McCollum says he will throw himself into his high-profile suit against the federal health care law until he leaves office in January. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19373 8/27/2010 © Orlando Sentinel Republican primary voters overlooked Rick Scott’s past as CEO of a company that defrauded Medicare, but Democrat Alex Sink thinks independents won't. The man he defeated, Bill McCollum, isn't willing to endorse Scott, either.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19378 8/27/2010 © Orlando Sentinel Florida companies and senators support giving the FDA more power over food safety in the wake of the salmonella outbreak from eggs, but the bill is stalled. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19379 8/27/2010 © Ocala.com Kaedyn Ballew, 10 months old, has had three platelet transfusions, three blood transfusions, a blood exchange and chemotherapy. The family has no health insurance and the bills are piling up. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19382  8/27/2010 © South Florida Sun-Sentinel A Miami deli where President Obama and Rep. Kendrick Meek ate last week, was hit with numerous violations after an inspection by the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19368 8/27/2010 © Palm Beach Post Cathy Koyanagi, who is becoming blind after radiation treatments for a tumor behind her eye, decided to stop feeling sorry for herself and invite friends to help her say goodbye to her vision. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19367 8/27/2010 © Sun Sentinel The Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program will hit 16 South Florida barbershops and beauty salons on Saturday to educate African Americans about the importance of health screening. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19345  By Jim Saunders 8/26/2010 © Health News Florida The Florida Supreme Court continues to ponder whether the November ballot will include an attack on federal health reform -- and add a highly partisan issue to an already nasty campaign season. Time is short; ballots must be printed soon. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19348 8/26/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Dr. William Dalton, CEO of the state's comprehensive cancer center, says an audit has uncovered nearly 500 questionable signatures on patient-consent forms, all the work of one former employee.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19350 8/26/2010 © Florida Tribune, Politico Rick Scott won the Republican primary for governor by targeting an unusual group: sometimes-voters.  Another surprise winner in the primary: robo-polling. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19354 8/26/2010 © Florida Times-Union Officials at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville say at least one patient has died from the hepatitis C outbreak caused by a former radiology tech injecting himself with drugs the patients were supposed to get. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19347 8/25/2010 © Broward Bulldog Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah, a top Republican fundraiser and former chair of Florida's Board of Medicine, is on trial in federal court this week, accused of stock fraud. In other news, a Fruitland Park dentist gets prison for tax evasion. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19352 8/26/2010 © Orlando Sentinel Orlando doctor Jamaal McLeod says he intended to open a new practice with a business partner, so he turned over his licensing and financial information. Big mistake. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19331 8/25/2010 © Politico, Florida Tribune The GOP is tepidly supporting the millionaire businessman who is now their candidate. Will Rick Scott, who made a fortune in the hospital industry and now owns a chain of walk-in clinics, build a relationship with the party that didn’t think he could win? Here is video of his victory speech. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19323 8/25/2010 © Palm Beach Post, Time The injunction grew out of a case filed by adult-stem-cell researchers who protested that the Obama administration's rule change was costing them grant money. It has stunned and alarmed many scientists. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19343 8/24/2010 © South Florida Sun-Sentinel Florida State Hospital forced Jeffrey Lynn Benoit to resign after accusations he had sex with a patient he was treating. Then he arranged her release and married her even though he was still married to someone else, according to a Department of Health complaint.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19333 8/25/2010 © Florida Times-Union Three patients who had undergone invasive procedures at the clinic's interventional radiology unit were found to have hepatitis C. A radiology technologist was fired after admitting to "diverting drugs," according to a written statement from the clinic. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19328 8/25/2010 © Associated Press Many Medicare beneficiaries will have to choose a new drug plan for 2011 because of Medicare's request that insurers consolidate look-alike plans. As Health News Florida reported last fall, Florida beneficiaries had so many choices they were overwhelmed. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19327 8/25/2010 © St. Petersburg Times The fate of a foster mother accused of shaking an infant to death hinges on testimony by medical experts.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19344 8/25/2010 © St. Petersburg Times The AARP’s annual national convention, which includes classes on everything pertaining to aging, will include entertainment from Boomer-aged celebrities. It starts Monday in Orlando.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19287 By Jim Saunders 8/23/2010 © Health News Florida  Federal health officials said last week they won't simply extend former Gov. Jeb Bush's Medicaid "reform" pilot program, as Florida requested. They're going to require some changes. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19281 8/21/2010 © Palm Beach Post Attorney General Eric Holder is taking action against the leader of an anti-abortion group that targets Presidential Women’s Center in West Palm Beach. It’s the first time anyone is being charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19297 8/23/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Carly Jane Liptak, a healthy 12-year-old, died after a procedure to remove her tonsils; hospital officials are scrambling to figure out why. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19286 8/20/2010 © Florida Independent The largest spender among health-care interests on behalf of Bill McCollum's campaign is Automated Healthcare of Miramar, a workers' compensation business. In other news, the candidates offered outlines of what they'd do about Medicaid spending. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19280 8/22/2010 © Bradenton Herald Manatee County Rural Health Services Inc. pays its CEO, Walter "Mickey" Presha Sr., more than other federally qualified health centers in the state. It also takes an unusual approach to contracting with board members.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19314 8/24/2010 © Orlando Sentinel A former employee said SeaWorld refused to turn over certain documents and made it difficult to interview employees in the federal investigation of the February death of a killer whale trainer. The attraction was fined $75,000. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19282 8/21/2010 © Lakeland Ledger William E. Brown Jr., 78, resisted all efforts to help him even after his water and electricity were cut off. His body was found a month after he died. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19290 8/23/2010 © St. Petersburg Times USF scientists found that mice were protected from Alzheimer’s when they received a protein associated with rheumatoid arthritis. They will begin human trials. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19295 8/22/2010 © Florida Today Health Management Associates is scheduled to take over two Brevard County hospitals with 406 beds, a hospice center, a nursing home and an adult living facility on Oct. 1. Based on the company's track record, local patients can expect changes. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19283 8/21/2010 © Northwest Florida Daily News Robert E. Bourlier, a Destin physician accused in two fatal cases of over-prescribing, violated the conditions of his pre-trial release when he tried to suffocate his wife, police say. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19315 8/24/2010 © Orlando Sentinel An Orange County man has been diagnosed with West Nile Virus, the first human case of the disease reported in the county since 2002. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19313 8/24/2010 © Miami Herald Florida has only one school nurse for every 2,518 students, according to a recent survey by the National Association of School Nurses. The group recommends a ratio of one to 750. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19312 8/24/2010 © Miami Herald The budget approved by the Public Health Trust comes close to breaking even by proposing more than $220 million in initiatives that would either cut costs or increase revenues.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19262 8/20/2010 © Kaiser Health News The new health-reform law was supposed to help high-risk people get affordable insurance. But so far, few have signed up. Application numbers aren't available for Florida, but a typical middle-aged Floridian might pay $556 a month. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19274 8/20/2010 © Sarasota Herald-Tribune More than 10 years after the whistle was blown on Columbia/HCA‘s fraudulent activities, former CEO Rick Scott is still feeling the effects on the campaign trail. Also, a whistleblower calls the attacks by Scott’s opponent Bill McCollum hypocritical. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19276 8/20/2010 © St. Petersburg Times A 22-mile-long oil plume below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico poses a threat to marine life, a study says. This is a further blow to the credibility of a government report released two weeks ago that said most of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster was gone. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19261 8/20/2010 © Washington Post Medicaid eligibility will expand in 2014 when the federal health-reform law more fully takes effect. That could provide coverage to homeless people in Florida and other states -- and divert some from emergency rooms. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19270 8/20/2010 © Palm Beach Post R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris were ordered to pay only $270,000 in punitive damages to the widow of a Royal Palm Beach smoker who died of lung cancer at age 55. Two weeks ago, the same jury ordered the companies to pay $2.2 million. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19278 8/20/2010 © Tampa Tribune Some Tampa small businesses see the Americans with Disabilities Act as a way to financial ruin. Case in point: Dr. Kendrick Duldulao, who uses a wheelchair, has filed 29 ADA lawsuits, alleging violations such as inadequate handicapped parking, narrow doors to bars, and counters that are too high. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19266 8/18/2010 © Tampa Tribune A study released by Forbes.com this week ranked Tampa the fourth most stressful city, beating Miami at No. 6, New York and Detroit, among others. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19265 8/20/2010 © The St. Petersburg Times A second internal investigation is being conducted at Bay Pines VA Medical Center after five dialysis patients contracted infections beginning in May; officials have yet to determine the cause of the infections and say that no common variables between the patients could be found. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19273 8/20/2010 © Florida Times Union Sharrye Szegi-Dunbar, accused of injecting herself with a potent painkiller while on the job at Shands Jacksonville, also faces losing her license. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19269 8/20/2010 © The Fort Myers News-Press The California-based start-up Athleticode Inc. is Jackson Laboratory's third cooperative agreement as they work to gain funding for a Collier facility. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19268 8/20/2010 © Palm Beach Post One of Katie's Kids day care centers, the site where toddler Haile Brockington died on Aug. 5, will lose $205,000. The Early Learning Coalition board also recommended that Family Central terminate its contract as well. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19242 8/19/2010 © Palm Beach Post Health insurance agent Neil Primack works hard to help others find insurance policies. But with health reform ensuring that health care spending go toward health care and not insurance companies, agents, like Primack, might be the ones to suffer. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19250 8/19/2010 © Bloomberg News Florida may seek more than $1 billion from BP to make up for lost tax revenue. This after BP announced Aug. 16 that it would provide $52 million to the four affected Gulf states for mental-health programs, including $3 million to Florida’s Department of Children and Families. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19246 8/19/2010 © The Hill Many businesses are planning to hike premiums and cost-sharing measures on their employees next year in an attempt to remain profitable in the face of  healthcare reform. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19241 8/19/2010 © Sun Sentinel The $9.1 million in grants for HIV/AIDS prevention programs came as a new federal analysis of 2008 figures pegged South Florida as having higher rates of new HIV and AIDS infections than any metropolitan area in the nation. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19252 8/19/2010 © The Sarasota Herald-Tribune Rick Scott and Bill McCollum remain neck and neck in the primary race for Florida’s governor, the most expensive and more bitterly contested in state history. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19255 8/19/2010 © Miami Herald Two bitter rivals are in a battle to take over Miami-Dade jail inmate health care at a cost of $286 million to $466 million over the next five years. Jackson Health System wants to privatize the health care of Miami-Dade's jail inmates. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19245 8/19/2010 © Palm Beach Post A jury two weeks ago ordered R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris to pay widow Liz Piendle $2.2 million for the pain of losing her husband prematurely. Big Tobacco is fighting the punitive damages. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19251 8/18/2010 © The Associated Press Consumer confidence spiked in April after President Barack Obama signed landmark legislation to expand coverage and start trying to control costs but has since fallen back, a survey shows. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19221 By Jim Saunders  8/18/2010 ©  Health News Florida Today the state asked the Florida Supreme Court to "respect...the role of the Legislature" and let voters say what they think of the federal health law. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19223 8/18/2010 © Palm Beach Post Despite government assurances that Gulf seafood is safe and oil is disappearing from the water, three new reports say most of the oil remains and presents a threat to marine life. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19228 8/18/2010 © Naples Daily News Dengue fever has been grabbing headlines, but state health officials say at least 43 counties are reporting signs of two other mosquito-borne illnesses: West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalitis. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19226 8/18/2010 © Gainesville Sun Ashlyn Blocker, now 11, was just a baby when her parents discovered that she has an inborn inability to feel pain, and thus is in constant danger. A University of Florida pain researcher who studies Ashlyn's case has identified two genetic mutations. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19224 8/18/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Tarpon Springs officials voted to drop a clause barring religious discrimination at Helen Ellis Hospital so that it can be taken over by Adventist Health System. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19233 8/17/2010 © Florida Independent Health-care executive Rick Scott will be inescapable between now and Tuesday's primary. Meanwhile, an anti-Scott group's ad demands to see the video of his deposition in a lawsuit against the clinic chain he founded. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19225 8/18/2010 © Ocala Star-Banner A Silver Springs man was in the hospital after being bitten twice by a pit viper in the garden section. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19231 8/18/2010 © Miami Herald The season is open through Sept. 12 to hunters armed with pole spears, bows-and-arrows, or rod-and-reel and a bang-stick. They can sell or keep their reptile prize.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19229 8/17/2010 © Florida Independent There’s no way of knowing how many have taken their lives because of unemployment during the Great Recession, but conversations on online forums like Unemployed-Friends show many feel hopeless and desperate.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19203 By Jim Saunders 8/17/2010 © Health News Florida Florida insurance regulators won a $1 million federal grant Monday to beef up rate reviews and improve consumer information to help carry out the new federal health-reform law. But will the Legislature grant state officials the authority to do the job? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19206 8/16/2010 © Tampa Tribune  Leslie W. Miller, a former president of the American Society of Transplant Physicians, said he plans to link his gene therapy research with stem-cell brain repair work already under way at USF to create a center for regenerative medicine. In other news, a heat-stress study is being conducted on the USF Bulls football team. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19212 8/16/2010 © Orlando Sentinel Florida doctors and hospitals are making the shift to the electronic documents, which advocates say will save lives, reduce waste and prevent errors. The change comes as a result of new federal standards unveiled last month and is not without opposition. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19210 8/17/2010 © Sun Sentinel Physician Roger Nicosia faces trial on a misdemeanor charge of violating navigation rules after his boat propeller struck a diver and severed his legs. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19214 8/16/2010 © Florida Times-Union Johann Nicholas Prewett has been disciplined before because of bizarre behavior with patients. This time, state officials decided, he crossed the line. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19215 8/16/2010 © South Florida Sun Sentinel Florida's attorney general is investigating a company that sells smokeless electronic cigarettes following more than 80 consumer complaints, according to state documents. Also, Feds crack down on acai berry claims. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19213 8/16/2010 © Orlando Sentinel The latest sting operation nabbed 15 men in Central Florida who responded to Craigslist ads and traveled to have sex with children. They included coaches for youth baseball and karate. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19209 8/17/2010 © Miami Herald Medicare officials say two Florida companies submitted $2 million in phony claims for medical equipment, including $395 penis-pumps for patients who turned out to be women.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19185 By Jim Saunders 8/16/2010 © Health News Florida State officials say they will not open a formal investigation on politically explosive allegations against a clinic chain founded by Rick Scott, Republican running for governor. Instead, they'll send the complaint to federal Medicare officials. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19195 By Carol Gentry 8/16/2010 © Health News Florida The Florida Medical Association decided Sunday not to break off relations with the AMA, but instead to send a letter expressing "no confidence" in AMA's work on health-care reform. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19178 8/14/2010 © Sun Sentinel Targeting millions who have lost health coverage, unscrupulous telemarketers are selling worthless insurance, state and federal regulators say.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19177 8/14/2010 © Miami Herald Tallevast's well water has long been contaminated by a cancer-causing chemical that leaked from a factory, now owned by Lockheed Martin. Residents are suing the corporation for relief. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19183 8/14/2010 © Lakeland Ledger A radiation oncologist whose assets were in the millions has balked at paying child support and alimony. The state says he owes $673,000 and may take his medical license.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19174 8/13/2010 © Tampa Tribune Federal authorities say Tampa Bay has surpassed South Florida as the pain pill hot spot. Police liken this drug epidemic to the crack cocaine problem of the 90s.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19201  8/15/2010 © Palm Beach Post The VA hospital in Riviera Beach doesn't have enough parking spaces, so old soldiers leave cars wherever they can. Then they get hauled into federal court.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19173 8/14/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Controversial former funeral director Lisa Speights left the bags behind when she moved out of her rented house. Speights says she’s trying to find the family members of the unclaimed remains. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19184 8/14/2010 © Gainesville Sun In Florida, someone convicted of trafficking the equivalent of 44 oxycodone pills can face a minimum of 25 years behind bars. Some are wondering if such strict penalties, the toughest in the nation, make sense.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19179 8/14/2010 © Sun Sentinel A jury in Miami-Dade sided with former WSVN Fox-7 medical reporter Marilyn Mitzel, who claimed age discrimination when she was fired. She was awarded almost $1 million, but the station says it will appeal. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19175 8/13/2010 © Lakeland Ledger Multiple agencies investigated 71 complaints at a Haines City assisted-living facility in three months and found almost all were valid.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19150  By Jim Saunders  8/13/2010 © Health News Florida The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration says the state's Medicaid HMOs owe $34 million in fines in a long-running dispute about enrolling newborns in health plans. The HMOs say the fines are unfair. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19159 8/12/2010 © News Service of Florida  A Florida appeals court on Thursday said a judge's decision to force a pregnant Tallahassee woman to remain hospitalized  violated the woman's right to privacy. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19161 8/13/2010 © Kaiser Health News "Limited-benefit plans," which cover very little, are popular in Florida because they're relatively inexpensive. Backers say they're better than nothing and that federal officials should let them remain on the market. But do they do more  harm than good? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19160 8/13/2010 © Sun Sentinel An adult who had not left Broward for weeks came down with the disease this month, which means mosquitoes in Broward now may be carrying it and precautions are in order. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19166 8/13/2010 © Orlando Sentinel Dwayne and Pamela Hardy were a churchgoing people who brought food to block parties; they looked like perfect adoptive parents. They weren't. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19163 8/13/2010 © Palm Beach Post What is a "medical" expense? Federal officials have to figure that out soon, and state insurance commissioners -- including Florida's Kevin McCarty -- are weighing in before a vote on Tuesday. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19164 8/13/2010 © Miami Herald Marilyn Mitzel, who was the local Fox station's medical reporter until five years ago, says she was fired because she was over 50. The station said it merely decided to cut back on medical news.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19167 8/13/2010 © Gainesville Sun Jacksonville resident Cory Fine, who had undergone weight-loss surgery, tried to tell the nurses and techs something was wrong with his breathing. A jury decided they should have listened. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19165 8/13/2010 © Orlando Sentinel Even if Florida Hospital and United Healthcare reach a deal by the weekend, patients could still face temporary chaos, a company letter acknowledges. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19162 8/13/2010 © Miami Herald Marlie Casseus had an 18-pound tumor removed from her face in a five-year series of surgeries in Miami. Now it's growing back, obstructing her breathing, and she's returned for more surgery. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19130 By Carol Gentry 8/12/2010 © Health News Florida The Florida Medical Association, undergoing an apparent identity crisis, is gathering in Orlando to debate whether to break off from the AMA. Unlike past years, the sessions will be closed to the press. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19135 8/12/2010 © Sun Sentinel Coconut Creek telemarketing firm Consumer Health Benefits Association allowed internet shoppers to think they were buying health coverage when in fact all they got was a small discount. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19148 8/12/2010 © Orlando Sentinel When a man beats up a mother, the Department of Children and Families has often responded by taking her children away for "failure to protect" them from him. Now DCF is rethinking that policy. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19147 8/12/2010 © Orlando Sentinel The rush is on in Orlando as patients scramble to see their doctors before midnight Saturday, when the current contract between United Healthcare and Florida Hospital expires and out-of-network fees will go into effect. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19146 8/12/2010 © Orlando Sentinel Brenda Narvaez, a Miami high-school student, worries about her future as a U.S. citizen born to a mother who could be deported at any time. A new study explores high fertility rates among illegal immigrants -- and the political fallout. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19145 8/12/2010 © Daytona Beach News-Journal The Bert Fish Foundation charges that the recent merger between tax-supported Bert Fish Medical Center and privately owned Florida Hospital is invalid because of multiple Sunshine Law violations during negotiations. Meanwhile in Tallahassee, FSU announces a new internal-residency program. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19143 8/12/2010 © Ocala Star-Banner Police have set up a system that allows a caller who can't speak -- such as one hiding from a killer -- to send a text for help. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19141 8/12/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Vietnam veteran Clifford Leo Bisek chased a would-be robber from a Tampa Walgreens Wednesday morning using only his cane. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19139 8/12/2010 © Sun Sentinel, Palm Beach Post The family of a child who died after being left in a hot van at day care says a woman collecting money for them is a phony. It turns out that the body was discovered by one of the other children. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19136 8/12/2010 © Miami Herald Jackson Memorial Hospital, which stands to get up to $50 million in Medicaid funds from Washington, reported a surplus of $4 million in June. Also, Boca Community Hospital saw its first profit since 2006. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19115 8/10/2010 © Florida Independent Rick Scott faces accusations from two doctors who say he used their licenses to mislead authorities at a couple of Solantic clinics. At a press conference, a furious Scott denounced his detractors, saying he's doing "God's work." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19113 ©  The Florida Tribune President Obama has signed an extension of federal help for the states that will bring Florida Medicaid $784 million and schools $555 million. The low-income pool for hospitals will get $25 million and $100 million will go to economic development, including Collier County's Jackson Laboratory. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19124 8/11/2010 © Florida Times-Union A CDC study published today says severe cases of hospital-acquired MRSA dropped by 28 percent between 2005 and 2008. Here's how hospitals are doing it. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19120 8/11/2010 © Sun Sentinel Florida has seen 368 shigellosis cases through June, compared to 277 the previous year, according to Florida DOH. Shigella spreads through person-to-person contact. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19125 8/11/2010 © Ocala Star-Banner The Institute of Cardiovascular Medicine broke ground just two years ago to fanfare. Now the practice is reeling from allegations of breach of contract, slander and questionable billing. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19126 8/11/2010 Orlando Sentinel Health Central, which needs a deep-pockets partner, is the latest independent hospital in Florida to look for consolidation. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19114 8/11/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Study after study confirms the benefits of breastfeeding, but what if babies are in the newborn intensive care unit, too frail to breastfeed? Some hospitals with NICUs are solving the problem. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19123 8/11/2010 © Pensacola News Journal Independent administrator Ken Feinberg is in the Panhandle and will be processing claims for businesses and residents hurt by the BP oil spill. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19116 8/11/2010 © Miami Herald A Broward e-cigarette distributor gave up a legal fight with Oregon over the sale of its products there. In other news, Florida will receive $3 million from drug maker Ortho-McNeil-Janssen for misleading marketing claims. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19108 By Mike Wells 8/10/2010 © Health News Florida Health Management Associates, a hospital chain based in Naples, offered doctors money, free rent, and even jet trips to a golf tournament in return for referring Medicare patients, a former HMA executive says. Editor's note: corrections added. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19099 8/10/2010 © St. Petersburg Times USF researchers say they had “solid evidence” of plumes of oil under the sea. But officials at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) admit to telling them not to talk “openly” about it. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19106 8/9/2010 © NYT Regional One reason for Florida's poor record on children's dental care, an analysis shows, is that 16 counties still don’t have fluoridated water because of fears the CDC says are unwarranted. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19104 8/10/2010 © Miami Herald A Tallahassee lawyer who alleged improper billing by Solantic clinics is suing to open a videotaped deposition of its founder, Rick Scott. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19105 8/10/2010 © Palm Beach Post Seniors shouldn't be afraid of health reform because it offers them many new benefits, such as free preventive care, U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch says. But polls show they're worried about what they may lose. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19107 8/10/2010 © Orlando Sentinel The new health law offers higher pay to doctors who convert to electronic health records early. But those who balk will pay a penalty after five years. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19102 8/10/2010 © Sarasota Herald-Tribune Tillie Tooter recalls how she survived for days, trapped in her car, after it was bumped off the interstate by another driver 10 years ago.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19101 8/9/2010 © Tampa Tribune Florida is the only state in the nation to ban gay parents from adopting, and gubernatorial candidate Bill McCollum wants the law changed to bar them from acting as foster parents, too.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19069 8/7/2010 © St. Petersburg Times It’s meant to keep prescription drugs out of the hands of abusers. But how can it help if doctors aren’t required to check the list before they write a prescription?  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19085 8/9/2010 © Miami Herald The newly formed Children's Movement of Florida is holding milk-and-cookies events to push for high-quality child care, high quality pre-kindergarten, parental skill-building and health insurance for all children. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19070 8/6/2010 © Orlando Sentinel Worried about the end of Florida Hospitals' contract with United Healthcare Aug. 15, patients are looking for new doctors who take United and not finding many. In Jacksonville, the five Baptist hospitals are dropping Humana Medicare HMO. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19073 8/7/2010 © Miami Herald The SEC is investigating how Jackson Health System officials made up a category in financial reports to mask their losses.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19075 8/8/2010 © Ocala Star-Banner Florida has one of the worst records in the country when it comes to poor, rural children getting dental care, a report shows. Meanwhile, in overall health of children, Florida moves up one notch in rankings.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19093  By Mike Wells  8/9/2010 © Health News Florida WellCare Health Plans announced a second-quarter loss but also preliminary settlement of a class-action suit by shareholders with the Securities and Exchange Commission for $200 million. This proposed settlement is separate from the whistleblower suit. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19071 8/8/2010 © St. Petersburg Times A Tampa doctor who took a weekend course on liposuction has been suspended for letting two unlicensed assistants take over when he left the room. The Board of Medicine warns that doctors who don't have much training in cosmetic procedures are doing them anyway. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19087 8/9/2010 © Associated Press Weeks ago, scientists began finding specks of oil in crab larvae plucked from waters across the Gulf coast, a sign that crude had already infiltrated the Gulf's vast food web -- and could affect it for years to come. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19086 8/8/2010 © Tampa Tribune Tree-cutter Ralph St. Peter, attacked by a swarm of Africanized honeybees, was rescued by a co-worker who also suffered numerous stings. After a night in the hospital, St. Peter  returned to finish the job. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19074 8/8/2010 © Sarasota Herald-Tribune The Florida Supreme Court will decide whether voters in Florida will get a say on the federal health care bill when justices hear arguments on Amendment 9. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19067 8/6/2010 © Health News Florida Tom Arnold, secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration, is retiring from state government effective Aug. 31, according to a letter released Friday by Gov. Charlie Crist's office. Crist appointed Elizabeth Dudek as interim secretary. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19043 By David Gulliver  8/6/2010 © Health News Florida/Kaiser Health News For the 11 million people signed up for Medicare Advantage plans, their future with the popular program may depend on where they live. Despite the fear among Floridians that their plans may be strained, they're really in a good position to weather the coming cost-trimming. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19064 By Carol Gentry 8/6/2010 © Health News Florida Addiction is a disease, all members of the Board of Medicine agreed Friday. But there’s a limit to how many relapses a physician can get away with, and a Miami doctor ran out of chances. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19065 8/6/2010 © The Miami Herald  After a six-month investigation, a Miami-Dade grand jury called for a new way of governing for the Jackson Health System, but didn't cast individual blame. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19066 8/6/2010 © The Associated Press Florida real estate developer St. Joe Co. accuses Halliburton Co. of ignoring safety procedures and failing to properly encase BP's sub-sea well in cement. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19060 8/6/2010 © The Palm Beach Post Liz Piendle, widow of Charles Piendle, who died of smoking-related lung cancer in 1996 at age 55, still awaits a ruling to determine the amount owed to her by cigarette makers. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19058 8/6/2010 © The Palm Beach Post The child, picked up from her home by a Katie’s Kids Learning Center employee, may have been in the hot van for as long as six hours in the scorching heat. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19062 8/6/2010 © The Daytona Beach News-Journal The Volusia County Council on Thursday passed a number of safety measures discouraging cruising on Volusia beaches, including signs for car-free zones and off-beach parking. The message comes as a result of two car-related fatalities on the beach in the last five months. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19063 8/5/2010 © The Sun-Sentinel The legislators, joining forces with the widow of Trooper Patrick Ambroise who died when his parked cruiser was rear-ended and burst into flames, are demanding the replacement of 1,800 Ford patrol cruisers over concerns that the vehicles burst into flames when struck at high speeds from behind; a recent Highway Patrol report cites no safety concerns. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19050 8/6/2010 © The St. Petersburg Times Largo's GeoPharma Inc. has sold its manufacturing subsidiary and a majority stake in the parent company to a group of private investors. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19053 8/5/2010 © The Florida Tribune The nearly 2 million gallons of dispersants used by BP against the oil spill helped prevent more oil from reaching Panhandle beaches from the spill site 120 miles away, DEP secretary Michael Sole said. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19049 8/6/2010 © The Tampa Tribune Following a report which named Florida as the deadliest state for bike fatalities, Tampa city leaders are working to turn study feedback into better roads designs meant to address pedestrian and bicycle safety issues in three of the city’s high-growth areas. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19035 By Jim Saunders 8/5/2010 © Health News Florida After months of uncertainty, Florida is poised to receive an estimated $700 million in additional Medicaid funding to plug a gap that starts Jan.1. One state senator's response: "Hallelujah!" http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19030 8/5/2010 © Florida Tribune Incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos said he's discussing lawsuit protections for those who treat Medicaid patients except in cases of "gross negligence." He sees it as a way to entice more physicians into the low-pay program. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19031 8/5/2010 © Florida Times-Union When Jacquelyn Haynes was denied coverage for an eye surgery her doctor said could save her vision, she waged a 16-month fight to get the decision overturned. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19023 8/5/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Despite the report from NOAA, some scientists think up to half of the oil spilled into the Gulf was never recovered and worry that the ecosystem isn't out of harm’s way.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19024 8/5/2010 © South Florida Sun-Sentinel When officers stopped the car in Georgia, they found 16 pounds of pills worth about $800,000 on their way from Canada to Miami to be exchanged for cocaine to be taken back across the U.S. border. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19022 8/5/2010 © Miami Herald Five suicides by hanging, including two on Wednesday, have occurred in Broward in the past three weeks. Some suggest it's a copycat effect, while others think it's  coincidental. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19020 8/5/2010 © Miami Herald At least 10 court actions have been filed against Rick Scott's healthcare company, Solanticm since 2001 in Duval County, but we likely will never know the legal outcome because of confidentiality clauses in the settlements. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19033 8/5/2010 © Lakeland Ledger Tabitha Cooke, 17, has to cope with an average of five seizures each day. But relief is on the way in the form of a goldendoodle puppy. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19026 8/5/2010 © Daytona Beach News-Journal Today the Volusia County Council is discussing whether to ban beach driving in the wake of recent injuries and deaths of children. Last night the Daytona Beach city council voted to ask the council to preserve driving on the beach. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/19015 By Nancy McVicar 8/4/2010 © Health News Florida A state senator's "Health Care Solutions Tour" kicked off in Miami today with a slide show that hit the major Republican talking points, including warnings about the cost of "Obamacare" and growth in Medicaid. Public officials and health-industry executives spoke, but no patients or advocates were there. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18998 8/4/2010 © Sun Sentinel A clinic in Boca Raton is giving shots of Lupron, a cancer drug also used for chemical castration of sex offenders, to some children with autism -- a prospect that frightens many. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19013 8/3/2010 © Florida Independent Today the U.S. Senate will likely vote $16 billion to help sustain Medicaid and $10 billion to keep teachers on the job, but will have to cut the food-stamp program to pay for it.  Some money also comes from plugging a foreign tax-credit for multinational corporations. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19004 8/4/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Officer Robbie Arkovich hated to be the one to tell four women they were widows, but he wouldn't leave it to someone else. A few hours later, the widows held an unusual  news conference to ask the public's help in preventing more deaths from driving drunk. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19007 8/3/2010 © Tampa Tribune The driver of the fatal crash in St. Petersburg, a 20-year-old college student, says he drank Four Loko, a drink with hefty doses of alcohol and caffeine. The FDA has asked companies that make such drinks why their product shouldn’t be banned. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18999 8/4/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Ohio police found a couple with scores of bottles of pain pills prescribed by Tampa physician Ronald J. Heromin of Tampa, who worked at a pain clinic that was shut down last month by police. Heromin says they're forgeries. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19005 8/4/2010 © Florida Times-Union Jean Law spent years as a nurse at Baptist Medical Center South. Now she accuses the ER of missing a dangerous infection that cost her both legs, most of her fingers and part of her nose. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19009 8/4/2010 © Florida Times-Union Megan Hamlin, 26, was 16 when she and a friend were sunbathing on Anastasia beach and were run over by a passing truck. The friend recovered, but Megan spent 10 years in a vegetative state. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19002 8/4/2010 © Sun Sentinel A New York organization, AIM, which has sold to at least 1,800 Floridians offering little or no coverage, is not licensed to sell health insurance in the state. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19000 8/4/2010 © Sun Sentinel A Florida girl, 12, was in a coma for four days and may be paralyzed after her 100-foot fall from a tower at a theme park; apparently the net had been taken down. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18987 By Jim Saunders 8/3/2010 © Health News Florida The legal battle about a proposed constitutional amendment targeting federal health reform appears headed straight to the Florida Supreme Court..  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18966 By Jim Saunders 8/3/2010 © Health News Florida  Applicants for caregiver jobs face new background-screening requirements that went into effect Sunday. But a key part of the system isn't fully ready --- the sites where you get electronic fingerprinting. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/19003 8/4/2010 © New York Times Three-quarters of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon leak has already evaporated, dispersed, been captured or otherwise eliminated — and much of the rest is so diluted that it does not pose much additional risk of harm, the government said. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18965 By Jim Saunders  8/3/2010 © Health News Florida Incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos leaves little doubt about his views on major health-care issues. He calls Medicaid "broken.'' And, to him, the new federal health-care law is "Obamacare.''  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18964 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality In a study released this week, AHRQ looked at employee health coverage in the 10 largest states. Florida workers had the lowest rate of family coverage of all. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18969 8/3/2010 © St. Petersburg Times The 20-year-old driver who killed four members of any Orlando family over the weekend told police he mixed alcohol and marijuana with Four Loko, an energy and malt liquor blend.  Police estimate he was driving 80 mph when he ran the red light. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18985 8/3/2010 © Sarasota Herald-Tribune, AP, St. Petersburg Times In Sarasota Bay, virtual fish are being deployed to gauge water quality before any oil arrives; in the Panhandle, a biologist is trying to preserve some of every species of sealife. Meanwhile in Washington, Sen. Bill Nelson called for an investigation of BP's use of dispersants. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18986 8/3/2010 © Pensacola News Journal A CVS pharmacist stopped a 19-year-old from robbing his store of narcotics by grabbing the suspect’s gun, chasing, wrestling and holding him until police arrived. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18972 8/2/2010 © Palm Beach Post The University of Miami announced plans for a dual degree, MD-masters in public health, which will focus on the changing ways health care will be delivered.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18980 8/3/2010 © Tampa Tribune One of the companies involved in exhibits featuring preserved human bodies is accused of using corpses of executed Chinese. A competitor has filed suit in Tampa. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18984 8/3/2010 © Gainesville Sun Sgt. Lisa Satcher's bout with H1N1 flu kept her unconscious and on a ventilator for much of last year, and her doctor -- who came to the station to celebrate her return to work -- had thought she might not survive. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18976  8/3/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Presley Hammon, 9, and his brother were petting a cow and calf when a lightning bolt struck. They all survived, but Presley's doctors say he may have cataracts and lose his hearing. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18970 8/3/2010 © Associated Press Mike Sole, who led the state's response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, plans to pursue other opportunities. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18960 8/2/2010 © Palm Beach Post Medicare turned 45 on Friday, and longtime TV character Andy Griffith is starring in commercials to celebrate. Some of his fans are dismayed that he's doing commercials that put health reform in a positive light. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18961  8/2/2010 © St. Petersburg Times, Daytona Beach News-Journal An Orlando-area family taking a beach vacation suffered a tragedy when the father and three grown sons were all killed by a student driving drunk,  police say. Meanwhile, a 14-year-old girl drowns after trying her parents' vodka. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18926 By Carol Gentry 7/30/2010 © Health News Florida  Medicare officials said their new competitive-bidding program for equipment would help fight rampant fraud. Yet they've awarded 17 contracts to a company accused of Medicare fraud twice in the past eight years.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18905 By David Royse 7/29/2010 © News Service of Florida  With polls continuing to show him trailing GOP rival Rick Scott, Atty. Gen. Bill McCollum suggested the Naples businessman might have been personally guilty in a fraud scandal at the company he used to lead. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18963 8/1/2010 © Naples Daily News, FL Independent Whistleblowers are shocked that voters seem to be ignoring Rick Scott’s past, which includes his hospital company's $1.7 billion fine for Medicare fraud. In other news, Scott's campaign gets big donation from hospital chain's co-founder. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18925 7/30/2010 © Miami Herald What to do with Fisherman's Hospital, a facility that has only a handful of beds filled and flies all its chest-pain patients to Miami?  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18877 By Jim Saunders 7/29/2010 © Health News Florida  A Leon County circuit judge today blocked a proposed constitutional amendment that targets the federal health-reform law, saying Florida Republican lawmakers included wording in the proposal that was 'manifestly misleading." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18901 7/28/2010 © News Service of Florida  Senate President-designate Mike Hardipolos, along with his wife, a physician, will hold health care roundtables in seven cities over three days to revive the Legislature's push to restrain costs in Medicaid.  Video. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18902 7/29/2010 © The Hill Florida's largest insurer resumed sale of individual-coverage policies for children after federal officials said they would permit enrollment periods.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18869 By Lottie Watts 7/28/2010 © Health News Florida  Florida is one of just three states with a top-rated, five-star Medicare Advantage plan. But most of the state’s 3.3 million Medicare beneficiaries can’t enroll in it. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18849 7/26/2010 © ESPN  All Florida's stadiums scored poorly for food-safety violations in recent inspections. Worst was Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, where every one of the stadium's 47 food and drink outlets incurred a critical violation. A worker at Sun Life Stadium near Miami said insects were mixed into frozen drinks because equipment wasn't cleaned. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18847 7/27/2010 © Health News Florida A federal agency that tracks measures of health-care quality lists Florida's as "average," but barely. The arrow hovers right on the line above "weak."  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18827  7/27/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Investigators found that an illegal mail-order business for Internet sales of prescription skin ointments was being run out of a $1-million home in a gated neighborhood. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18791 7/24/2010 © Associated Press In Florida, UnitedHealthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield have stopped issuing new policies that cover children as individuals, Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty says, because they worry that only the sick will sign up.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18794 7/23/2010 © New York Times, Sun-Sentinel University of South Florida ocean researchers have confirmed through a chemical fingerprint that the underwater oil plumes came from the Deepwater Horizon explosion. In other news, Les the Plumber from Boca claims credit for the cap design. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18792 7/24/2010 © Ocala Star-Banner One mother who refused to answer when pediatrician Chris Okonkwo asked whether the family has a gun says it's none of his business. He says the safety of his patients is his business. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18788 By Carol Gentry 7/23/2010 © Health News Florida The program for uninsured children says an independent audit found WellCare owes another $2.1 million in repayments, most of it for "double dipping" in the pharmacy program.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18776 By Deborah Balshem 7/23/2010 © Health News Florida Jackson Health System, pressed to find savings, got help from a Tampa company to go "green" and diverted more than 3 million pounds of medical waste from landfills. But most hospitals haven't yet taken the plunge. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18759 By Carol Gentry 7/22/2010 © Health News Florida Jonathan Ellen, the Johns Hopkins professor in line to become physician-in-chief at All Children’s Hospital, says local doctors and USF faculty and residents should not be concerned. But confusion abounds. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18647 By Jim Saunders and Carol Gentry 7/21/2010 © Health News Florida Federal prosecutors in Tampa are reportedly checking whether Medicaid HMOs other than WellCare Health Plans submitted less-than-honest claims in past years. Meanwhile, independent audits of eight Medicaid HMOs found that all owed the state money; more audits are planned. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10620 http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18712 7/20/2010 © Florida Tribune Bill McCollum says if he wins the governorship he'll promote "medical homes" for Medicaid rather than HMOs. In other campaign news, an anti-health-reform group is paying for ads against opponent Rick Scott.  (Breaking news) Florida reaches $27 million settlement with Teva Pharmaceuticals for Medicaid fraud.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18692 By Carol Gentry and Dave Gulliver 7/20/2010 © Health News Florida Alan Levine, the man most responsible for changing the direction of Florida Medicaid, is coming back to the state as a high-ranking executive for Health Management  Associates, a hospital corporation based in Naples. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18668 7/16/2010 ©  HomeCare A Clearwater company that's a national leader in oxygen supplies was left winless so far in Medicare's competitive bidding, while an Orlando-based company in financial distress copped 17 contracts. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18646 By Mary Jo Melone 7/16/2010 © Health News Florida Joanie Pape of Navarre lost her job as a bank branch manager in January, and with it went health insurance for her and two college-age kids. In March, both suffered serious injuries in a traffic accident. They now owe $100,000. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18643  By Cynthia Washam  7/15/2010 © Health News Florida Public health officials are concerned that the July 1 end of their food-safety inspections of day-care centers, hospitals and nursing homes will lead to more food poisonings. Lawmakers say other agencies inspect the same facilities. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18580 By Jim Saunders 7/13/2010 © Health News Florida Warning that it will otherwise have to cut services, Shands HealthCare wants to use a special legislative session next week to reverse Gov. Charlie Crist's veto of $9.7 million for the University of Florida teaching hospital.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18601 7/13/2010 ©  Fort Myers News-Press A Fort Myers veterinarian who calls herself "Dr. Amy" has been charged with allowing her husband, who is not a licensed vet, to do surgery and other procedures on animals in her care.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18554 By Dave Gulliver 7/9/2010 © Health News Florida A type of medical scan that delivers a double dose of radiation to the patient is recommended for only a small number of conditions. But some Florida hospitals perform the scans on more than half of their patients, a new study shows.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18515 By Jim Saunders 7//8/2010 © Health News Florida WellCare Health Plans is now free to sue former CEO Todd Farha and two other executives accused of running the Tampa-based company into a financial scandal.  The decision lets the board of directors off the hook.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18533 7/8/2010 © Associated Press After the cleanup workers move on, the sand looks good, but don't dig your toes into it. Also, Sen. Nelson filed a bill that would require monitoring of the undersea oil plume. Breaking news: Gov. Crist calls special session on oil drilling July 20-23. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18512 By Jim Saunders 7/7/2010 © Health News Florida Florida's attorney general says he's close to getting federal approval to look for over-billing in Medicaid. The waiver would apply to most claims, but wouldn't catch abuses by HMOs. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18511 By Mike Wells 7/7/2010 © Health News Florida Medicare's new competitive bidding system, which offers taxpayers and beneficiaries better deals on home medical equiment, has already dealt a blow to at least one Florida firm even before the bid-winners are announced. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18461 By Jim Saunders 7/2/2010 © Health News Florida Medicare patients and taxpayers will save more than one-third on home-health equipment costs in South and Central Florida next year because of a new competitive-bidding program, officials said Thursday. But the industry is trying to kill it, with the help of a Florida Congressman.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18462 By Carol Gentry and Mary Jo Melone 7/2/2010 © Health News Florida  Dunphy Rehnke Physicians complain often about frivolous medical-malpractice lawsuits. But what happens when it's the physician who dies and her husband -- also a physician -- files the suit? Dr. Ernest Rehnke of St. Petersburg has been sued in the death of Dr. Susie Dunphy of Chicago, who hemorrhaged after an appendectomy. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18440 7/2/2010 © Kaiser Health News Too often, nursing homes or hospitals ignore patients' Living Wills, resuscitating and intubating against the patient's and family's wishes. It helps to have a physician's order in the medical file. FSU is leading an effort in Florida to spread the news. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18434 By Jim Saunders 7/1/2010 © Health News Florida  Atty. Gen. Bill McCollum's office confirmed Wednesday that a criminal investigation of former WellCare executives for fraud is still going on. Also, Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty defended his office's dealings with WellCare, and Wall Street analysts reassured investors that the embattled HMO now has solid management.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18407 By Jim Saunders and Carol Gentry 6/30/2010 © Health News Florida Amid claims of widespread fraud by the state's largest Medicaid HMO, a state official has called on Attorney General Bill McCollum to prosecute WellCare Health Plan officials involved in trying to "rip off" the taxpayers.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18387 6/30/2010 © Kaiser Health News More than 30 states, including Florida, make hospital prices public. But that doesn't mean patients can figure out what a procedure will cost ahead of time, let alone get a binding estimate. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18388 6/30/2010 © Associated Press Technology willing, a federa; web site will be up tomorrow that will enable Floridians who have been uninsured at least six months to buy coverage, even if they are sick.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18385 By Carol Gentry and Jim Saunders  6/29/2010 © Health News Florida Former AHCA Secretary Alan Levine, now health secretary for Louisiana, says WellCare Health Plans’ CEO lied to him and to the Legislature, and says state prosecutors should consider criminal charges. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18337 By Carol Gentry and Mike Wells 6/28/2010 © Health News Florida The whistleblower complaint that launched a federal investigation of WellCare Health Plans four years ago has now been unsealed, portraying a company so heartless it rewarded employees who dumped hundreds of sick newborns and terminally ill patients from the membership rolls. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18338 By Carol Gentry and John W. Johnson 6/28/2010 © Health News Florida A whistleblower says a major public hospital system in South Florida helped WellCare Health Plans hide some of the millions of dollars it is accused of stealing from Medicaid. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18309 By Jim Saunders 6/25/2010 © Health News Florida Florida's chances of receiving up to $1 billion in additional Medicaid money appeared to be in deep trouble Thursday; in other action, the Medicare doctors' pay cut was put off for six months. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18295 6/23/2010 © Reuters A study comparing seven industrialized countries shows the US spends by far the most but comes up last on several measures -- including safety. NPR reports on one test that's dangerously overdone: CT scans. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18275 By Jim Saunders 6/24/2010 © Health News Florida With Florida facing major questions about how to tame Medicaid costs and reduce the number of uninsured, the state's gubernatorial candidates likely will have to offer answers during a televised debate in October.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18254 By Carol Gentry 6/23/2010 © Health News Florida The low annual payout  limits on skimpy health plans, including the state's own "Cover Florida" program, are supposed to be illegal as of September. But a close reading of the rule book shows some wiggle room.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18271 By Lottie Watts 6/23/2010 © Health News Florida For the first time, Florida has more than 1 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in managed-care plans, according to a new study. Floridians account for one out of 11 Medicare plan members nationwide.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18248 By Carol Gentry 6/22/2010 © Health News Florida Most health policies that cover small groups and individuals in Florida – including the state’s own Cover Florida plan – likely will flunk federal requirements that take effect in September, the governor’s office says.  Even state law needs rewriting. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18249 6/22/2010 National Academy of Sciences The Institute of Medicine is meeting in New Orleans today on the health effects of the oil spill; watch live via Webcast. Meanwhile, easterly winds are pushing the spill back to the west, giving Florida a temporary reprieve. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18163 By Jim Saunders  6/18/2010 ©  Health News Florida U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, who has led the effort to kill competitive bidding for home medical-equipment suppliers in Medicare, has not gone unrewarded. He's received at least $95,000 in contributions over the past year and a half from the durable medical equipment industry, records show. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18184 By Keith Laing 6/18/2010 © The News Service of Florida The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday asked a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Bill McCollum to exclude Florida from the national health care reform effort, saying that overturning the law would unduly expand judicial review of Congress and other branches of government. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18182 By Jim Saunders  6/17/2010 ©  Health News Florida Extra Medicaid funding worth $1 billion to Florida is in jeopardy following a defeat in the U.S. Senate on a procedural vote, with all Republicans and 12 Democrats in opposition.  It was also a setback for extended unemployment benefits and a long-range "doc fix" on Medicare physician pay. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18157 By Carol Gentry 6/16/2010 © Health News Florida A Florida company that claims its joint-pain remedy "helps relieve bursitis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, fibromyalgia, and any other other form of arthritis" is violating the law, the  Food and Drug Administration warns. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18140 By Cynthia Washam 6/15/2010 © Health News Florida Florida hospital administrators for years have said the state's high rate of preterm births -- and the infant health problems that result -- are beyond their control. But that's not true, as one hospital has proved.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18139 Wilson McKalip By Carol Gentry 6/15/2010 © Health News Florida Even as Winter Park internist Cecil Wilson stands to take over as president of the American Medical Association later today, a more controversial Florida physician is running for AMA office: St. Pete's David McKalip. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18099 6/14/2010 © South Florida Sun-Sentinel Hundreds of Florida streams, canals, lakes and rivers could get relief from pollution under tough new standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. But powerful interests are fighting it. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/18094 6/11/2010 ©  Times/Herald bureau Saying it would place "an inappropriate burden" on women seeking an abortion, Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed a bill Friday afternoon that would have required almost all to undergo an ultrasound procedure first and pay for it. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18065 By Jim Saunders 6/11/2010 © Health News Florida  Rick Scott carries baggage from a massive health-fraud case and offers little political experience. But the bald guy with sky-blue eyes has caught the imagination of Florida Republicans. Meanwhile, PolitiFact tackles this question: Is it fair to call him 'Slick Rick'?  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18091 By Mike Wells 6/11/2010 © Health News Florida WellCare, which brings in billions in revenue  from state and federal agencies each year, has a heavy stake in politics and spends accordingly. An attempt to force the company to disclose that failed at the annual meeting on Thursday. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18061 By Jim Saunders  6/10/2010 © Health News Florida Using television ads to answer questions about past troubles at Columbia/HCA, multimillionaire health-care executive Rick Scott has vaulted to the lead in the Republican primary for governor, a poll released today shows.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18062 By Carol Gentry 6/10/2010 © Health News Florida An appeals court has set aside the Department of Health’s emergency suspension of Miami psychiatrist Steven L. Kaplan, accused of over-prescribing anti-psychotic medication in the death of an autistic child. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18017 By Jim Saunders 6/9/2010 © Health News Florida Saying he and his wife are looking for "another adventure,'' Florida Department of Elder Affairs Secretary Doug Beach has submitted his resignation to take a job running a seniors' agency in Volusia County.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18020 6/9/2010 © Florida Tribune Two South Florida HMOs are withdrawing from Gov. Charlie Crist's Cover Florida program and have stopped writing new policies.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18006 By Jim Saunders 6/8/2010 © Health News Florida With lawmakers finally sending him the bill, Gov. Charlie Crist signaled today that he could quickly veto a measure that would require women to have ultrasounds before they can receive abortions. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/18011 6/8/2010 © Health News Florida Miami will be the site of the first regional health-fraud prevention "summit" for a wide range of players in the crackdown effort, including senior citizens, according to a letter today from federal officials to state attorneys general. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/17996 6/7/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Jeremiah Thomas spent 21 years in prison, hallucinating, eating feces and exhibiting other signs of severe mental illness. Guards repeatedly sprayed him with chemicals that inflicted serious burns. But Thomas' suffering was not in vain. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17970 By Carol Gentry 6/7/2010 © Health News Florida A Broward surgeon who took out a healthy kidney by mistake drew a $5,000 fine from the Florida Board of Medicine; it was $20,000 for a gynecologist who failed to let a patient know of an abnormal PAP smear until it was too late. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17930  By Jim Saunders  6/3/2010 © Health News Florida As Gov. Charlie Crist gets ready to sign another pill-mill crackdown bill, state health officials say they expect to meet a Dec. 1 deadline for a database to track prescription drugs. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17929 By Carol Gentry 6/3/2010 © Health News Florida Joel Rose, the physician who appointed himself to a rule-setting panel on pain treatment, says he has no conflict of interest because the clinics he works in aren't really pain clinics. They're for victims of auto accidents. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17909 By John Kennedy 6/1/2010 © The News Service of Florida  The odds on close to $1 billion in extra Medicaid money that Florida officials have been banking on for months now look no better than 50-50. Without the money, hospitals take a hit. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17919 By Lottie Watts 6/2/2010 © Health News Florida A Florida psychologist accused of having a sexual relationship with a patient and billing her insurance company for those appointments has relinquished his license instead of fighting the charges, documents show. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17903 By Jim Saunders 6/1/2010 © Health News Florida Gov. Charlie Crist signed bills that could lead to revamping the Florida Department of Health and extending a controversial Medicaid managed-care pilot program. But  he vetoed a measure aimed at controlling drug costs in workers' compensation, which are far higher in Florida than average.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17869  By Jim Saunders 5/28/2010 © Health News Florida Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed $371 million from the new state budget today, largely sparing health- and human-services programs. But he immediately raised questions by vetoing millions of dollars for the Shands Healthcare System --- and by trying to prevent rate cuts for nursing homes. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17858 By Marty Clear and Carol Gentry  5/27/2010 © Health News Florida The nurse accused of causing an outbreak of hepatitis C in Tampa Bay last year through sloppy practice has finally been identified by state health authorities in an order suspending her license. It doesn't say whether she has been working as a nurse since then.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/17852 5/27/2010 © Times/Herald bureau A 21-year-old inmate who was in a military-style exercise program in a hot prison yard collapsed and is in critical condition. Florida's Department of Law Enforcement is investigating. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17850 5/26/2010 © The News Service of Florida Sen. William “Doc” Myers, a former Republican state legislator and Hobe Sound physician who became an influential leader on children's and human service issues during his 22-year legislative career, died Tuesday. He was 79. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17843 By Mary Jo Melone 5/26/2010 © Health News Florida The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry says sedation for children is safe, but it has sent memos to members telling them how to answer questions from the media in the wake of four highly-publicized deaths.  And the letter doesn’t even mention three that occurred in Florida.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17842 By Jim Saunders 5/26/2010 © Health News Florida  The new federal health law will move nearly 1 million Floridians into the Medicaid system, dramatically reducing the number of uninsured people in the state, with Washington picking up most of the tab, a new study says.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17801 By Jim Saunders 5/25/2010 © Health News Florida With Florida struggling financially, a tax-watchdog group Monday called on Gov. Charlie Crist to veto $12.7 million in "turkey" projects that lawmakers stuffed into the health and human-services budget.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17751 By Jim Saunders 5/21/2010 © Health News Florida The state budget approved last month is dotted with millions of dollars in spending on senior-citizens centers, medical-education programs and health services -- often in the districts of powerful legislative leaders. Will they get axed when the governor goes "turkey"-hunting? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/17770 5/21/2010 © Politico As part of a broad jobs and tax bill, Democrats in Congress would extend extra Medicaid funds -- a real concern in cash-strapped Florida -- and resolve the looming Medicare pay cut for physicians. More on HR 4213 at Kaiser Health News. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17752  By Mary Jo Melone 5/21/2010 © Health News Florida No more storybook romance. Tampa oncologist Philippe Spiess has sued soap opera star Crystal Hunt, demanding the return of a $98,000 engagement ring. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17730 By Jim Saunders 5/20/2010 © Health News Florida A massive overhaul of Florida's Medicaid system is on the shelf --- at least for now. But get ready for three more years of debates over the pilot managed-care program that former Gov. Jeb Bush left behind, with hearings starting Friday.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/17749 5/20/2010 © Palm Beach Post Naples health-care executive Rick Scott is using his millions for ad buys that have helped him gain on frontrunner Bill McCollum in the Republican primary for governor.  Scott said this week he didn't know about criminal practices while he was CEO at Columbia/HCA, found to have committed Medicare fraud under his watch. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17711 By Mary Jo Melone and Mike Wells 5/19/2010 © Health News Florida Former model Karen Cruz, who was suffering from end-stage kidney disease at age 55, learned in August 2007 that she could get a kidney transplant. It seemed like a lifesaver; instead, she says, it gave her HIV.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/17713 5/19/2010 © Gainesville Sun Florida's hospitals and surgeons, stinging over the state's sky-high medical-error rate, have launched an $800,000 crackdown, to be funded by the Florida Hospital Association and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/17714  5/19/2010 © Miami Herald Miami-Dade commissioners okayed a measure Tuesday that would allow them to quickly dissolve the governing board of Jackson Health System if finances get worse. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17685 By Carol Gentry 5/18/2010 © Health News Florida Quality Health Plans, a Tampa-based company, has been suspended from the federal Medicare program and socked with a fine of almost $600,000. In other news of wrongdoing, a South Florida hospital accused of deliberate Medicare overcharges will pay $350,000. And the state is forcing 16 workers' comp  insurers to repay $9.4 million. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17686 By Mike Wells 5/18/2010 © Health News Florida Don’t bother looking in your mailbox for Miami-Dade’s next annual community health report card. It's gone online, as “Miami Matters.”   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/17687 5/18/2010 © WTSP-TV Tampa "Head shops" throughout Florida are selling an herbal mixture sprayed with synthetic cannabinoid chemicals; it reportedly supplies four or five times the effect of ordinary marijuana, yet apparently is legal. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17682 By John Kennedy 5/14/2010 © News Service of Florida A state audit criticizes Florida’s Medicaid program for shoddy oversight of payments to hospitals, nursing homes and others, and says AHCA even forgot to hold competitive bidding for a $1.8 million contract. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17646 By Cynthia Washam  5/14/2010 © Health News Florida Efforts to curb risky and unnecessary cesarean sections have had the added benefit of lowering preterm births nationally for two successive years. But not here in Florida, where C-sections and preterm births continue climbing. What will it take to get through to Florida obstetricians? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17645 By Leon Fooksman 5/14/2010 © Health News Florida Health care doesn’t operate like a business. If you don't believe it, look at Palm Beach County’s Health Care District, which is spending $9 million on expansion even as its mission of providing health care to the indigent and uninsured could dissolve beginning in 2014. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17620 By Marty Clear 5/13/2010 © Health News Florida An outbreak of hepatitis C that originated at a clinic near Tampa last year occurred during treatments that mainstream medicine views as virtually worthless – even risky. But clinic director Carol Roberts M.D. defends the treatment: "Personally, I think everybody should be chelated." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17624 By Mike Wells 5/13/2010 © Health News Florida Rather than simply resign from WellCare Health Plans' board, former director Regina Herzlinger is talking about the intrigue and backstabbing that took place in the boardroom, where she chaired the Audit Committee. Her motivation, she said, is "better health care for the poor and the aged." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17618 By Jim Saunders  5/12/2010 © Health News Florida Fewer than half of Florida voters in a new poll support a November ballot proposal that would block a key part of the new federal health-reform law: requiring individuals to buy health insurance. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17576 By Jim Saunders  5/11/2010 © Health News Florida Florida Health Choices, a deregulated health-insurance market for small businesses, is 2 years old and still not selling any products. It would be well-positioned to develop into the exchange called for under the new federal law. But that would require political and philosophical compromises that its leaders may not be willing to make. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17572 By Carol Gentry 5/10/2010 © Health News Florida Four years ago, the Department of Health was warned that psychiatrist Steven L. Kaplan was overmedicating children, state records show. DOH filed an "emergency" suspension of Kaplan last week, three years too late for one little boy. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17531 By Jim Saunders and Mike Wells  5/7/2010 © Health News Florida A New York-based investor is pushing WellCare Health Plans --- a major donor in Florida politics --- to disclose more information about that kind of spending. But WellCare hasn't responded.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/17532 5/7/2010 ©  St. Petersburg Times A doctor who used to work for Rick Scott, a health-industry mogul with a ton of baggage, says it would be a disaster if he becomes governor. But it could happen, given the money he's pouring into TV commercials. Also see Florida Trend's profile of Scott. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/17536 May issue © Florida Trend  We're still in the Stone Age when it comes to communication in health care. Congress has offered financial incentives to speed it up, but it's a slow go. Some providers still have systems with no link between billing and clinical; others can’t communicate outside of their offices. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17549 5/7/2010 From a press release The Florida Sterling Council today announced today that three hospitals in Florida will receive the prestigious Governor's Sterling Award for 2010, given to organizations and businesses that have achieved excellence in management and operations. It's the first time all winners were from the health care industry.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17547 5/7/2010 © Florida Tribune Rose Naff is expected to be named the Chief Executive Officer of Health Choices. Remember that? It's the health care initiative that former House Speaker Marco Rubio touted as a solution for Florida's growing uninsured population.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17503 By Jim Saunders  5/6/2010 © Health News Florida From the Christian Coalition to the ACLU, groups who oppose or support the bill to require an ultrasound before abortion are waging an e-mail campaign. Meanwhile, doctors protest the intrusion. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17505 By Jim Saunders  5/6/2010 © Health News Florida Some ideas, such as overhauling the Medicaid system, fizzled publicly. Others faded away quietly in the committee rooms, chambers and offices of the state Capitol, well before the 2010 legislative session ended last week. Who killed them? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17499 By Carol Gentry 5/5/2010 © Health News Florida A “huge” number of insurance products being sold in Florida fail to meet spending requirements under the new federal health law, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty says. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17500 By Mike Wells and Carol Gentry 5/5/2010 © Health News Florida WellCare Health Plans Inc., which reported  handsome first-quarter earnings today, faces a paradox in its government contracts: It's making too much money on its Medicare services -- at least, too much to meet upcoming spending requirements -- but not enough from Medicaid.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17481 By Mary Jo Melone 5/4/2010 © Health News Florida A Tampa dentist is being sued over the death of a 9-year-old last year, and the death of a 5-year-old in Gainesville is under investigation by law enforcement. Together, the two deaths raise questions about the growing practice of sedating children for dental care. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17411 By Jim Saunders 4/30/2010 © Health News Florida Ending a legislative session shadowed by major financial and health-care issues, lawmakers Friday approved a $70 billion budget for the upcoming year and passed a controversial bill that would require ultrasounds before women can have abortions. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/17428 4/30/2010 © Associated Press  The White House called a halt to new Gulf oil drilling today as the leading edge of a massive oil spill hit the sensitive wetlands of Louisiana, threatening nesting birds and other wildlife. A federal official said he was "frightened" at the magnitude of the spill. Meanwhile, tests in Pinellas showed air quality was safe. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17408 By Jim Saunders 4/30/2010 © Health News Florida State senators gave final approval Thursday to a bill that will increase regulation of pain-management clinics and try to curb drug abusers' access to large amounts of controlled substances.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17410 By Jim Saunders 4/30/2010 © Health News Florida Despite getting targeted by House leaders, the Florida Department of Health will avoid a major makeover this year. Next year could be a different story.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/17405 4/29/2010 © Associated Press Beneficiaries who sign up for Medicare Advantage plans, which are big in Florida, apparently aren't basing their choice on quality ratings, a consultant's study finds. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17383 By Jim Saunders 4/28/2010 © Health News Florida Senate negotiators today said they want to scale back a House plan to shrink the Florida Department of Health; negotiations are continuing. Meanwhile, the Senate dumped an idea for private-insurance vouchers in Medicaid. See also, AHCA chief gets to keep his job.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17367 By Jim Saunders 4/28/2010 © Health News Florida Today a unanimous House passed a pain-clinic crackdown that is tougher than the Senate's, which means the issue must be revived in the Senate between now and Friday. In other action, a bill that sets rules on cameras to catch red-light runners is on its way to the governor. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/17370 4/28/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Holly Johantgen, who practices Oriental medicine, says she was in the midst of an acupuncture session when a group of Scientologists screaming obscenities pushed their way into her outer office, pursuing a former member of the church. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17344 By Jim Saunders 4/27/2010 © Health News Florida A state budget for next year emerged at 11:58 p.m. Monday with significant cuts to hospitals, nursing homes and child-abuse prevention, but in some cases the cuts aren't as deep as was feared.  Next up: a plan to shrink the Department of Health. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17363 By Keith Laing 4/27/2010 The News Service of Florida  The Senate passed a ban on texting while driving today by a large margin; its sponsor said Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, who declared it dead on Monday, should not be allowed to block it. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/17362 4/27/2010 © Reuters Humana, Florida's largest sponsor of Medicare Advantage plans, posted net income of more than $250 million for the quarter, up $50 million from last year. United boasted similar profits last week. Florida-based Lincare, meanwhile, released "amazing" results in profits despite Medicare pay cuts,  and Health Management Associates reported earnings per share up 27 percent. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17341 By John Kennedy 4/26/2010 © The News Service of Florida  The Senate rolled out a proposed compensation package Monday that would spare state workers from pay cuts but would require that all contribute toward their health insurance. (Correction to earlier version: They won't have to contribute to pensions). In addition, senators agreed to a House demand for new limits on university stem-cell research.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/17337 4/26/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Little St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Pete has built a classy Olympic-distance triathlon that draws thousands of athletes from around the world. On Sunday, amid rough seas and high winds, an American won. The day before, the kids and over-65's competed. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17286 By Carol Gentry and Jim Saunders 4/23/2010 © Health News Florida HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the nation's top health official, said Thursday night that states will not be allowed to opt out of the federal health law. Her remarks came only hours after the Florida House and Senate both approved a measure to do so. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17266 By Jim Saunders  4/22/2010 © Health News Florida House and Senate negotiators appear ready to slash Medicaid funding for nursing homes and are considering cuts to numerous other health programs.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17259 By Jim Saunders  4/21/2010 © Health News Florida With the bill's sponsor saying it would reshape the "mission of the department,'' the House this morning overwhelmingly approved a plan to revamp --- and shrink --- the Florida Department of Health. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17260 By Carol Gentry 4/21/2010 © Health News Florida Florida could expect to gain $820 million and over 3,400 high-value jobs if a Miami cancer center won designation as part of the National Cancer Institute network, a study says. But the center  needs help from the Legislature to be ready for NCI inspectors. Bad year to be asking. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17244 By Jim Saunders 4/21/2010 © Health News Florida Already tangled in questions about whether to overhaul Florida's $19 billion Medicaid program, the House and Senate face a new wildcard in the debate: Gov. Charlie Crist.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17230 By Jim Saunders 4/20/2010 © Health News Florida The Florida House today took up a plan to shrink the state Department of Health, following Monday's passage of a Medicaid overhaul. It remains unclear whether either of those controversial proposals will become law. Talks on Medicaid between Senate and House leaders began this morning. (Editor's note: We'll update on both.) http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17227 By Jim Saunders  4/20/2010 © Health News Florida A House panel resurrected a proposed constitutional amendment that would let Floridians ignore the new federal health-insurance mandate. Meanwhile, supporters of the health law said they'll present thousands of petition signatures protesting Florida's suit against the federal law.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17225 4/19/2010 © News Service of Florida When House and Senate budget conferees finally huddled Monday, the House won the first skirmish by getting the Senate to adopt an austerity approach that assumes little or no extra Medicaid funding will be approved by Congress. Likely cuts: hospitals, nursing homes, HMOs, substance abuse & mental health and programs for the developmentally disabled. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17185 By Carol Gentry 4/16/2010 © Health News Florida Medicaid patients in traditional fee-for-service care get some services at two to three times the frequency of those who are in managed care, a preliminary state report suggests. What it doesn't say: Is that good or bad? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17181  By Jim Saunders 4/16/2010 © Health News Florida Trying to win votes in the House and prepare for negotiations with the Senate, architects of a Medicaid overhaul agreed to changes Thursday that could help defuse concerns of doctors and hospitals. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17161  By Jim Saunders  4/15/2010 © Health News Florida A House panel today approved a new bill declaring Florida's "public policy'' is that government should not force people to buy health insurance. Meanwhile in Pensacola, a judge presiding over Florida's suit against the Affordable Care Act says he'll move quickly. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17144 By Jim Saunders 4/14/2010 © Health News Florida  The House and Senate have dropped proposals that would have limited doctors to dispensing 72 hours' worth of controlled drugs from their offices. It had been seen as a way to fight pill mills, but Florida Medical Association opposed it. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17125 By Marty Clear 4/13/2010 Health News Florida The nurse who apparently infected seven patients in the Tampa Bay area with hepatitis C still has her Florida nursing license, and therefore may still be practicing. But where? There's no way of knowing because state health officials will not identify her.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17093 By Jim Saunders 4/13/2010 © Health News Florida In a surprising turnaround from last week, a top Senate health chairman has called off the workshops on the House overhaul of Medicaid, leaving everyone in the Capitol wondering what's going on. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17085 By Carol Gentry 4/10/2010 © Health News Florida A Sarasota OB-GYN who was supposed to abort an abnormal fetus in a twin pregnancy but leave the normal one alone made the worst kind of mistake: He got the twins mixed up and injected a killing chemical into the healthy one.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17067 By Leon Fooksman and Tim Collie 4/9/2010 © Health News Florida The passage of a new federal health law expected to cover most of the uninsured raises an intriguing question: What will happen to the $850 million raised every year by local taxing districts around Florida to support care of the uninsured? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17055 By Jim Saunders  © Health News Florida Senate leaders say they'll hold lengthy work sessions two evenings this week to see how much of the House proposal to overhaul Medicaid they can accept. Both chambers want to move more Medicaid recipients into managed care. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17030 Rossignol By Cynthia Washam 4/8/2010 © Health News Florida Dr. Daniel Rossignol of Melbourne has a busy practice that includes treating autistic children with chelation therapy, an intravenous chemical treatment considered risky and useless by most of mainstream medicine. A Chicago father is suing Rossignol in what is thought to be the first lawsuit of its type. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17054 By Jim Saunders 4/8/2010 © Health News Florida  Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, put up a roadblock today to a bill that would exempt Floridians from a key part of the new federal health-reform law -- the requirement that they buy health insurance.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17029 By Jim Saunders  4/8/2010 © Health News Florida Why are hospitals so mad about the House's proposed Medicaid overhaul? Find the answer to that and other questions here. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17025 By Jim Saunders 4/7/2010 © Health News FloridaShould hospice patients be moved into HMOs? How about those who have an IQ of 50? No, say advocacy groups, adding their protests to those of hospitals and doctors who say a House Medicaid overhaul bill would force them into unwanted contracts with managed-care plans. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/17009 4/7/2010 © Florida Tribune The Legislature is controlled by a political party that officially opposes health insurance mandates. Nevertheless, a Senate panel on Tuesday approved two new ones. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16987 By Jim Saunders  4/6/2010 © Health News Florida Seeking dramatic changes in Florida's Medicaid program, House leaders would require almost all recipients statewide to enroll in managed-care plans --- including seniors who need long-term care -- and starting with Miami-Dade County next year. Watch the workshop at 5:45. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16991 4/6/2010 © South Florida Sun Sentinel Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz's town hall meeting to explain the new health law was a contrast in style: Civility inside, but jeering, jostling and shouting outside. In other news, the attorney general says his suit against the federal law will cost Florida just $6,000. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16946 By Carol Gentry 4/2/2010 © Health News Florida A big gap in consumer information on health-care professionals in Florida is about to get filled: The state Department of Health will begin posting pending complaints online, according to an internal memo. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16938 By Jim Saunders 4/2/2010 © Health News Florida The House approved a super-lean budget on Thursday that assumes Florida won't keep getting extra Medicaid funds from Washington. Among the programs hit: an insurance subsidy for government retirees.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16957 By Jim Saunders  4/2/2010 © Health News Florida This week, the Senate voted to expand a controversial "reform" pilot to 19 more counties. Next week, says Winter Park Republican Dean Cannon, the House could release a draft bill showing a gradual move to managed care throughout Florida.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16914 By Jim Saunders  4/1/2010 © Health News Florida Senate Republicans tossed a bomb into the debate about overhauling Medicaid on Wednesday, approving program caps, vouchers and a 19-county expansion.  In the House, a committee took action that irked insurers and pleased doctors. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16936 By Carol Gentry 4/1/2010 © Health News Florida Companies accused of breaking Medicare marketing rules in federal documents released this week expressed shock, saying they have taken pains to dot every I and cross every T. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16916 By Mary Jo Melone 4/1/2010 © Health News Florida The State Supreme Court should take a fresh look at the $350,000 cap on non-economic damages that applies in certain medical malpractice cases, an appellate court said Wednesday, noting that it hasn't been reviewed since 1988. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16934 4/1/2010 © Palm Beach Post Critics of health reform have  hit the projected $500 billion in cuts to Medicare, but US Prosecutor Jeffrey Sloman says a large chunk of that will come from cleaning up Medicare fraud in Miami-Dade County. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16933 4/1/2010 © Gainesville Sun UF researchers are testing a prototype of a capsule that carries a microchip and antenna and can trigger an alert if the patient forgets to take other pills. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16889 By Carol Gentry 3/31/2010 © Health News Florida Aetna, Tampa-based Freedom Health and four other companies are accused of  violating Medicare marketing rules in a report by the Inspector General of Health and Human Services, federal documents say. The plans say they've broken no rules. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16891 By Jim Saunders3/31/2010 © Health News FloridaThe 2010 legislative session is halfway done. But for many lawmakers, health groups and lobbyists, that just highlights this painful point: Their favorite bills are in neverland. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16906 3/31/2010 © News Service of Florida As the state House and Senate bring competing budgets up for debate today, hot-button health issues include expansion of the Medicaid reform pilot and funding for biomedical research. On one such issue, prisons, the Tampa Tribune reports a deal has been reached to keep them open. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16894 3/31/2010 © Capitol News Service (Video) Nursing students say they're confident of having a job as the health sector continues to grow.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16884 By Marty Clear3/30/2010 © Health News FloridaA popular and long-running Tampa radio program about alternative health has been silenced, at least temporarily, in the wake of reports about a hepatitis C outbreak that started at the host’s clinic.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16862 By Dave Gulliver3/30/2010 © Health News FloridaFive Florida hospitals are among the top 100 in the country for quality and efficiency, according to the new edition of a long-running and respected annual study released Monday.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16840 3/28/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Rep. Allen Boyd of Monticello, marked for defeat by GOP pundit Sarah Palin for his 'yes' vote on health care, hopes voters will see benefits before November's election.  Tallahassee Democrat reports that U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson also has repair work to do.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16797 By Jim Saunders 3/26/2010 © Health News Florida Speaker Larry Cretul and other House leaders put a bulls-eye on the Florida Department of Health during the first day of this year's legislative session. Among all state agencies, House leaders singled out the Department of Health for major changes. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16779 By Jim Saunders 3/25/2010 © Health News Florida Florida Medicaid's fines for fraud and abuse have been so low --- and so often waived --- that they might not be a deterrent to wrongdoing, a new state report says. Also, it warns that officials need to set a limit on how much of state-paid premiums HMOs can keep for themselves. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16782 By Christine Jordan Sexton 3/25/2010 © Florida Tribune A bill that would have provided sovereign immunity protections to health care providers who treat patients in emergency situations is “on life support,” with a poor prognosis, according to its supporters. Tampa General lobbyist Jan Gorrie said, "We didn't expect to run into this buzz-saw." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16787 By Mary Jo Melone 3/25/2010 © Health News Florida A South Florida hospital must pay a heart surgeon $6.5 million for breach of contract and slander, an appeals court has ruled. The slander: An executive said he wouldn’t send his “dog” to the surgeon. In other legal news, a jury awards $30 million to a smoker's widow.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16763 By Carol Gentry 3/24/2010 © Health News Florida Six Medicare Advantage plans that have been in trouble in the past are still breaking marketing rules in ways that place beneficiaries at risk, a federal investigation has found. But the agency that did the report will not say which six -- and it's only a week until the end of annual enrollment.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16764  3/24/2010 © Pensacola News Journal Why, of all places, did the 13 states' attorneys general file suit against federal health law in Pensacola?  The Palm Beach Post asks: Should Bill McCollum have given the suit to his law partner? And from Health News Florida: What assumptions underlie the cost estimates McCollum used? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16738 By Carol Gentry 3/23/2010 ©  Health News Florida The cost of enrolling additional Medicaid beneficiaries in Florida under new rules passed in the federal health law would start at $149 million four years from now and rise to $1.05 billion by the end of the decade, according to a new state chart. Atty. Gen. Bill McCollum, who filed suit against the law today after President Obama signed it, said the chart supports his claim that costs will total at least $1.6 billion a year by 2019.  A health institute professor says some of what McCollum says is wrong. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16719 By Jim Saunders 3/23/2010 Health News Florida Surgeon General Ana Viamonte Ros told House members Monday that a proposal to curtail the Department of Health would jeopardize its most important mission: disease prevention. They passed it anyway. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16739 3/22/2010 © Associated Press Floridians could opt out of the federal health care overhaul plan under a ballot proposal that cleared a House panel on Monday, but constitutional law experts say it won't stand up in court. It passed on a party-line vote. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16711 By Carol Gentry 3/22/2010 © Health News Florida Dr. Kevin Sherin and other public health experts spent their weekend mobilizing to fight what they consider a "dangerous" bill that would shrink the Florida Department of Health and abolish its public-education role in disease prevention. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16672 By Jim Saunders  3/19/2010 © Health News Florida The Florida Department of Health would have fewer duties and a smaller staff under a proposal released late Thursday by House Republicans. It would significantly reduce the job description of Surgeon General Ana Viamonte Ros. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16664 By Jim Saunders 3/19/2010 © Health News Florida Worried about deep budget cuts in mental-health programs, Florida senators are moving to tap more than $40 million a year in tobacco taxes to protect them. Supporters say they can make a strong case for it. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16661 By Marty Clear and Carol Gentry 3/18/2010 Health News Florida Public health officials have determined that an outbreak of hepatitis C was caused by a nurse at a holistic medical clinic in Brandon, but they have declined to identify her or say whether she is still allowed practicing in Florida. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16642 3/16/2010 © PolitiFact.com A new ad against the health bill claims it would give government panels power to make mammograms and other preventive care unavailable to women under 50. PolitiFact rules it preposterous. The ad is sponsored by the well-funded group Americans for Prosperity; here is background on them. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16660 3/18/2010 © Washington Post Congressional Democrats say the Congressional Budget Office report that will be released today shows the health bill would cut the federal deficit by $130 billion in 10 years and $1.2 trillion the following decade. Meanwhile, Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach. is being deluged with calls.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16639 3/18/2010 © Florida Tribune  A bill that's an indirect slap at Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty would give the Florida Senate a say in who holds the post, which now is determined by the governor and Cabinet. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16645 3/18/2010 © St. Petersburg Times When Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp said  "nearly all of the top 50 prescribers of oxycodone in the United States are in Florida," he was not exaggerating, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16625 By Jim Saunders 3/17/2010 Health News Florida Hospitals wouldn't get hit with tax increases, and Medically Needy, mental health and substance abuse programs would avoid major cuts under an initial House budget proposal released Tuesday. In other words, this plan looks little like the Senate's.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16613 By Jim Saunders  3/16/2010 © Health News Florida With lawmakers eyeing an expanded Medicaid managed-care system, a House panel today approved a bill designed to be an alternative -- creating a system of physician-driven "medical homes'' across the state.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16611 By Carol Gentry 3/16/2010 © Health News Florida The FDA  has issued a blistering warning letter against the Broward psychiatrist who treated 7-year-old suicide Gabriel Myers, saying he significantly over-dosed several children enrolled in a clinical trial of psychiatric medications in 2006. Yet the state lists the doctor with a "clear, active" license. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16618 By John Kennedy 3/16/2010 © The News Service of Florida The Senate Health and Human Services budget chief called on advocates Tuesday to turn up the heat on lawmakers to avoid deep cuts now threatening social service programs.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16606 3/16/2010 © Orlando Sentinel Sherrie Sitarik, named to succeed the retiring chief executive of Orlando Health, speaks of challenges in building the information system and the "medical city" at Lake Nona. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16581 3/14/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Independent tests of apple juice found levels of arsenic that surpass the official "level of concern" for heavy metals. More than half of the apple juice from concentrate originates in China. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16550 By Jim Saunders 3/12/2010 © Health News Florida A dramatic expansion of Medicaid managed care, increased hospital taxes and slashed spending on some health and social programs are all part of a Senate committee's initial budget proposal.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16531 By Jim Saunders  3/11/2010 © Health News Florida Two major insurers have offered lawmakers a way to transform state workers into better health-care shoppers: high-deductible plans with health savings accounts. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16510 By Mary Jo Melone 3/10/2010 © Health News Florida  Jeanne and Randal Wills are selling off their property, trying to keep up with their family health insurance premiums of over $3,000 a month. They can’t afford the policy, but they can’t afford to drop it.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16509 By Jim Saunders  3/10/2010 © Health News Florida Florida hospitals are gearing up to form provider-service networks to compete with HMOs if the Legislature decides to expand Medicaid managed care. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16511 3/10/2010 © Miami Herald Unless Miami-Dade county advances Jackson Health System $67 million, the institution would be down to 1 ½ days cash on hand by April 5, officials said. One of its major vendors may shut off supplies unless the company receives a $1 million payment this week. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16528  3/9/2010 © The News Service of Florida Hospitals, particularly trauma centers, would continue to get some of the proceeds from tickets written under a statewide red light camera system following a House committee vote Tuesday. In other action, Speaker Larry Cretul wants to take 911 recordings off the public record for privacy concerns.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16487 By Jim Saunders  3/9/2010 © Health News Florida Consultants said Monday that Florida Medicaid could save the most money by pushing managed-care plans statewide; by contrast, the 'medical home' model would cost money. Also, Florida Tribune reports that AHCA has suggested a tax on HMOs to raise money. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16442 By Jim Saunders  3/2/2010 © Health News Florida When legislative committees discuss health-care issues, lobbyists pack the room, fill the seats and line the walls. There's big money at stake for their clients -- and themselves. See the top spenders on health lobbying.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16323 By Carol Gentry 3/4/2010 © Health News Florida Those who want to expand Medicaid's pilot program from its current five counties to 24 have new ammunition: performance data.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16415 By Jim Saunders 3/4/2010 © Health News Florida Reopening a political battle about medical malpractice, a Florida Senate committee today passed a bill that would limit the liability of hospitals, doctors and other workers for emergency-room errors. Will it go all the way this time?  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16418 3/4/2010 Kaiser Health News Even though in-depth polling has shown that most Americans understand very little about what is actually in the President's proposal for health overhaul, most coverage of his speech on Wednesday dealt only with his strategy for getting it passed. So here are video highlights. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16432 3/4/2010 © St. Petersburg Times Trappers that have tried for more than a year to capture a macaque running wild in Pinellas hit him with two tranquilizer darts Wednesday, but he amazed them by scampering away to hide and sleep it off. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16394 By Jim Saunders 3/3/2010 © Health News Florida With one lawmaker describing it as a "dumping ground,'' House leaders are targeting the Florida Department of Health as part of a push to save money and revamp the operations of state government. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16376 By Jim Saunders  3/2/2010 © Health News Florida Limiting clinics that dispense their own drugs to 3 days' worth would strike a blow at pill mills, but the proposal has alarmed some doctors who use dispensing as a lucrative sideline. See a related Sun-Sentinel story on middle-school lobbyists. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16374  By Carol Gentry 3/1/2010 © Health News Florida Doctors who haven’t passed certification exams in pain management will be able to keep working in pain clinics as long as they have hospital privileges and a qualified supervising physician, under a rule adopted by a state board this weekend. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16341 By Christine Jordan Sexton 2/26/2010 © Health News Florida HMOs can pay "fair market value," less than the amount they're billed when their members get emergency treatment in hospitals outside their networks, an appellate court says. Hospitals worry they'll take a hit if the decision stands. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16343 2/26/2010 © Health News Florida Florida's Medicaid program will receive $1.69  million in matching funds to plan the state's electronic health record network, federal health officials announced today. The match is 90 percent.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16324 By Jim Saunders  2/25/2010 © Health News Florida With health insurers nationally facing increased scrutiny about rate hikes, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is seeking double-digit increases for policies it sells to individuals and small businesses. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16308 2/25/2010 © Health News Florida If you'd thought Florida's members of Congress couldn't come together on any health proposal, you're wrong: House members from Florida voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of a bill to remove the anti-trust exemption from health insurers. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16297 By Mary Jo Melone 2/24/2010 © Health News Florida Karen Thompson, a 59-year-old grandmother in rural LaBelle, never set out to be a poster girl for a cause. But with help from a public-relations consultant, she’s become a weapon for Florida’s optometrists in their fight against MD's.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16283 2/24/2010 © News Service of Florida The U.S. Senate’s $15 billion jobs bill passed today without the $1.2 billion Gov. Charlie Crist counted on to patch a hole in state Medicaid spending. He still hopes Congress will provide the money, he says, but has received no assurance. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16286 2/23/2010 Associated Press Earl Brian Bradley, a pediatrician in Delaware who also has a Florida medical license, is under arrest, charged with molestation of more than 100 children in Delaware. In other news, a Bradenton chiropractor was charged with using an MD's identification to buy testosterone. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16263 2/22/2010 © Health News Florida Pres. Obama's proposed health plan, released this morning, offers more support to the states for expanded Medicaid than previous proposals; in effect, it extends the deal Nebraska got so that all states get 100 percent funding for Medicaid expansion. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16228 By Carol Gentry and Jim Saunders 2/19/2010 © Health News Florida Congratulations, Florida! You're getting a refund of $282.5 million in overpayments to Medicare, thanks to a recalculation of drug premiums for low-income elderly. Couldn't come at a better time. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16233 By Jim Saunders 2/19/2010 © Health News Florida  As Florida lawmakers struggle to overhaul the Medicaid system, state Rep. Ed Homan describes the choice in stark terms: Expanding the controversial "reform" pilot or creating "medical homes," with primary-care doctors offering "Marcus Welby medicine." See also, "Living in a Medical Home." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16208 By Jim Saunders 2/18/2010 © Health News Florida As health groups grow increasingly alarmed about potential budget cuts, the Agency for Health Care Administration says that up to 19 counties are eligible for expansion of Florida's controversial Medicaid-reform pilot program. This morning, the agency got blasted by a key senator -- as usual.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16203 By Carol Gentry 2/18/2010 © Health News Florida After verifying that medical costs in Florida are now 11 percent higher than last year, state insurance officials have granted that rate increase to the major carrier in the state's Cover Florida program, Blue Cross and Blue Shield.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16211 2/18/2010 © Health News Florida It's becoming a familiar routine. Whenever the Senate Health Regulation Committee meets, the Agency for Health Care Administration can expect a tongue-lashing from Chairman Don Gaetz.     http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16185 By David Gulliver 2/17/2010 © Health News Florida Florida’s richest counties tend to be healthiest, according to a nationwide study released this morning. A Health News Florida analysis found a strong statistical correlation between prevention -- lower smoking and obesity rates, access to doctors -- and good outcomes. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16186 By Jim Saunders 2/17/2010 © Health News Florida State Rep. Kevin Ambler says he wants to make sure parents have adequate information about vaccinations that children need to enroll in school. But doctors say it could scare parents away, leaving kids unprotected. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16183 2/17/2010 © USA Today Florida Rep. Allen Boyd, a fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrat who opposed the House health care bill, received more money from Pfizer's PAC last year than any other lawmaker.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16154 By Cynthia Washam 2/16/2010 © Health News Florida Brevard County’s largest medical group is close to settling a complaint that it overbilled Medicare $8 million by giving cancer patients more expensive treatments than they needed. Is this a case of fraud, as the Justice Department maintains, or an example of Florida's overheated style of medical treatment? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16152 2/15/2010 © The Fine Print This is likely the year that lawmakers will require state workers to begin paying into their pension plan, and it's almost a given that the free health premiums for 27,000 of them will be only a fond memory. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16118 2/12/2010 © Health News Florida Advocates for women's health are hosting a seminar today and Saturday on the alarming rate of unnecessary Cesarean sections in Miami, where the surgery accounts for more than half of births. Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinel reports on another patient-education effort: on the dangers of MRIs for pacemaker patients. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16114 2/10/2010 © CNN This gripping 15-minute documentary by independent Miami journalist Amber Lyon offers vivid close-ups of Florida's pain clinics, which supply pushers from other states that have more effective regulation. She talks to some of the lost young addicts living on the streets. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16112 By John Kennedy 2/11/2010 © The News Service of Florida The chief of the new Senate Budget Office, which will shape state spending policy, will be Donna Arduin, former budget director for ex-Gov. Jeb Bush and adviser to Marco Rubio when he was House Speaker. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16092 By Christine Jordan Sexton 2/10/2010 © Health News Florida After opposing expansion of ‘Medicaid Reform’ for three years, Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday he’s “open” to seeing it grow beyond its current five Florida counties.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/16075 2/9/2010 Times/Herald bureau Dr. Ana Viamonte Ros, the surgeon general and secretary of the Department of Health, likes to go home to Miami for weekends -- which is natural -- but charges it to taxpayers, a total of $130,000 over three years. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16071 By Sammy Mack 2/9/2010 © Health News Florida A landmark lawsuit that seeks to rewrite Florida's Medicaid policy resumed today in Miami, with plaintiffs charging that state agencies' low pay for doctors and dentists and tendency to switch plans without notice often leave children with no access to care. A related story in Florida Today shows the struggle of dentists who take Medicaid.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16056 By Mary Jo Melone 2/9/2010 © Health News Florida Donald Alan Tobkin of Hollywood, who has degrees in both medicine and law, lost his state medical license in 2006. Today the Florida Bar asked the state Supreme Court to take away his law license, too. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16051 By Carol Gentry 2/8/2010 © Health News Florida  The state Department of Health's decision to withhold information on its consumer web site about pending actions against health professionals -- including arrests --- is entirely appropriate, say attorneys who defend doctors. The public's reaction was different. As one woman said, "I was horrified." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16024  By Carol Gentry 2/5/2010 © Health News Florida Dr. Carlos Contreras has been in a federal prison since he pleaded guilty to health fraud in September 2008. But a state consumer web site still lists him in West Palm Beach with a “clear and active” medical license -- and he's far from alone. It's Department of Health policy not to post public information about arrests and convictions until a board takes final action, no matter how long that takes. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/16010 By Christine Jordan Sexton 2/4/2010 © Health News Florida The Legislature should reduce Medicaid pay to hospitals and doctor groups by 10 percent if they refuse to sign managed-care contracts, the HMO industry says.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15993  2/3/2010 © Health News Florida When the Florida Legislature convenes next month, Jim Saunders will be there to cover it, as he has for the past dozen years. But this time, he’ll be covering it as Capital Bureau Chief for Health News Florida. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15976 By Christine Jordan Sexton 2/2/2010 © Health News Florida This could be the year the state of Florida eliminates its popular MediPass program, which gives more than half a million Medicaid recipients, mostly aged and disabled, an alternative to HMOs. Hints of its demise showed up in the governor's budget and letters from a powerful lawmaker.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/15966 2/2/2010 © Orlando Sentinel When Josefina de la Rosa was diagnosed with cancer in 2007, she could not afford treatment. In stepped nonprofit Casa de Mexico, which finds doctors to help. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15922 By Carol Gentry 1/29/2010 © Health News Florida Florida media scholars say it’s no surprise that the public doesn’t know what’s in the health-reform bills now stuck in Congress, even after months of heavy media coverage. In fact, they say, most media coverage has actually added to the public’s confusion. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/15938 1/29/2010 © Times-Herald Bureau Gov. Charlie Crist said as he sent lawmakers a $69.2 billion budget, which includes a $2.7 billion boost in Medicaid spending.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15913 By Christine Jordan Sexton 1/28/2010 © Health News Florida Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, a candidate for U.S. Senate who is critical of President Obama’s ideas on health reform, says the nation should instead follow the model of Florida Health Choices. But it has yet to insure anyone. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15901 By David Gulliver 1/27/2010 © Health News Florida Florida hospitals posted some of the strongest showings in a widely read study of hospital quality. The HealthGrades report differs in some respects from the state of Florida's posted measures. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15880 By Carol Gentry 1/26/2010 © Health News Florida Americans who say they don’t support the health reform bills pending in Congress tend to change their minds when informed of  the major provisions of the bills, according to a non-partisan report based on extensive polling. It indicates that voters are basing their opinions not on facts, but on what they hear. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15863 1/25/2010 © The News Service of Florida  A hearing officer must decide whether the Agency for Health Care Administration was correct in awarding a Medicaid contract to a Louisiana firm without competitive bidding, a Florida appeals court ruled. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/15864 1/26/2010 © Associated Press The case of Samantha Burton, who was forced to remain in the hospital for the welfare of her fetus, is drawing attention to the question of whether pregnancy deprives patients of their rights. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15814 By Christine Jordan Sexton  1/22/2010 © Health News Florida Florida could save more than $118 million if it removed HMOs as one of the health care options offered to state employees, according to a new report.  It could save even more than that by offering only high-deductible plans. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15831 By David Gulliver and Mary Jo Melone 1/22/2010 © Health News Florida Thursday's Supreme Court ruling, which allows companies to pour unlimited money into advertising campaigns, is "nirvana," according to a spokesman for big business in Florida. But consumer groups say corporate interests will drown out all other voices in the fight for health reform. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15794 By Sammy Mack 1/21/2010 © Health News Florida The switch to electronic medical records has been rocky for doctors in Broward who refused to pay what they called unwarranted charges and were turned over to collections. More disputes are arising as midcareer physicians bump up against the world of high-tech software sales. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15742 By Carol Gentry 1/15/2010 © Health News Florida Since 2004, a Miami psychiatrist has prescribed almost 14 million pills to Medicaid patients at a cost to taxpayers of $43 million, a feverish pace of 1,000 prescriptions a week. A state senator says the doctor should be the "poster boy for tougher enforcement actions." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/15718  1/14/2010 © New York Times First aid responders and doctors tried to triage the massive number of injured in Haiti as the death toll estimate rose to 45,000. They didn't even have aspirin, much less anesthesia. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15683 By Mary Jo Melone 1/14/2010 © Health News Florida  The fish 'n' chips at St. Pete's "Moon Under Water" Restaurant may taste terrific, but when you see the calorie count you may never pick up the fork. The restaurant's unusual in that it offers diners nutritional information. A state senator will again try to get all restaurants to follow suit. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15688 By Christine Jordan Sexton 1/13/2010 © Health News Florida The state’s largest insurance companies on Wednesday said they have signed a voluntary pact committing them to cover routine medical treatments for cancer patients who enroll in clinical trials.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15696 1/13/2010 © Health News Florida A $302,000 grant that will enable Health News Florida to expand its original reporting in Miami, Tallahassee and elsewhere in Florida was announced by the  John S. and James L. Knight Foundation on Wednesday.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15672 By Christine Jordan Sexton 1/12/2010 © Health News Florida TALLAHASSEE—Florida’s Republican-controlled state government is gearing up to fight federal health care reform even before the law passes. State Sen. Don Gaetz vows to "roll back provisions in this bill."  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15616 By Christine Jordan Sexton 1/8/2010 © Health News Florida  The largest health insurer in Gov. Charlie Crist's "Cover Florida" program says it is losing money, signaling that the voluntary approach to providing affordable health insurance is in trouble.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15626 1/8/2010 © Health News Florida In Florida, an estimated 90,000 low-income senior citizens can now get more generous prescription drug benefits through the "Extra Help" program in Medicare, according to the state Department of Elder Affairs. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15597 By Mary Jo Melone 1/6/2010 © Health News Florida Hundreds of would-be travelers who booked cruises through Florida travel agents but had to cancel because of illness complain the trip cancellation insurer didn’t pay.  Even though the losses run into millions of dollars, the Division of Financial Services says there is little it can do under state law. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15538 By Mary Jo Melone 12/23/2009 © Health News Florida Floridians Wanda Hubbard and Arthur Schlichting have a few things in common. They both had colonoscopies. Both suffer from kidney disease. And both have filed lawsuits against the makers of the drugs they took to cleanse their bowels before the tests. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15451 By Mary Jo Melone 12/17/2009 © Health News Florida Richard Glazer's travel insurance should have covered his hospital bills in Turkey, but it didn't, leaving him owing $38,000. Now Florida officials are cracking down on travel agencies that used an unlicensed insurer. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15465 12/17/2009 © Health News Florida About 2.4 million people will gain insurance coverage in Florida by 2019 if the Senate health-care bill passes, according to a report to be released next week by the consumer health organization Families USA. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15449 By Carol Gentry 12/16/2009 © Health News Florida Florida’s two senators don’t agree on much when it comes to health reform. But on Tuesday night, they both voted in favor of allowing consumers to buy U.S.-approved prescription drugs at lower prices from other countries. Their unity was not rewarded, though. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/15432 12/16/2009 Miami Herald In a first, the bullet-scarred pancreas from a service member who was shot in Afghanistan was flown to University of Miami, where insulin-producing cells were salvaged and flown back to be dropped into the man's liver.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15429 By Carol Gentry 12/15/2009 © Health News Florida When her sedation wore off during a routine colonoscopy, a patient cried out in pain and repeatedly begged the doctor to stop. But he didn't. Was he legally entitled to continue? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/15426 12/15/2009 Politico Pres. Obama has asked Senators to the White House today to rescue the "last chance" for health reform. LeMieux spoke against the bill on YouTube and Nelson spoke for it on the floor. Meanwhile, Politico explains how the parties have switched sides on Medicare. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15383 By Carol Gentry 12/11/2009 © Health News Florida The Florida Department of Health unit that prosecutes physicians is undergoing a makeover to get rid of a backlog of complaints following a “fiasco” in October, top lawyers for DOH told the Board of Medicine. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15382 By Gary Fineout 12/11/2009 © Health News Florida State auditors report that requiring college students to have health insurance could raise the cost of an education by $1,250 a year. But some universities signal they want to enact such a requirement if the legislature will let them. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15355 By Mary Jo Melone 12/10/2009 © Health News Florida  The nation’s leading cryogenics organization lost a legal ruling in Tampa today to prevent an autopsy on a 48-year-old man who wanted his body frozen until he could be brought back to life. After the hearing, the medical examiner said he will keep cuts to an absolute minimum. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15368 By Christine Jordan Sexton 12/10/2009 © Health News Florida Roberta Kelley Bradford, the incoming Medicaid director for Florida, will be paid $150,000 a year at a time when the program has a deficit of $462 million. AHCA's chief called Bradford "incredibly smart and talented." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15348 By Christine Jordan Sexton 12/9/2009 © Health News Florida Frustrated with what they view as subpar efforts to snuff out Medicaid fraud, legislators on Tuesday threatened to stall the confirmation of Tom Arnold as the new Secretary for the Agency for Health Care Administration. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15347 By Carol Gentry 12/9/2009 © Health News Florida The Senate defeated Sen. John McCain's motion Tuesday evening to send health reform back to committee, a move that would have killed it, but during the debate GOP senators used Democrat Bill Nelson as a verbal punching bag. Earlier, the state’s senators split their votes on party lines in defeating an abortion amendment.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15327 By Carol Gentry 12/8/2009 © Health News Florida A cushion for 800,000 Florida seniors against cuts to Medicare Advantage plans under the pending Senate health bill would be extended to all 10.6 million beneficiaries enrolled in the plans under an amendment by Republican Sen. John McCain. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15316 By Carol Gentry 12/8/2009 © Health News Florida An embarrassing goof like doing surgery on the wrong side -- or even the wrong patient -- can happen to absolutely anyone. The latest icon to fall into the error trap is Dr. Alexander Brickler of Tallahassee, a former national "Family Doctor of the Year.”  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/15315 12/7/2009 © Associated Press A new report says scams in Miami- Dade brought half a billion dollars in Medicare payments for home health-care into the county last year, more than the entire rest of the nation combined. Many "patients" got big-screen TVs or free maid service. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/15328 12/8/2009 © Sarasota Herald-Tribune Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida has notified policyholders in Manatee County that they may no longer be able to use the county's largest hospital system as of Jan. 1 because of a breakdown in contract negotiations. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15274 By Carol Gentry 12/4/2009 © Health News Florida The Florida Board of Medicine voted unanimously Friday to revoke the license of Emanuel Falcone, a senior psychiatrist at Florida State Prison until officials learned that he had lost his New York license for sexual abuse of a patient suffering from multiple-personality disorder. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15263 By Carol Gentry and Mary Jo Melone 12/4/2009 © Health News Florida The Florida Attorney General's Office, which has sued a Tampa company that it says made misleading claims for a $95,000 back-treatment machine, says it will seek restitution for chiropractors who lost money on the machines and wants them to file complaints. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15262 12/3/2009 © Health News Florida Armed with documents that show drugmakers will get back most of the $80 billion they had promised for health reform, Sen. Bill Nelson introduced an amendment to the Senate health package today that would require them to give up $106 billion in "extra profits" over 10 years. The money would plug the Medicare drug gap and reduce the deficit, he said.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15259 By Christine Jordan Sexton 12/3/2009 © Health News Florida Florida’s lagging physician workforce could get a shot in the arm under versions of the health care reform bill being debated in Washington. Both the House and Senate bills would provide more residency slots for Florida. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15230 By Gary Fineout 12/2/2009 © Health News Florida State Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander says he'll push to end free health insurance for state officials next session. Now House budget chief David Rivera says "everything is on the table" in the search for savings, including the perk for nearly 27,500 state workers and lawmakers. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15193 By Carol Gentry 12/1/2009 © Health News Florida A Tampa company that makes and sells back-pain machines to chiropractors used deceptive claims and should pay nearly $100 million, the Florida Attorney General's Office says. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15136 By Janan Talafer 11/25/2009 © Health News Florida  Davis Freeman's hands shook; he staggered and fell. His customers would conclude he was a drunk, he realized, unless he revealed the truth. So he sat down at the computer, opened his e-mail and began to write. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15135 By Carol Gentry 11/24/2009 © Health News Florida Citrus Health Care, which was under Medicare suspension all year, has been granted a reprieve for 2010 – in the nick of time. Enrollment season has begun.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/15133 11/22/2009 © St. Petersburg Times Elizabeth Garrett, 93, had fallen several times and her medications made her dizzy. But she had no one to drive her to the doctor or the store, and she had a valid driver's license, so off she went. (Part 2 of this series on older drivers continues today.) http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/15114 11/21/2009 © South Florida Sun-Sentinel Stockbroker Irvin Rosenfeld, who smokes 10 marijuana cigarettes daily to help him cope with pain from a congenital disorder, is one of only four Americans who gets his stash free from the federal government. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15073 By Mary Jo Melone 11/20/09 © Health News Florida When they hear “You have herpes,” some people look for a support group. Others sue. One of the latter is a 57-year-old Ruskin woman who is suing her ex-boyfriend, a millionaire since he won the Florida Lottery.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/15077 11/19/2009 © St. Petersburg Times Because of their exposure to swarms of children, Mall Santas say they should receive swine-flu vaccine. But local health departments say they're not on the priority list. Pinellas' spokeswoman Maggie Hall said: "Our supplies are so small; I'm sorry, Santa."    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/15052 11/18/2009 ©  CNN Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a breast cancer survivor, blasted changes to exam guidelines suggested by an advisory panel, saying they imply that women can't handle the hassle of false positives. In other screening news from Bradenton, a clinic employee demonstrating a scanner got a surprise. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14948 By Ruth Morris 11/17/2009 © Health News Florida Robert Clark of Belleair and other Christian Scientists in Florida are lobbying to include prayer treatments in health insurance coverage. This is creating a stir among policy analysts. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/15029 11/17/2009 © Health News Florida The League of Women Voters, AARP and 18 other non-profits will hold an experimental "Community Conversation on Health Care" this evening on both sides of Tampa Bay simultaneously, connected by live Web-streaming.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14995 By Christine Jordan Sexton 11/13/2009 © Health News Florida  Florida is preparing to make the health histories of more than 1 million Medicaid patients accessible to 80,000 doctors, clinics and hospitals in the state on a secured-access system, the project director said Thursday. The aims: improve patient care, avoid duplication. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/14994 Some e-mail systems cannot read the embedded link to the Health News Florida survey that was sent out Thursday. If that happened to you, we apologize. Click on the headline above to reach the survey. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14957 11/12/2009 © Health News Florida Alcohol and drug abuse place a $43-billion annual burden on Florida's economy, according to a study released in Tallahassee today. It says that instead of putting money into prevention, the state tends to do its spending after-the-fact on injuries, illnesses, traffic accidents and crime. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14936 By Mark Holan 11/11/2009 © Health News Florida If neurosurgeon David McKalip gave the impression that he was retiring from political activism after last summer’s e-mail dispute, the retreat didn’t last long. Tomorrow he will speak at the grand finale of the Tea Party Express bus tour.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14898 By Carol Gentry 11/10/2009 © Health News Florida Many in Congress and elsewhere favor letting insurers sell health policies across state lines to offer customers lower premiums. The argument against it? Consider what happened in Florida. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/14864 11/7/2009 © South Florida Sun-Sentinel Sen. Bill Nelson told a conference on tainted drywall Friday that he's seeking help from two federal agencies and is frustrated that he hasn't heard back from Florida legislators on his request to use unspent federal block grant money to help homeowners. "If Louisiana can do it, why can't we?" he asked. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14836 By Carol Gentry and Ruth Morris 11/5/2009 © Health News Florida When Medicare shopping season begins Nov. 15, Florida beneficiaries who are interested in an HMO or other Medicare Advantage plan will have to drink from a fire hose to select one. Companies are offering 352 options here, more than in any other state.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/14827 11/5/2009 © Broward Bulldog Cardiologist Zachariah P. Zachariah and two other Broward physicians are close to a deal to settle SEC charges of insider trading, according to court records. Zachariah had been set for trial next week; he is a former chairman of the Florida Board of Medicine.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14809 By Gary Fineout and Christine Jordan Sexton 11/4/2009 © Health News Florida Republicans in the state House say health reform will make Medicaid costs “unsustainable” and are asking Florida's senators to vote 'No." Reform supporters question how officials came up with their numbers. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14786 By Carol Gentry 11/3/2009 © Health News Florida Federal sanctions imposed on WellCare Health Plans in March were lifted Tuesday, in time for Medicare sales season. The notice reveals that some of the company's managers were caught trying to alter documents before a federal audit. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14813 By Christine Jordan Sexton 11/4/2009 © Health News Florida Following a meeting with Sen. Don Gaetz, the state’s largest health insurer is examining its policies for providing health insurance to cancer patients who undergo clinical trials. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14779 By Carol Gentry and Mary Jo Melone 11/3/2009 © Health News Florida  Sean Shaw, Florida's Insurance Consumer Advocate, is shopping around for a lawmaker brave enough to take on the medical lobby. He wants to outlaw balance-billing, a common practice that sticks patients with big bills their plan won't cover. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/14773 11/3/2009 © Pensacola News-Journal Experts at an FSU symposium say tanker collisions and coastal storage facilities that are susceptible to hurricane storm surges are more threatening than drilling rigs and pipelines. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14715 By Carol Gentry and Christine Jordan Sexton 10/30/2009 © Health News Florida Florida lawmakers have been wary of federal health reform in part because it uses Medicaid to cover many of the uninsured. They say the program is already busting the budget. But an expert on Medicaid policy says the expansion would be "good for Florida." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/14679 10/29/2009 © Miami Herald From the house staff at Jackson Memorial to the president-elect of the AMA, Florida doctors and nurses in quite different venues expressed support Wednesday for health-reform legislation that includes a public option, although there's disagreement on some details. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14675 By Christine Jordan Sexton 10/28/2009 © Health News Florida Sen. Don Gaetz is telling insurance companies and HMOs in Florida that they're going to be required to cover policyholders who have cancer when they enter clinical trials. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14673 By David Gulliver 10/28/2009 © Health News Florida If Congress lets the subsidy for COBRA run out, my family will join hundreds of thousands of Floridians who depend on it; we'll be added to the 3.7 million Floridians who lack coverage. It's scary. (Get a national overview of the dilemma from Kaiser Health News). http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14656 By Gary Fineout 10/27/2009 © Health News Florida  As the public option gained momentum in Washington, Florida officials uniformly condemned it today. Gov. Charlie Crist said that his Cover Florida plan is "a better way to go" because it doesn't need tax support. Few have signed up. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14605 By Carol Gentry 10/23/2009 © Health News Florida Florida Sen. Bill Nelson isn't really "comfortable" with the idea of letting states opt out of including a public plan in national health reform, his spokesman said today. As a former Insurance Commissioner, "he saw first-hand the power the industry's lobby wielded in the Florida Legislature." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14579 By Mary Jo Melone and Carol Gentry 10/22/2009 © Health News Florida Consumers and their advocates are sharply criticizing a push by Florida members of Congress to kill a competitive-bidding process on medical equipment – a pilot program aimed at saving Medicare billions of dollars. Bob Poller, who owns an ad agency in Miami, said the lawmakers should be "ashamed." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14554 By Carol Gentry and Mary Jo Melone 10/21/2009 © Health News Florida Today's launch of competitive bidding for home-health equipment in nine metro areas, including Central and South Florida, could save taxpayers and beneficiaries billions of dollars, Medicare officials say.  But some members of Congress from Florida are out to kill it. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14541 By Gary Fineout  10/21/2009 © Health News Florida A state employee has dropped a lawsuit that accused state health-regulation chief Holly Benson of improper political interference in her prior job. That clears an obstacle that had sat between Benson and her expected run for Attorney General.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14552 10/21/2009 UF news release University of Florida College of Medicine researchers studying a common anesthesia-safety procedure called "Sellick's maneuver" have discovered that it does, indeed, work -- but for reasons entirely different from standard thinking about anatomy. Their findings will be on the cover of a journal. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14479 By Mary Jo Melone 10/16/2009 © Health News Florida The obituary of Samuel Hamad, former pharmaceutical-company magnate and prominent Sarasota philanthropist, said his death last December was from "complications" following a liver transplant. But his family's lawsuit says he actually died because someone involved in the transplant goofed. If true, that means no one -- no matter how rich, well-connected or prominent -- is safe from medical errors. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14462 By Christine Jordan Sexton 10/15/2009 © Health News Florida Holly Benson, one of the chief architects of Florida’s controversial "Medicaid Reform" project, has resigned effective Oct. 28. Her letter says only that she wants to pursue other "opportunities," but she's expected to make a run for Attorney General. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14461 By Carol Gentry 10/15/2009 © Health News Florida Update: Palm Beach Sheriff's Office has confirmed the arrest of six protesters at the Humana office in West Palm Beach today on charges of trespassing. Floridians for Health Care, a group that supports a single-payer plan, staged the sit-in. Meanwhile in Congress, as KHN reports, the subject of a public plan has re-emerged. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14467 10/15/2009 © Health News Florida Workers' compensation insurance will go down 6.8 percent in Florida next year, making it one of the 10 states with the lowest rates in the country, Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty announced today. He linked the drop to caps enacted on attorneys' fees in workers' compensation cases. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14438 By Christine Jordan Sexton 10/14/2009 © Health News Florida The Florida Board of Pharmacy on Tuesday voted to make the generic versions of the common thyroid drug Synthroid more readily available -- a decision that could eventually save consumers and the Medicaid program millions of dollars. Almost all other states have already taken this step. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14413 By Carol Gentry 10/13/2009 © Health News Florida Are Florida consumers paying millions of dollars a year more than they need to for a common thyroid drug because of an out-of-date regulation? FDA and 48 states think so. Today, Florida's Board of Pharmacy voted to overturn the rule giving Synthroid preference, but its maker is expected to challenge that. Updated Tuesday 7:30 p.m. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/14399 10/13/2009 © Sarasota Health News An old law still on the books would require Sarasota County taxpayers to pay all hospitals for care of the uninsured, not just Sarasota Memorial, and the for-profits are demanding some money. The fight moves to the Legislature.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14332 10/8/2009 © Health News Florida  Update: Nasal mist vaccine against H1N1 "swine flu" vaccine began arriving in Florida today starting with St. John's and Jefferson counties, state health officials say. No information on when and where to get vaccinated is available yet on CDC and state Web sites. In other flu news, the Herald reports on what businesses are doing to prepare.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14330 10/7/2009 News Service of Florida  Medical malpractice insurance rates in Florida were down 10 percent last year, marking the fifth year in a row for reductions. Nurses saw even greater average decreases, but dentists and chiropractors didn't. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14307 By Carol Gentry 10/7/2009 © Health News Florida Florida’s Board of Medicine has voted to complain to the Florida Bar about a lawyer who urged a malpractice insurer to settle rather than try to defend an Arab doctor in South Florida. Board members called it discriminatory and "despicable."   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14287 10/6/2009 © Health News Florida Florida has received more than $65 million in federal grants to help families and individuals who are homeless or nearing eviction, the Department of Children and Families announced today. Miami-Dade and cities within it are getting more than $14 million.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/14276 10/6/2009 ©  Fort Myers News-Press Every area of Florida except Daytona Beach and Tallahassee showed above-average billing for doctors' services in Medicare last year, according to a GAO report. The state was already a national outlier by 2000, yet recorded a big jump in billings per patient by 2008. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14202 By Carol Gentry 10/2/2009 © Health News Florida Federal charts released Thursday show that while the number of Medicare plans in Florida is smaller in 2010 than this year, there are still plenty: four dozen drug plans and a host of full health plans -- from 29 in Gadsden to 66 in Broward -- including some with zero premiums. (See full story for links.) Also see Kaiser Health News'  national view. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14200 By Carol Gentry 10/2/2009 © Health News Florida A Bradenton woman who agreed to wear a wire into the office of the doctor she said sexually accosted her -- Bradenton internist Gangadhara Rao Chapalamadugu -- told the Board of Medicine today that Rao should go to jail, and board members agreed after seeing complaints from six other patients. But their jurisdiction involves only medical practice; they accepted voluntary relinquishment  to keep him from ever practicing medicine in Florida again. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14195 By Gary Fineout 10/1/2009 © Health News Florida When it comes to providing health care to Florida’s nearly 4 million uninsured, Gov. Charlie Crist urges “no government mandates” and “no tax dollars involved.”  But Crist himself gets free health insurance, which covers all the usual health services, courtesy of the taxpayers, and so do other state officials. Crist says he sees no reason to change that. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14140 By Christine Jordan Sexton 9/29/2009 © Health News Florida Gov. Charlie Crist told two national cable news programs this morning that his Cover Florida program could serve as a model for national reform and distanced himself from his previous support for the Florida KidCare program. Crist is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate against a conservative. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/14121 9/29/2009 © Associated Press Most workers who have no health insurance point to the cost, but distrust of insurers plays a role too. Even some RN's are going bare, including Mary Pitman of Vero Beach and Laura Silverthorn of Tampa.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14083 By Carol Gentry 9/25/2009 © Health News Florida Two doctors who are being sued over the high-profile death of Boca Raton teen-ager Stephanie Kuleba will not have to worry about the Board of Medicine. Confidential state documents show the state dropped its investigation months ago, and that the girl's parents were turned away when they tried to offer evidence. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/14047 By Mary Jo Melone 9/24/2009 Health News Florida Florida patients have a right to ask for hospital records about past mistakes. But do they have the right to every report, every x-ray, every single piece of paper for the last 75 years?  Tampa’s largest hospital says no and has gone to court to fight it. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/14004 9/22/2009 © Kaiser Health News Humana, Florida's largest Medicare Advantage company, is under investigation by the government for sending letters to senior citizens telling them pending legislation could hurt them and urging them to lobby against it -- a possible violation of federal law. All plans have been sent warning letters. Here is Humana's letter.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13967 By Christine Jordan Sexton 9/18/2009 © Health News Florida Florida Health Choices, a struggling state-sponsored health insurance program, is being managed by Tallahassee lobbyist and political operative Lauren McCarthy, who receives $5,000 a month for part-time work. Meanwhile, state records still list her as representing private clients with ties to the health-care industry.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13968 By Carol Gentry 9/18/2009 © Health News Florida Even though WellCare Health Plans is still under federal sanctions barring it from marketing or selling its drug and HMO plans to Medicare beneficiaries, the Tampa-based insurer is advertising for sales people, indicating it thinks the suspension will soon be history. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13945 By Ruth Morris 9/17/2009 © Health News Florida In Washington, D.C. today, 400 of the country’s most prominent healthcare experts unveiled a letter to Congress demanding action on the uninsured and rising costs. And it was all the brainchild of a professor who lives on quiet Anna Maria Island.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13903 By Christine Jordan Sexton 9/15/2009 © Health News Florida Florida Health Choices, touted by Republican lawmakers last year as a solution to the state’s high rate of uninsured, has been even less successful than Gov. Charlie Crist's "Cover Florida." Sixteen months after both plans were created, Health Choices still has no insurers or businesses signed up. (Part 1) http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13910 9/15/2009 From a press release Safichia Chew, a senior at FSU's College of Nursing, has won one of just 13 scholarships in the nation for undergraduates from the National Institutes of Health. She plans to study health disparities in the minority community. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13866 By Carol Gentry 9/11/2009 © Health News Florida While 64 physicians have lost or given up their state medical licenses in the past four years, none of those actions flowed from the passage of the “3 strikes and you’re out” amendment to the Florida Constitution, state records show. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13838 McMillen By Carol Gentry 9/10/2009 © Health News Florida Using a malpractice case involving a child with an amputated foot, Orlando attorney Scott McMillen has filed a court challenge to legislative limits on “3 strikes and you’re out” -- a 2004 amendment aimed at dangerous doctors. The limits prevent court cases from counting as strikes.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13849  9/10/2009 © Health News Florida A state senator says he will again push for a law requiring children ages 4 through 7 to sit in a booster seat while riding in a car. The National Transportation Safety Board has called on Florida to enact stricter standards. Here is information from the American Academy of Pediatrics on the reasons for using booster seats. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13828 9/9/2009 © Health News Florida Florida has passed an unhappy milestone in the H1N1 “swine flu” fight, becoming one of just six states where flu activity is “widespread” according to a CDC map. Today's state health report shows 77 Floridians have died. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13778 9/6/2009 © Sarasota Herald-Tribune When Congress reconvenes Tuesday to begin overhauling the health-care system, few states will have more at stake than Florida. But because the state has no one in a leadership position in the issue, few will have less of a voice.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13734 By Christine Jordan Sexton 9/3/2009 © Health News Florida A program designed to reduce lawsuits against obstetricians by providing lifelong care to brain-damaged children injured at birth is at the center of a class action lawsuit.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13684 9/1/2009 Health News Florida St. Petersburg psychologist Ronald Droz, accused of conducting a long-term sexual relationship with one of his patients, has been placed on probation by the Florida Board of Psychology. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13631 By Christine Jordan Sexton 8/28/2009 Health News Florida He is perhaps the biggest champion of the "medical home" concept - letting physicians coordinate care for patients -- but Rep. Ed Homan will nevertheless sit on the sidelines this fall when a task force meets to discuss how to implement it in Florida Medicaid. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13630 By Carol Gentry 8/28/2009 © Health News Florida A report about the state dropping complaints against 49 doctors because it missed the filing deadline drew surprise from some in Tallahassee, but not from a group in Washington that tracks states’ medical discipline. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13595 By Carol Gentry 8/27/2009 © Health News Florida More than four dozen complaints against Florida doctors—including some that involved patients' deaths — have been dropped without action in recent weeks because the state Department of Health missed the deadline for filing an official complaint. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13588 By Christine Jordan Sexton  8/26/2009 © Health News Florida A registered nurse who cares for indigent and uninsured patients was suddenly thrust into a top position on health-care spending in the Florida House. But don't expect Rep. Denise Grimsley to be soft on Medicaid. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13580 8/26/09 © Tallahassee Democrat Gadsden County, which has one of the  highest infant mortality rates in the state, has received $3.75 million in federal funds for its Healthy Start program. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13562 By Carol Gentry and Mary Jo Melone 8/25/2009 © Health New Florida Florida’s Board of Medicine has dismissed charges of substandard care against a Central Florida physician in the same case that brought a medical malpractice settlement of $1 million.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13512 8/23/2009 © St. Petersburg Times The paramedics saw a car zoom past at 90 mph; it turned out to be their next call. When they arrived at the scene, a deputy pointed at Andrew Hall, lying on the ground in a fetal position. "There's your patient," he said. "And there's his leg over there."  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13506 8/23/2009 © Miami Herald Schools' first lessons may be on how to avoid spread of novel H1N1 "swine" flu. The Times-Union reports some hospitals are limiting visitors. Palm Beach Post says so far, so good on children's vaccine trials. A 22-year-old pregnant Tampa woman dies, Times reports, but baby survives. Also, a Q&A. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13502 By Christine Jordan Sexton 8/21/2009 © Health News Florida UPDATED --At long last, the University of Florida analysis of Medicaid Reform is in, and it concludes that the controversial program does, indeed, save money. Critics called it "meaningless" because HMOs have not yet turned in data on patients' actual encounters with the health-care system. But the health plan association president called it "excellent." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13470 By Gary Fineout 8/20/2009 © Health News Florida WellCare Health Plans gave illegal campaign contributions to dozens of Florida’s legislators and top officials -- including the current attorney general, top health regulator, Senate President and House Speaker -- between 2005 and 2007, according to a Florida Elections Commission report. There is no indication the recipients knew the donations were illegal. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13465 By Carol Gentry 8/19/2009 © Health News Florida An erroneous report warning that health reform would bankrupt Florida Medicaid was the result of a misunderstanding between a reporter and AHCA, the agency says. The e-mail trail shows AHCA played a large role in the mix-up. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13445 8/17/2009 Tampa Tribune In an HBO special, which airs tonight, former USF football player Nick Schuyler talks about being the lone survivor of a boat accident in February. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13441  8/18/2009 St. Petersburg Times Surgeon David J. Ciesla, chief of Tampa General's trauma center, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor that stemmed from an April incident in which he hid a bullet in his glove after removing it from a suspect. He's not saying why, but documents released Monday help fill the void. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13430 By Carol Gentry 8/17/2009 © Health News Florida A sky-is-falling prediction on Friday that pending federal health-reform legislation would bankrupt Florida Medicaid was wrong, according to a simple reading of the bills.  The Agency for Health Care Administration was the source for the information, which appeared in two major newspapers. How did that happen? (Ed. note: this story was updated at 3:25 p.m.) http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13398 By Carol Gentry 8/14/2009 © Health News Florida Hospital patients may want to start wearing big name tags. Apparently those little ID bracelets aren't enough, judging by two cases that came before the Board of Medicine today.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13374 By Christine Jordan Sexton 8/13/2009 © Health News Florida Even though Florida Medicaid already faces a deficit, HMOs are getting a 3 percent premium increase to treat the poor, elderly and disabled. State officials point to the actuaries. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13377 8/13/2009 (c) Tampa Tribune Tampa's town hall meeting on health reform last week, featured on national TV news because it led to shouting and scuffles, has propelled several participants into fame -- or infamy.  Other town hall coverage:  Tallahassee; Fort Walton Beach; South Florida; and Lakeland. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13352  8/12/2009 (c) Sarasota Health News Florida Medical Association is drafting a letter to the AMA protesting its support of the current House version of health reform, including the creation of a public plan to compete with the private sector. Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinel reports that faith leaders from all over Central Florida met to express support for health care for all. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13347  8/11/2009 U.S. Census Bureau Two rural counties in Florida stand at the extremes on the health insurance scale, according to a new report based on 2006 Census estimates. The rate of uninsured in Baker County, on the Georgia line near Jacksonville, was just 15 percent; in DeSoto County, just east of Sarasota, it was over 38 percent. See where your county comes in. (Ed. note: Scroll down a bit to find the chart.) http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13344 8/11/2009 © St. Petersburg Times The pygmy rattler didn't survive its encounter with Ester Orrino, 87, who walloped it with her cane. But before its demise it bit her; she's recovering at a hospital.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13323 8/9/2009 © South Florida Sun-Sentinel Florida led the nation for the fourth consecutive year in violence against the homeless in a report released Saturday, with 30 attacks last year, including three deaths. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13325 8/9/2009 © Florida Today Half a dozen women apparently have been duped into working as caregivers for a middle-aged man who pretends to be brain-damaged. Their duties included changing his diaper. Investigators say he's not breaking any law. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13332 8/10/2009 © Sarasota Herald-Tribune As a non-profit, Venice Regional Medical Center lost millions. But after Health Management Associates' $30 million investment, patients have come back, making this a record year. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13299 By Christine Jordan Sexton 8/7/2009 © Health News Florida Gov. Charlie Crist suggests his Cover Florida plan as a model for national health reform. Many disagree, including the company that's sells the most policies.  Only 1 in 1,000 eligibles have signed up; in fact, the number of uninsured in the state has reportedly grown since it was introduced in January. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13290 8/7/2009 © St Petersburg Times Bitter divisions over health reform exploded in Tampa Thursday night as a crowd of 1,500 shouted and shoved outside what had been billed as a town hall meeting. Rep. Kathy Castor tried to address the crowd but was drowned out. See video. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13270 By Carol Gentry and David Gulliver  8/6/2009 © Health News Florida Eli Lilly & Co. says it paid 10 Florida doctors more than $30,000 in the first quarter of this year for making presentations to other physicians about drugs the company makes. One internist gave 41 talks for $65,000. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13268 8/5/2009 U.S. Dept. of Justice All 19 of those arrested by federal agents in connection with a massive oxycodone-trafficking ring in Pasco County earlier this year have pleaded guilty, federal officials announced. They operated out of an auto body shop in Hudson and sent "doctor shoppers" throughout Tampa Bay. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13253 By Carol Gentry  8/4/2009 © Health News Florida About 1 million Medicaid patients were wrongly dropped from the August eligibility rolls over the weekend because of a computer glitch, the Agency for Health Care Administration has confirmed. AHCA says the 400,000 who are enrolled in managed care were never at risk, though, since plans had already sent their names to doctors' offices. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13236 8/4/2009 © Kaiser Health News The most recent TV commercial from Conservatives for Patients' Rights on health-insurance legislation is full of misleading statements and outright whoppers, according to the non-partisan academic group FactCheck.org. The anti-Obama group and its ads are funded by multimillionaire Rick Scott of Naples.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13246 8/4/2009 ©  Sarasota Herald-Tribune It is illegal to sell unpasteurized milk for human consumption because it can harbor pathogens such as Listeria and E. coli. But it's not illegal to drink it, and a growing number of people are doing it.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13252 8/4/2009 © Florida Trend Allen DiMaria, an insurance analyst for the Division of Workers' Compensation, invented a computer tracking system to find employers violating the law. He and other state workers in health and insurance fields are receiving awards for inventions that saved taxpayers millions of dollars. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13192 By Gary Fineout  7/31/2009 Health News Florida The Florida fund that pays the health care bills for tens of thousands of state employees will become insolvent in two years unless something drastic is done, state economists say. A top state senator says it's time to end the free health-insurance perk that legislators and 26,000 state workers enjoy. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13189 By Carol Gentry 7/31/2009 © Health News Florida State Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty confirmed Thursday that regulators are looking into whether some Florida health plans have been using a flawed database to figure out how much to pay out-of-network doctors. If so, patients may have been paying more than their share of the bill for years. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13144  By Carol Gentry 7/29/2009 Health News Florida CDC will announce today its plans for providing swine-flu vaccine free to all who want it, setting up a logistical challenge for state health officials: They'll have to manage vaccination campaigns for both the seasonal and swine flu at the same time. Also, researchers report  that pregnant women should get priority for swine-flu vaccine. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13155 7/28/2009 © Reuters WellCare Health Plans Inc. reported quarterly earnings on Tuesday that surged above forecasts, helped by tighter controls on expenses and unexpectedly high Medicare reimbursements, sending shares up 23 percent late in the day. Also, AP reported that Health Management Associates, a hospital company based in Naples, saw its second-quarter profits rise 91 percent.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13136 By Carol Gentry 7/28/2009 © Health News Florida Seven doctors recently appointed to a state panel aimed at controlling pill mills have only a few weeks to decide how pain medicine can legally be practiced in Florida. Meanwhile, the Miami Herald reports, a city in Broward may use zoning rules to bar pain clinics. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13093 7/25/2009 St. Petersburg Times St. Petersburg neurosurgeon David McKalip resigned as president-elect of the Pinellas County Medical Association on Friday after apologizing for forwarding an e-mail that included a picture of President Obama dressed like a witchdoctor. McKalip, an opponent of both insurers' and government interference in medical practice, said he's going to take a break from medical politics. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13051 By Carol Gentry 7/23/2009 © Health News Florida State officials don’t appear to have learned much from the WellCare Medicaid fraud scandal -- which climaxed in May with federal criminal fraud charges -- because they haven't tightened contracts or laws enough to prevent a recurrence, according to an advocacy group.  The Medicaid agency says that's not so. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13040 By David Gulliver and Carol Gentry 7/22/2009 © Health News Florida Judging by Florida’s online healthcare guide, Jackson Health System in Miami is among an elite group of 14 best hospitals for treating heart attacks. But a federal site shows Jackson as among the country’s worst. Which are we supposed to believe? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/13034 By Phil Galewitz 7/22/2009 © Kaiser Health News Health-care leaders from 10 communities that have succeeded in reforming from big spenders to low-cost, high-quality centers were honored in Washington on Tuesday at an event sponsored by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Tallahassee was one of the 10. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/13017 By Carol Gentry 7/21/2009 © Health News Florida Small business owners know the cost of insuring themselves and their workers; some have two or three jobs to pay the premiums. But they also know that skipping preventive care could cost them their lives. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12993 7/18/2009 © Palm Beach Post The premature baby of a woman with swine flu died Saturday morning at Wellington Regional Medical Center after doctors tried to deliver her. Aubrey Opdyke, the mother, remains in critical condition on a ventilator.  CDC's latest case count for FL: 1,288 cases, 12 deaths. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12970  By Carol Gentry 7/17/2009 © Health News Florida Even though health care is the nation’s hottest political issue, no elected officials are among the five Florida finalists for a magazine contest called the “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare.” In fact, you may not have heard of some of them. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12952 7/17/2009 © St. Petersburg Times David J. Ciesla, medical director of Tampa General's trauma center, has been charged with a misdemeanor -- lying to law-enforcement officers. They say he took a bullet out of a suspect but denied he had it so that he could keep it. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12944 By David Gulliver 7/16/2009 © Health News Florida Hospitals affiliated with state medical schools were Florida’s big winners in U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of "America's Best Hospitals."  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12925 By Carol Gentry 7/15/2009 Health News Florida Jerry Kidd hasn't left the house much the past three years because half his face is missing. Why? A medical mistake -- a delay in the biopsy report -- and a "limited insurance" policy that didn't cover surgery. He had to wait all this time for Medicare. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12928 7/15/2009 From a press release Families USA, an advocacy organization that favors expansion of health coverage to the uninsured, released a study today that forecasts rising numbers of uninsured as health costs go up. It predicts 556,000 Floridians will lose coverage between January 2008 and December 2010. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12903 7/14/2009 © Health News Florida In what analysts are calling a "major shakeup," the Defense Department is switching two of its regional Tricare  contractors -- including the one that manages health benefits for hundreds of thousands of Floridians on active duty, their dependents, and military retirees. Humana will take an estimated $3.8 billion hit. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12856 By Carol Gentry 7/10/2009 © Health News Florida Wondering where the federal stimulus went? Almost $69 million has been pumped into 44 community health centers in Florida this year, according to federal documents. The money should raise the number of patients served from 852,000 to about 1 million.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12857 7/10/2009 © Miami Herald Health officials held a national swine-flu summit on Thursday to prepare for a massive immunization program this fall, starting with schoolchildren. Breaking news: 2 more Floridians die of swine flu, both from Miami-Dade, bringing official toll to 9.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12832 7/9/2009 © Health News Florida Two more deaths in Florida from H1N1 swine flu have been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control for Florida, the Department of Health announced today.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12829 7/9/2009 USA Today/Health News FL Manatee Memorial had the highest death rate in the state for heart failure patients in a comparison of Medicare data 2005-08. It also ranked among the worst 10 in death rates for heart attack and pneumonia. Four other hospitals made the 10-worst lists in two diagnoses. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12831 7/9/2009 © Health News Florida Brenda Grey Miller, 57, who worked as a registered nurse at a radiation oncology center in Sun City Center, near Tampa, for 18 months was actually an imposter, according to the Department of Health.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12802 http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12794 By Mary Jo Melone and Carol Gentry 7/7/2009 © Health News Florida A Winter Haven couple, arrested last month on charges of practicing medicine without a license, are no longer using their Asyra System to “diagnose” a wide variety of ailments and prescribe supplements. But the system is still being used across the country – including in Florida. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12788 7/7/2009 South Florida Sun-Sentinel A criminal investigation is under way in the tampering of an energy drink from Colorado distributed through a company in the Orlando area. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12791 7/7/2009 Palm Beach PostAn aide to a former state senator has tried for five years to get Florida legislators to extend the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse, but says he could not overcome opposition from the Florida Catholic Conference. Now he has launched a ballot initiative to amend the state constitution. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12785 7/7/2009 St. Petersburg Times Some doctors and case managers routinely failed to complete the paperwork that's legally required for prescribing powerful psychiatric drugs for children, according to a new state study http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12744 By Carol Gentry 7/2/2009 © Health News Florida Could a Floridian become the face and voice of health reform? Summer DeMichael of Navarre Beach, a 25-year-old Crohn's disease patient, stars in a new pro-reform TV commercial that features real sick people -- but photogenic ones. "I think Americans deserve better," she says. "This is one promise the politicians need to keep." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12758 http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12722 7/1/2009 © Health News Florida Spurred by high unemployment, Florida Medicaid enrollment grew by more than 13 percent in the past year to almost 2.5 million, according to new state data. Still, only two of three Floridians who qualify for Medicaid are enrolled. (Editor's note: An earlier version of this story listed the incorrect enrollment). http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12720 7/1/2009 © St. Petersburg Times An advisory panel to the FDA has recommended curbs on acetaminophen, the basic ingredient in the well-known headache pill Tylenol. Too much of it can cause liver damage, they say, and it can be deadly in combination with narcotics. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12702 6/30/2009 © Health News Florida Deaths in Florida from oxycodone, the prescription painkiller suspected in the death of performer Michael Jackson, rose by 33.5 percent last year over the year before, according to a report from state medical examiners. The worst danger zone for oxycodone deaths was St. Petersburg. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12701 6/30/2009 © Health News Florida Overall quality of health care in Florida was given a rating of "weak,” just below the average zone, in a new federal report. Diabetes and respiratory care scored worst. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12689 6/28/2009 © St. Petersburg Times An autopsy of Billy Mays of Tampa, ubiquitous TV pitchman for everything from cleaning products to health insurance, has concluded that he died of heart disease. Mays, 50, pitched insurance products at the www.icanbenefit.com Web site and on TV (see the commercial on YouTube). He was found dead in his bed Sunday morning. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12661 By Carol Gentry 6/26/2009 © Health News Florida Patients enrolled in popular health plans sponsored by large insurers have been paying more than they really owed for out-of-network treatment for years, according to a Senate committee report. If  it's correct, consumer advocates say, the state should go after it. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12651 By Carol Gentry 6/25/2009 © Health News Florida Florida, where health care is serious business, has attracted a battle of TV ads by proponents and opponents of a public plan in health reform. An independent fact-checking group says both group's ads are misleading. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12621 ..in jail ...before By Maya Bell 6/24/2009 © Health News Florida Now that he has a green light from the state, dermatologist Hal Ridgway hopes to be back in practice in a month or two, with his bipolar disorder, drinking problem and history of relapses under control. As an old friend put it: “Doctors get sick, too, and as long as he treats his disease, it will be OK.’’  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12599 By David Gulliver 6/23/2009 © Health News Florida A decade ago, Sarasota Memorial created a program that cut readmission rates for congestive heart failure patients to a tiny fraction of what they had been, and saved money in the process. Other hospitals could do it, too. But data show most of them haven't. (Last in a series.) http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12602 6/23/2009 © St. Petersburg Times Vladimir Martin, who called himself "doctor," has been jailed on charges of practicing without a license. The St. Petersburg Times reported last year that Martin ran 17 clinical trials of new drugs for pharmaceutical companies before a patient blew the whistle. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12601 6/23/2009 Health News Florida A prison mental-health company says the reason it lost its contract with Florida's Department of Corrections in April was that a high-ranking DOC official wanted to help a friend get a job with the company that won, News Service of Florida reports.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12607 6/23/2009 © WFLA.com Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida told Moffitt Cancer Center it would pay for multiple myeloma patient Patricia Zimmerman's stem-cell transplant. But at the last minute, the insurer changed its mind. Zimmerman went on TV to protest, and the decision was reversed again. Pure coincidence, a spokesman said. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12590 6/21/2009 © St. Petersburg Times Medicare spends a staggering $16,351 a year per Miami patient, more than double what it costs in Sarasota. Yet Sarasota costs more than Atlanta. Florida's unabashed spending appears to have no benefit, and some significant downsides. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12547 By Maya Bell and Carol Gentry 6/19/2009 © Health News Florida  Hal Ridgway, 58, a Palm Beach County dermatologist who racked up six drunken-driving arrests and served two prison terms has persuaded state health authorities that he can stay sober and safely treat patients again. His attorney calls him the "poster boy for rehabilitation." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12545 6/18/2009 From a press release Gov. Charlie Crist has signed SB 462, which creates the Prescription Monitoring Database Program, into law, according to Sen. Mike Fasano's office. The bill is aimed at repairing Florida's reputation as a pain-pill mill where addicts and pushers go to "doctor-shop." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12541 Brown-Waite 6/18/2009 Kaiser Health News A Senate committee began the long slog on health reform Wednesday, but no Floridians are on that panel.  Where are they? On TV. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite touted the GOP plan, which was announced without details,  on Youtube. Meanwhile, CNN interviewed Democrat Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, who has had seven surgeries for cancer, about her insurance coverage. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12528 By Carol Gentry 6/17/2009 © Health News Florida Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida has ordered mental-health providers to begin getting permission before treating the company's members if they want to get paid. The new rule affects millions of preferred-provider plan customers -- including state employees. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12509 By David Gulliver 6/16/2009 © Health News Florida  (Part 3 in a continuing series) Congestive heart failure defies  those fighting unnecessary hospital readmissions. Last year, at least 500 more Floridians with this condition returned through the “revolving door” within two weeks of discharge than the year before, at an estimated cost of $4 million. How did your hospital score? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12503 6/16/2009 © Tallahassee Democrat In his speech to the AMA on Monday, the President cited Tallahassee Memorial Hospital for its quality-improvement progress, calling it one of the "islands of excellence" in the health care system. See AM News for more coverage of the address. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12471 6/12/2009 © South Florida Sun-Sentinel Health officials are investigating the death of dentist Edward Nacht from a massive bacterial infection that struck after he and three friends ate lunch in the club restaurant after a round of golf, and all got sick. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12454 By Bill Hirschman 6/12/2009 © Health News Florida A hospital system in Broward got tired of seeing the same expensive patients cycling through its emergency room instead of getting preventive care in a lower-cost clinic. So the staff set out to find those patients -- even if meant going door to door. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12413 By Carol Gentry 6/10/2009 © Health News Florida Broward surgeon Bernard Zaragoza is clearly an expert on gallbladders: Harvard-trained, board-certified, with close to 2,000 successful removals. But anyone can make a mistake. On Oct. 2, 2007, he made one that will dog him forever. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12407 6/9/2009 © St. Petersburg Times A $1-a-pack tax boost on cigarettes that takes effect July 1 could send more smokers to the Internet to order e-cigarettes -- essentially steel tubes that contain a battery, a nicotine cartridge and an atomizer that makes a smoke-like white mist.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12356 6/5/2009 © South Florida Sun-Sentinel The Florida Board of Medicine leveled stricter-than-usual penalties today against doctors found to have doled out narcotic painkillers excessively or improperly. A bill that would give the board more authority over rogue pain clinics awaits action from the governor. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12335 By Carol Gentry and David Gulliver 6/4/2009 Health News Florida  Patients at some Florida hospitals were much more likely to have an unexpected return following knee- or hip-replacement surgery last year than those who had the procedure at other hospitals, new state data show. These potentially preventable readmissions cost Floridians a bundle. Special report: Florida hospitals' "revolving door syndrome, " Part 2. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12285 By David Gulliver and Carol Gentry 6/3/2009 © Health News Florida  A year ago, Florida won applause by becoming the first state to disclose hospitals' rates of readmission, a measure of the quality of care. Now the first year's comparison data are in, and they show that the problem has gotten worse, not better. See chart for specifics.  Tomorrow, Part 2: Which hospitals do best on joints? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12304 6/3/2009 © Tampa Tribune Gov. Charlie Crist has signed a bill making it easier for families to enroll uninsured children in KidCare. Next year's battle: expanding coverage to more children. Another bill he signed will give judges authority to assign volunteers to represent children in bitter divorces.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12308 6/03/2009 © Miami Herald Miami has asked Gov. Charlie Crist to move 70 convicted sex offenders living under a causeway who say they can't find anywhere that's legal. The city says the encampment is too close to a public park. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12305 6/3/2009 © St. Petersburg Times Two of six cardiologists who were suspended from performing angioplasties at an HCA Hospital several years ago -- and sued over it -- have begun doing the procedures at another HCA hospital nearby.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12281 6/2/2009 Health News Florida Ben Wilcox of Tallahassee, a former journalist who was director of Common Cause Florida until its recent closing, has joined Health News Florida Inc. as executive director, the news service announced Monday.  Founder Carol Gentry remains the editor. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12282 6/2/2009 Health News Florida A national health news service launched Monday in Washington, D.C., has hired The Palm Beach Post's Phil Galewitz, one of the most experienced health journalists in Florida, for its reporting staff. Galewitz will start with Kaiser Health News on June 15.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12297 6/2/2009 © Pensacola News-Journal The widow of Benny Martin, who died in 1995 of lung cancer, was awarded $30 million -- most of it punitive damages against the R.J. Reynolds tobacco company. It's the largest award of the seven tobacco cases that have gone to trial so far in Florida. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12250 5/29/2009 Health News Florida A hard-fought battle between business and the trial bar ended Friday when Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law a bill that reinstates fee caps for attorneys representing plaintiffs in workers' compensation cases -- a cap that lawyers said made it quite difficult for injured workers to find an attorney. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12243 By Carol Gentry 5/29/2009 © Health News Florida  Eight states are leaders in developing a modern system of electronic medical records and are therefore in an ideal position to gain an early share of $17 billion in federal stimulus money, Tampa-based consultant Laura Kolkman says. Florida is not among them.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12235 5/29/2009 © Bradenton Herald Internist C.G. Rao, arrested on charges of sexually molesting five patients and accused of other incidents that now are beyond the statute of limitations, has agreed not to see patients while his legal cases are pending. Bail was set at $20,000. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12222 By Carol Gentry 5/28/2009 © Health News Florida Nearly half of the state's hospitals have never reported a single incident of physician discipline to a databank set up to protect patients from questionable doctors, a consumer group reported Wednesday. Earlier this year, the same group cited Florida's Board of Medicine as particularly weak. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12223  By Christine Jordan Sexton 5/28/2009 Health News Florida Opponents of a bill backed by Florida’s doctors released a poll today that contends Floridians are on their side of the fight. But the Florida Medical Association dismissed the results, saying the poll questions were "skewed to get the answers they wanted." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12207 Shaw  By Christine Jordan Sexton 5/27/2009 © Health News Florida  The heat keeps rising over a bill pushed by doctors that would force insurers to change the way they pay. An attorney says it may be unconstitutional, and state Insurance Consumer Advocate Sean Shaw urges the governor to veto. But the docs plan TV ads. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12168 5/25/2009 © Florida Times-Union A 4-year-old in St. Johns County who snapped his femur a month ago became the first child to have his bone fitted with a stainless steel plate designed specifically for children. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12153 By Carol Gentry 5/22/2009 © Health News Florida  An  online petition to ban the painkiller OxyContin, posted two weeks ago in Tampa, has attracted more than 2,000 signatures and is headed for a national audience at an FDA meeting next week. Doctors who treat pain patients view the petition as "very dangerous." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12133 By Christine Jordan Sexton 5/21/2009 © Health News Florida Insurance companies and HMOs should be required by law to spend at least 85 percent of their revenue on their customers' health expenses, according to Florida Public Interest Group. Most in Florida don't.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12121 5/21/2009 (c) Health News Florida WellCare Health Plans' termination of 360 employees, announced Wednesday, would seem to fall into the category of bad news. But not to Wall Street. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12112 By Christine Jordan Sexton 5/20/2009 © Health News Florida Two health insurers in Florida control so much business that they've stifled competition and fueled health inflation in the state, according to a report released today by consumer advocates. They are lobbying for a public-plan alternative. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12090 5/19/2009 © Gainesville Sun The Department of Children and Families' internal audit on Kristina Hepp, the 4-year-old found dead in her father's home, concludes her parents had little experience with children and that her mother resisted offers of help. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12075 5/16/2009 © Palm Beach PostState Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, has been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer, his spokeswoman says. A former Senate President, King has been a moderating force in the right-leaning Legislature. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12057 5/15/2009 © Health News Florida Goldman Sachs' monthly survey of prices for medical care and health insurance found a 5.1 percent price hike for group medical plans in April, the biggest jump in over four years. It came even as the industry was assuring President Obama that it was serious about cost controls. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12019 By Christine Jordan Sexton  and Carol Gentry 5/14/2009 © Health News Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's mailbag is full of letters and e-mails about an insurance bill that hasn't even arrived at his office yet. Consumer groups seek a veto, while doctors' groups implore Crist to sign it. The finger-pointing has become downright personal for at least one consumer advocate. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12021 5/14/2009 © USA Today Qforma, a New Mexico firm that combs databases to identify opinion leaders in the medical field, includes 364 Florida doctors on the list. Find out who's on it. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/12017 5/13/2009 From combined sources Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday he's giving close scrutiny to a bill that would restore fee caps on plaintiffs' lawyers in workers compensation cases, a do-over of a bill declared unconstitutional last year. He'll have to multitask, though, because the $66.5 billion budget bill could arrive today. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12007  5/12/2009 © AP/Sentinel Former U.S. Surgeon General Antonia Novello, now a vice president at Disney Children's Hospital in Orlando, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to forcing New York State employees to handle her personal chores when she was health commissioner there. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11999 By Carol Gentry 5/12/2009 © Health News Florida Good thing WellCare Health Plans is awash in cash. In addition to the $80 million it's paying to avoid criminal prosecution for Medicaid fraud, the company said it expects to pay at least $50 million more to settle a related civil case. Plus tomorrow it has to pay $152 million to settle a debt.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11995 5/12/2009 From combined sources In a year when the state was strapped, nearly everyone expected to get their budgets cut. But oddly enough, it didn't turn out that way for health and human services agencies. Spending for them grew by nearly $2.7 billion, according to News Service of Florida.' http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/11997 5/12/2009 © Miami Herald A powerful committee chair, Sen. Ronda Storms of Brandon, has asked two state agencies to investigate the Broward psychiatrist who prescribed controversial medications for a 7-year-old who hanged himself.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/12000 5/12/2009 © Palm Beach Post On Monday, the health industry promised to cut $2 trillion over the next decade. President Obama called it "historic."  But you know how skeptical journalists are. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11978  5/11/2009 From a news release Florida now has 55 confirmed cases of H1N1 swine flu, more than double the number announced Friday, according to the State Department of Health. Dade and Broward counties lead the state with 10 cases each. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/11976 5/11/2009 © Orlando Sentinel Homeless man Rosevelt Richardson has been in and out of Orange County Jail 123 times, more than any other inmate. Such men are typically homeless, with either mental illness, substance abuse or both. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11953 By Christine Jordan Sexton 5/8/2009 © Health News Florida A little-noticed provision in a Medicaid bill now on the way to Gov. Charlie Crist will double the life of valuable permits to construct 37 new health facilities -- hospitals, nursing homes and hospices. The bill could come under fire from rivals when they find out about it. (See project list). http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/11948  5/8/2009 © Miami Herald Carmen Lourdes del Cueto, a Miami physician who pleaded guilty in March to a $10 million Medicare scam, gave the same plea Thursday to a separate $19.5 million theft she carried out with four other doctors and the owner of an HIV infusion clinic. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11941 By Carol Gentry 5/7/2009 Health News Florida Controversial Floridian Richard L. Scott has been popping up on cable-news ads that claim President Obama wants to nationalize and ration health care. Now an independent fact-checking organization has labeled the ads “very misleading.” http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11922 Bennett By Gary Fineout and  Carol Gentry 5/6/2009 Health News Florida Legislative budget negotiators could have provided health coverage for 75,000 uninsured children if they had been willing to give up their own free insurance premiums in the budget they'll be voting on this week. But they weren't. "It's an unbelievable great perk," said Sen. Michael Bennett, R-Bradenton, a millionaire. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11911 By Carol Gentry 5/5/2009 Health News Florida WellCare Health Plans Inc., Florida's largest Medicaid HMO contractor, was charged with felony health fraud Tuesday and has agreed to pay $80 million to defer prosecution, U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton announced. The Tampa company used a subsidiary to hide $40 million that should have been spent on the poor and uninsured, including children. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11899 By Carol Gentry 5/4/2009 Health News Florida WellCare Health Plans Inc., the only Florida-based health company in the Fortune 500, left analysts scratching their heads when it announced Monday that it will drop a profitable line of business, one that accounts for 110,000 Medicare customers. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11813  4/28/2009 © Health News Florida House Speaker Larry Cretul and Senate President Jeff Atwater announced Tuesday morning that budget conferees will begin meeting at 4 p.m. today to iron out differences in their spending plans and that the legislative session, which was supposed to end Friday, will be extended by a week. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11663 4/16/2009 Staff and wire report The Senate Judiciary Committee gutted a bill that imposes attorney fee caps in workers’ compensation cases Wednesday, to the delight of trial lawyers. But another committee thought to be friendlier to business interests is expected to restore it. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11639 4/14/2009 From combined sources A bill called “the most important mental health bill” in 30 years passed a House panel on Monday and will come before a key Senate committee on Wednesday. The bill would divert many of the state’s 70,000 mental patients from prisons to treatment. Its only opposition is the cash-strapped budget.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11570 By David Gulliver 4/9/2009 © Health News Florida Lake County Health Department figured out how to head off premature births, keep obstetricians from fleeing the county, and save taxpayers a million dollars a year.  That's why they're one of the big winners of an innovation-in-government contest this year. (See the other big winners). http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11571 By David Gulliver 4/9/2009 © Health News Florida When we set out to do a "good news" story about state workers winning awards for innovation, we thought they'd be pleased. A few phone calls, a quick story, and everybody's happy, right? Ha. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11565 By Gary Fineout 4/8/2009 © Health News Florida For the third time in two years, a controversial state-funded program meant to steer women away from abortion has become a flashpoint in the state budget. The Senate version takes out the $2 million for “crisis counseling,” while the House’s keeps it intact.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11547 By Christine Giordano 4/7/2009 © Health News Florida How did Juan Asensio-Gonzalez, one of the most respected trauma surgeons in the country, leave a 13-inch clamp inside a patient? The man who literally wrote the book on trauma surgery apologizes. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/11554 4/7/2009 © Fort Myers News-Press A rift over funding of health and welfare issues led Rep. Juan Zapata, R-Miami, to resign Monday as chair of House Human Services Appropriations. One of the issues causing the rift is the proposed privatization of the state's largest mental hospital. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11546 By Christine Giordano 4/7/2009 © Health News Florida Declaring they have “zero tolerance for fraud,” members of the Florida Board of Medicine revoked the license of a Winter Park doctor who had falsely advertised himself as an expert in pain management. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11539 By Christine Giordano 4/6/2009 © Florida Health News Fort Myers plastic surgeon Marc Schneider accepted a reprimand and $10,000 fine from the Board of Medicine on Friday as a “fair” end to state charges that he mishandled a breast-reduction to the point that the patient got gangrene. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11514 By Carol Gentry 4/3/2009 © Health News Florida  Florida pays managed-care plans $2.5 billion a year to make sure Medicaid patients in the state get proper preventive care and treatment. New data from 2008 show Florida plans' performance fell far below the national average, and near the bottom in care for infants, pregnant women and the mentally ill. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11502 By Gary Fineout 4/2/2009 © Health News Florida Florida could miss out on millions in federal aid that would benefit children unless the Legislature makes changes now to the KidCare program, a new study shows. Time is running out. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11489 By Carol Gentry 4/2/2009 © Health News Florida Some patients travel to get a price break, but how many take their surgeons with them? Last month, Miami-area surgeon Arnon Krongrad flew to Trinidad with one of his prostate cancer patients so that the uninsured man could afford the procedure he wanted. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11484 By Gary Fineout 4/1/2009 © Health News Florida Today, at the midpoint of the 60-day legislative session, abortion opponents are frustrated, along with families who need KidCare and advocates for community mental health. Lawmakers are so focused on the $6-billion budget crisis there's time for little else. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11473 By Christine Jordan Sexton 3/31/2009 © Health News Florida Lawmakers on both sides of the Capitol have called for an end to Medicaid fraud. Today a House council considers a one-year ban on new home health agencies in South Florida. And the Senate debates giving state officials more power to bar abusers from the system. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11454 3/30/2009 © Florida Health News Medicaid Reform could branch off in a new direction under a proposal that could emerge from a House committee this week. It would set up "medical homes" for patients using community health centers, based on the famed Mayo Clinic model of having a whole team consulting on a patient's needs in one site. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11424 By Christine Jordan Sexton 3/27/2009 © Florida Health News A Senate budget proposal would cut Medicaid payments 3 percent to hospitals, nursing homes and HMOs and cripple the second phase of “Reform.” It would restore Medically Needy funding, a condition for receiving federal stimulus funds. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/11417 3/27/2009 © Palm Beach Post Studies have found little benefit to the PSA blood test used to screen for prostate cancer, yet doctors still push it. Patients, too. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11374 By Christine Jordan Sexton 3/25/2009 Florida Health News  Nearly 1,000 Floridians, most of them middle-aged women, have signed up for a new state-promoted insurance program that requires participating companies to take all comers. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11351 By Carol Gentry 3/24/2009 © Florida Health News Federal authorities have ordered private Medicare plans to stop paying hundreds of dollars in “referral fees” to sales agents who steer a beneficiary to a company for enrollment. The practice, which came to light in a Florida Health News article, was seen as an attempt to evade federal caps on sales commissions. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/11364 3/24/2009 From a news release Today Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration drew down $363 million in federal stimulus funds to help with deficits in late 2008, Gov. Charlie Crist's office announced. Later today AHCA will request $412 million more for the current quarter. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11302 By Christine Jordan Sexton 3/20/2009 © Florida Health News Two state agencies worried about drugs getting into the water supply are pushing nursing homes to stop flushing them down the toilet. What they're suggesting instead involves a blender and, believe it or not, kitty litter. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11299 Castor By Christine Jordan Sexton 3/19/2009 © Florida Health News  Florida had 5.8 million residents who went without health coverage at some point in 2007-08, nearly 3/4 of them for more than six months, according to a report released today by a patient advocates' group. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor said it shows "Florida has a lot at stake in this health care reform debate." http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11273 3/19/2009 Florida Health News Well, it's happened again: Florida scored worse than the national average, from a public-health standpoint, in all categories in a report on births for 2007: More teen mothers, more unmarried mothers and a lot more Caesarean births. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11269 By Christine Jordan Sexton 3/18/2009 © Florida Health News Two lawmakers have asked Gov. Charlie Crist to investigate a miscue by the Florida Board of Nursing, which met last month in violation of the Sunshine Law. Now the board will have to hold a do-over in April so that its actions will be official.   http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11249 3/17/2009 © Florida Health News Without elaborating, WellCare Health Plans signaled on Monday that it may have to pay more than it had hoped to settle a fraud investigation that became public knowledge when the company's Tampa headquarters were raided by FBI agents in October 2007. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11227 Klasko 3/16/2009 © Florida Health News A lot of doctors say they can't afford to adopt electronic prescribing. Others need technical help. Today, USF's top doctor Stephen Klasko and Allscripts Inc. announced an end to both barriers with free software and 1-on-1 in-training in doctors' offices in up to 10 counties. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11194 By Carol Gentry 3/12/2009 © Florida Health News For 20 years, a Pinellas doctor has been getting into trouble with prescription painkillers; sometimes it’s from his own addiction, sometimes from prescriptions he writes for drugs leading to patient deaths. It's the kind of case that might be useful in the Legislature's consideration of a state database for prescriptions.    http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11178 By Christine Jordan Sexton 3/12/2009 © Florida Health News Gov. Charlie Crist’s proposed budget would remove a funding threat to five county health departments that was due to take effect in September as part of Medicaid Reform. Public health advocates are cheering, but will the Legislature go along? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11152 By Christine Giordano 3/11/2009 © Florida Health News Citrus Health Care, which reported big losses last year, may have been the victim of more than a bad business climate. Patricia Syling, described in court documents as former director of compliance – the one in charge of keeping the company honest -- is accused of stealing $1.3 million. The FBI is said to be investigating. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11127 By Carol Gentry 3/10/2009 © Florida Health News USF psychiatrist Michael Bengtson advises the Florida Medicaid program on which drugs need to be readily available.  But even he can't always get the drugs his patients need, he says, because the process is "murky." Consumer groups agree; they've formed a coalition to keep drugs available at a time of budget cuts. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11115 3/10/2009 © Florida Health News How good are Medicare beneficiaries at shopping for the best deal in insurance coverage? Not very, according to a study that has significant implications for Florida because of the staggering number of choices here. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11074 By Christine Jordan Sexton 3/6/2009 © Florida Health News  With consolidation on the minds of cash-strapped state officials, some are jumping on a new report by government auditors suggesting a joint effort on buying and packaging prescription drugs. Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Tampa, estimates it could save $30 million a year. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11058 Paul Metts 3/5/2009 © Florida Health News On Friday, Florida Health News published a report from a former state health official estimating that counties and hospitals will both take a big hit if Medicaid Reform expands. Many reacted in alarm, as the Florida Times Union reports. Today, Paul Metts tells how he arrived at his conclusions. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11035 By Christine Jordan Sexton 3/4/2009 © Florida Health News Last year, Senator Durell Peaden was Gov. Charlie Crist’s health-care point man. But he won’t be carrying the ball for the governor this year. Peaden has filed a "thwart bill" to kill Crist’s attempted merger of the Department of Health and the Agency for Health Care Administration. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/11036  3/4/2009 (c) Florida Health News Physicians United Plan lost $4.4 million in Florida in the first nine months of 2008, a new state report on managed-care plans shows. But Universal Health Care, which had at one time been in distress, has turned things around.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/11014 By Gary Fineout 3/3/2009 © Florida Health News Requiring women to get an ultrasound screening before they can have an abortion, an issue that roiled the past two legislative sessions, is back. This time, its odds of passage have improved.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10965 By Carol Gentry 2/27/2009 © Florida Health News A former state health official says if Florida’s Medicaid Reform plan is expanded statewide it will cost hospitals nearly $4 billion a year in uninsured emergency-room visits and make it difficult for patients to get immediate treatment. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10962 By Christine Jordan Sexton 2/27/2009 © Florida Health News Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s Cover Florida plan got most of the attention in last year's legislative session, but it wasn’t the only health-insurance initiative that passed. The forgotten one, Florida Health Choices, is finally coming together. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/10944  2/26/2009 © Florida Health News Even if you take Miami out of the mix, Florida cities still vary in medical spending for no obvious reason,a new report using 2006 Medicare data shows. For example, Panama City spent significantly more per person than Pensacola or Tallahassee. Why? Sarasota and Bradenton spent less than Tampa and St. Petersburg. Why? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10921 By Christine Jordan Sexton 2/25/2009 © Florida Health News Gov. Charlie Crist is reportedly preparing to recommend a merger of the two largest state health agencies into one, a proposal that would affect thousands of state employees. He also wants to keep Medicaid “Reform” unchanged and increase the fees doctors and HMOs get for treating the poor. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10911 By Carol Gentry 2/25/2009 Florida Health News Pres. Barack Obama told the nation Tuesday night that the nation must get control of health spending immediately: "Health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year." His supporters are urging Floridians to echo that call to their members of Congress. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10907 By Carol Gentry 2/24/2009 © Florida Health News WellCare drug-plan members left reeling from last week's federal crackdown on the Tampa company are not stuck in WellCare for the rest of 2009, after all. They have options. Medicare officials did not make that clear until Monday afternoon, after Florida Health News raised questions.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/10885 2/23/2009 © Miami Herald Blackjack was made legal in Florida last year. Now helplines say they get nearly as many callers reporting addiction to blackjack as they do poker. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/10879 2/22/2009 © Miami Herald About 300 new treatment beds for mentally ill jail inmates were added two years ago. Now Florida is again running out of bed space. What that means is more cases like Amy Kern, the woman who thought she was attacking Satan when she beat her grandmother to death. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/10886 2/21/2009 Miami Herald Two children who conducted a hunger strike to protest their mother's deportation got help from a group of adults who should  have known better, says columnist Myriam Marquez. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/10882 2/22/2009 © Palm Beach Post Twenty years ago most drug trials were done in academic medical centers. Today, doctors in the community are getting paid to do the trials, giving patients access to the newest medications. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10855 By Carol Gentry 2/20/2009 © Florida Health News Federal authorities suspended WellCare Health Plans from enrolling new Medicare customers as of March 7, saying the Tampa-based company has the worst complaint ratio of any major contractor in the country. But analysts say that, given the timing and WellCare's already-tarnished reputation, it won't hurt much either. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10846 By Christine Jordan Sexton 2/19/2009 © Florida Health News  The battle to abolish an obscure Medicaid spending panel has taken on the trappings of a full-fledged political campaign with a mailout of 25,000 colorful fliers that demand: "Abolish the LIP Council!" But do voters have any notion what the LIP Council is? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10829 By Christine Jordan Sexton 2/18/2009 © Florida Health News TALLAHASSEE—Despite spending hundreds of millions each year on Medicaid HMOs, state officials say it may be at least another year before they really know what they’re buying because the data that would provide the answer still need “cleaning up.”  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10782  By Carol Gentry 2/13/2009 © Florida Health News Some Florida doctors now require patients to sign an agreement promising not to post Internet comments about them without permission. Some say it's "an attempt to steal the consumer's right to free speech," but doctors say it's a matter of fairness. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/10781  2/13/2009 © Orlando Sentinel Cindy Conyers of Melbourne lost her insurance when she lost her job. So even though she has symptoms of appendicitis -- pain, fever, vomiting -- she's putting off a trip to the  hospital. "I owe them thousands already," she says. At least 3.8 million Floridians are faced with the same tough choice when they're ill. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10759  2/12/2009 © Florida Health News A state report that rates health plans participating in Medicaid Reform on a wide range of performance measures has been quietly posted at a state Web site. The format makes it of little use, according to an analysis by a group critical of the Reform pilot. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10749 By Christine Jordan Sexton 2/11/2009 © Florida Health News A House spending panel today is looking at the Low Income Pool Council's blueprint on how to divvy up $948 million in Medicaid funds to Florida hospitals. Meanwhile, some business groups are running TV ads that accuse council members of conflicts of interest.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10737 2/11/2009 Compiled from multiple sources The U.S. Senate passed its version of the economic stimulus package Tuesday 61-37, cutting $5 billion in health insurance subsidies for laid-off workers and $2.8 billion for prevention but adding $10 billion for medical research. As for Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reports the House would send $3.5 billion compared with the Senate's $1.7 billion. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/10751  2/11/2009 St. Petersburg Times Sharhonda Lindsay, 32, of Thonotosassa turned herself in on Tuesday on charges of practicing medicine without a license. Police say two women were hospitalized after Lindsay injected them with a silicone-like substance called Hydrogel. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10698 By Carol Gentry 2/9/2009 © Florida Health News Women have two openings below the belt, which don't look anything alike. What are the odds that a doctor would get them mixed up and do a procedure on the wrong one -- not just once, but twice? http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10665 By Carol Gentry 2/6/2009 © Florida Health News Some Medicare health plans in Florida are paying insurance brokers $300 to $500 for every beneficiary they refer to the company for enrollment. Some brokers are troubled by the easy money and worry that Medicare authorities will make them pay it back. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleView/article/10672 By Carol Gentry 2/6/2009 © Florida Health News The Florida Board of Medicine revoked the license of an abortion-clinic doctor on Friday, finding him guilty of medical malpractice in a 2006 case involving a fetus allegedly born alive and stuffed in a biohazard bag.  http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/10666 2/6/2009 © St. Petersburg Times Racist and sexist jokes aren't the only no-no's in company e-mails, a consultant to the medical-device industry told managers in Orlando on Thursday. They also shouldn't say things like "Stop the shredding!" http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/10636 2/3/2009 © Sarasota Herald-Tribune The new Speaker of the Florida House shows no thirst for power. Rep. Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, said his grandsons are the only ones he wants to impress. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/10598 2/1/2009 © Associated Press WASHINGTON -- The economic stimulus bill throws a lifeline to laid-off workers by helping them keep their health insurance. Some Medicaid cuts will be reversed, and geek jobs in medicine will grow. http://www.healthNewsFlorida.org/index.cfm/go/public.articleGo/article/10507  1/26/2009 © Reuters Florida's cut in premium payments to Medicaid HMOs will result in a reduction of about $35 million in revenue to Tampa-based WellCare Health Plans this year, according to new SEC documents the company filed today.  WellCare said its net income dropped significantly for 2008 because of costs associated with a federal and state fraud investigation that began in October 2007 and is still going on.