Florida doctors want to vaccinate more children against infectious diseases | Florida Trend Health Care – Florida Trend

Doctors in Florida want to vaccinate more children against infectious diseases

As the new school year begins, health care providers in Florida are raising awareness about vaccinations to prevent clusters of under-vaccinated children from forming, leading to outbreaks of infectious diseases. Florida has vaccination requirements for children attending daycare and public and private schools, but vaccination rates in the state, like the rest of the country, have fallen below pre-pandemic levels. [Source: WLRN]

Global emergency declared due to new smallpox epidemic. What you should know in Florida

Federal and state health authorities are still recording cases of MPOX in the United States, including in Florida. However, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, none of these cases so far have been traced to the more contagious Clade I strain that is fueling the wave of infections in Africa. [Source: Miami Herald]

Judge plans hearing in dispute over Medicaid contracts

An administrative law judge has scheduled a hearing for September in cases in which two health insurers accuse the state of wrongfully excluding them from new Medicaid contracts. The health insurers, AmeriHealth Caritas Florida Inc. and Sentara Care Alliance LLC, are challenging decisions by the state health agency denying them contracts to manage health care for Medicaid beneficiaries. [Source: News Service of Florida]

A conversation about all sides of the controversial abortion amendment in Florida

Abortion is a polarizing issue. But whatever you think, if you vote as a Floridian this November, you have a say in whether access is added to the state constitution. The proposed Amendment 4 states, among other things, that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before it is viable or when it is necessary to protect the health of the patient, as determined by the patient's health care provider.” [Source: WUSF]

The clock is ticking as Florida Blue and Baptist Health negotiate a new contract

Florida Blue is the state's largest health insurer and could soon be rejected by Baptist Health facilities. Florida Blue Insurance continues to negotiate with Baptist Health. The two sides have been at it since February but have not yet agreed to a deal. If the parties cannot reach an agreement before October, Baptist would be considered out of network for thousands of patients, making care unaffordable for many. [Source: News 4 Jax]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Orlando Health offers $439 million to bankrupt Steward Health for three Florida hospitals [Health News Florida]
Orlando Health has made an offer to buy its Space Coast properties in Florida from bankrupt Steward Health Care for $439 million, according to a court document filed Wednesday. The qualified, binding purchase agreement includes Rockledge Regional Medical Center and Melbourne Regional Medical Center, both in Brevard County, and Sebastian River Medical Center in Indian River County. The deal also includes some of Steward's medical clinics in those areas.

› What lower prescription drug prices mean for seniors in South Florida [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Sherri Williams may no longer see as many patients who don't take their prescription drugs because they can't afford them. On Friday, the Miramar nurse welcomed the Biden administration's agreement with pharmaceutical companies to lower prices on the 10 most expensive prescription drugs under Medicare insurance.

› “Higher quality of life”: New UF Health emergency center opens in east Gainesville [Gainesville Sun]
A new UF Health urgent care center has expanded the hospital's footprint in east Gainesville. More than 100 people attended the grand opening Wednesday of the UF Health Urgent Care Center – Eastside – an 8,900-square-foot building outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment and amenities designed to serve as an alternative to the emergency room for non-life-threatening injuries and illnesses, officials say.

› Affordable housing crisis forces Tampa General to build its own [Tampa Bay Times]
Concerned about the lack of affordable housing for its employees, Tampa General Hospital is moving forward with plans for a $60 million apartment complex that will offer employees below-market rents. The hospital has already received $10 million from the state budget toward the cost of a 160-unit apartment block on Delaney Creek Boulevard in Brandon.

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