health care

It’s understandable that patients desperately need help affording medicine, especially when their health is on the line. But these programs create a mirage that perpetuates our system’s reckless spending: They cover up a drug’s true price, much of which insurers pay, and that contributes to rising premiums.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed 42 bills, including a heavily debated measure that will change staffing standards in nursing homes. The nursing-home industry lobbied for the measure.

A new investment fund launched by one of the few Black venture capitalists in health care is focused on backing Black entrepreneurs. And the investors include some of the biggest names in for-profit health care.

Lawmakers last year passed a measure to help shield hospitals, nursing homes and other providers from lawsuits related to the coronavirus. The measure was set to expire March 29.

The Health & Human Services Committee approved the proposal, which came as nursing homes say they are grappling with staffing shortages that, in some cases, have forced them to leave beds unused.

A hepatitis C clinic is one of the board’s projects to help residents in less wealthier areas gain access to needed treatments and care.

The amended version of the bill reduces — but does not eliminate — the care that residents must get from certified nursing assistants. Those nursing hours would drop from 2 1/2 to 2 hours a day.

Subsidies from the president's coronavirus relief act and an extended enrollment period helped add 600,000 Floridians through the federal marketplace.

The requirements will start to take effect Thursday in Florida.

Some consumers "have gone months" without realizing someone had improperly enrolled them in ACA plans, with tax credits that may need repaying. A proposed rule would stop the practice.

Health care-related measures in the proposal are targeted to combat the opioid epidemic, boost mental health programs and assist the elderly, veterans and people with disabilities.

The demand for home health care has increased even while the supply of workers has been squeezed thanks to how most of the care is paid for.