FL Senate sends healthcare initiative to state House with reduced price tag
The Florida Senate on Thursday approved the bulk of the ‘Live Healthy’ initiative spearheaded by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, although senators cut tens of millions of dollars from the proposals aimed at innovating the health care industry and growing its workforce.
Still, Republican Senate sponsor Colleen Burton from Polk County pushed hundreds of millions toward programs including student loan repayment for health care workers, Medicaid reimbursement for service providers, residency slots for medical school graduates, preventative health care screenings, and a minority maternity care program.
And senators unanimously voted yes on the initiatives.
“We don’t operate in a vacuum, and we have partners across the rotunda who we have been talking to. … But I think the changes that have been made still give us robust funding so that we can move these programs forward,” Burton said on the Senate floor.
Ultimately, the Senate and House will need to agree on the numbers and policies in the legislation, and state budget negotiators will work on crafting a Florida state budget in the following weeks.
Worker retention
“We are advancing the opportunity for physicians to come here and practice. We are competing with other states because, across our country, there’s a shortage of health care professionals. Here in Florida, we are leading in a big way on health care with the passage of this bill,” Burton said.
However, some of the cuts in the bill decrease funds for residency programs and student loan reimbursement programs Burton had pitched as some of the initiatives that would encourage health care practitioners to work in Florida.
Originally, the bill included $50 million for workers ranging from physicians to social workers and $13.2 million for dentists and dental assistants working in underserved areas. Those funds are meant to help them pay off their student loans. Now, those programs will get $30 million and $8 million, respectively.
There would still be an increase in residency slots for medical school graduates under the proposal, but the funds would only create 500 more positions instead of the 700 Passidomo touted when she introduced ‘Live Healthy’ in early December.
“It makes no sense to graduate people from medical school and not have residency programs for them here in Florida,” Passidomo told reporters after the bills passed.
Democrat support and criticism
Although the bill (SB 7016), passed unanimously, Democrats brought up concerns about the advanced birth center designation the bill would create.
Those birth centers would be assist people in planned, low-risk vaginal and cesarean births. They would be staffed 24/7, employ two medical directors, and hold agreements with blood banks in case of emergencies.
“At the end of the day, for me, the birthing center looked like a boutique,” said Duval County Democratic Sen. Tracie Davis.
She continued: “I just worry about expanding care without ensuring the quality and access that we’re putting in the statute that could be the problem down the road, and especially in areas without the hospital to transfer in case of an emergency.”
Another Democrat, Sen. Victor Torres from Osceola and Orange counties, asked if the bill addressed the loss of Medicaid support children have experienced in Florida since the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. During committee meetings, Democrats criticized the bill because it didn’t include Medicaid expansion, but Passidomo made it clear from the first day of the session that she would not support expanding the health care coverage program for low-income people.
Loans for innovation
The other proposal that cleared the floor Thursday came from Republican Sen. Gayle Harrell, representing Martin and parts of St. Lucie and Palm Beach counties. SB 7018 establishes a health care innovation council within the Florida Department of Health overseeing a revolving loan program for projects that implement innovative technology, workforce pathways, or service delivery models. The funds appropriated for the loan fund has been reduced from the original $750 million over 10 years to $500 million.
Applicants could have up to 10 years to pay back the loans, which could cover up to half of their project costs or up to 80 percent if it would serve people in rural or underserved areas or those on Medicaid. However, the House version of this bill (HB 1501) would depend on the state budget.
“This is the innovation component that is really going to harness the energy of our private sector, and our innovators and creators in the state of Florida and bring their ideas, whether it’s in technology in workforce improvement, in really changing how we deliver health care, and really utilizing all those talents through this endeavor,” Harrell said on the Senate floor.
Passidomo said she’s not worried about the decrease in funds in the ‘Live Healthy’ bills or their discrepancies from the House versions.
“We did work with the House, but when you see the budget you’ll see there is funding for a lot of the initiatives. … I feel really, really good about it. This is way more than we’ve ever done,” she told reporters.
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