Even as there are signs that the latest round of COVID-19 infections may have finally peaked, Florida is pushing ahead with a plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the months ahead to pay for testing, medical staff support and a media campaign to encourage vaccinations. Read moreThe Weekly Checkup: Is $12 Million Enough for State Vax Campaign?
Hello and welcome to Friday …4,835,582: That’s how many people state economists in March predicted would be enrolled in the Medicaid program d… Read moreThe Weekly Checkup: How High Will Medicaid Enrollment Go?
Hello, and welcome to Friday ... After 11 years of being on the front lines of the battle against Obamacare, will this week’s U.S. Supreme Cou… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: WILL FLORIDA GOP WAR ON OBAMCARE END?
Hello and welcome to Friday ... The Florida Department of Health plans to cease the daily COVID-19 reports that have been used by the media an… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: DESANTIS NIXES DAILY COVID REPORTS
Hello and welcome to Friday ... Gov. Ron DeSantis is fond of saying his policies "put seniors first." But his administration's decision to sto… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: ARE FLORIDA SENIORS FIRST OR LAST?
Hello and welcome to Friday ... While Florida isn't willing to take advantage of additional funding in the American Rescue Plan Act to expand … Read moreThe WEEKLY CHECKUP: 'A LOT' OF MONEY ON TAP FOR APD
Hello and welcome to sine die Friday ... As the Florida Legislature's 60-day session came to a close, the proposed deep budget cuts that made … Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: BUDGET DONE, HEALTH CARE SPARED
Hello and welcome to Friday ... A session unlike any other will kick off next week. Florida lawmakers will return to a state Capitol building … Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: HOUSE MYSTERY CONTINUES
Hello and welcome to Friday ... Get ready for reefer madness on Thursday, Feb. 18. Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: REEFER MADNESS IN FLORIDA
Hello and welcome to Friday ... It’s all about the details when it comes to writing --- and passing --- a bill in the Legislature. Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: RESTRICTING LAWSUITS IS ALL ABOUT THE DETAILS
<strong>Hello and welcome to Friday ...</strong> President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday rolled out a sweeping $1.9 trillion pandemi… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: BIDEN UNVEILS $1.9 TRILLION COVID PLAN
<strong>Hello and welcome to Friday ...</strong> Ten months into the coronavirus pandemic, the Florida Legislature is finally step… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: FINALLY ... LEGISLATURE DELVES INTO COVID ISSUES
<strong>Hello and happy (late) Friday</strong>. Gov. Ron DeSantis just a few days ago said that Americans need to unify behind the… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: DESANTIS PROMOTES, BUCKS SCIENCE
Hello and happy Friday. Florida lawmakers return next week to Tallahassee after eight months --- but it won’t be until next year that legislat… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: WINTER'S COMING, AND SO ARE LAWMAKERS
<strong>Hello and happy Friday.</strong> Despite an ongoing legal challenge --- and constant criticism from many Florida politicia… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: 2021 OBAMACARE ENROLLMENT BEGINS
As Florida battles the coronavirus pandemic, the effort has exposed an inconvenient truth that the state’s public health infrastructure has be… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: DOH WANTS MONEY FOR PUBLIC HEALTH HIRES
<strong>Hello, and happy Friday ...</strong> The early Friday morning news that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trum… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: SOBERING NEWS AS DESANTIS PUSHES REOPENING
<strong>Hello and happy Friday ...</strong> Members of the Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: BOARDS CONSIDER MENTAL HEALTH SAFE HARBOR
<strong>Hello, and happy Friday</strong> An additional two people served by the Agency for Persons with Disabilities have died of … Read more THE WEEKLY CHECKUP: MORE COVID CASES, DEATHS FOR APD
<strong>Hello and happy Friday ...<br /></strong> Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Mary Mayhew announced Frid… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: MAYHEW LEAVING AHCA
<strong>Hello and happy Friday ...</strong> Nearly 500 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Florida ha… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: 487 APD CLIENTS HAVE COVID-19, ANOTHER 47 DEAD
Hello, and happy Friday Expect a panel appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to make recommendations on how to reopen nursing homes to visitors in th… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: STATE EYES 'INCONSISTENT' COVID-19 RULES
<strong>Hello, and happy Friday ...</strong> Can Florida find a way to safely reopen nursing homes to visitors? Members of the Tas… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: TRYING TO FIND THE 'RIGHT WAY'
<strong>Hello and happy Friday ...</strong> Let’s hope that Hurricane Isaias is a just dry run for an event Florida doesn’t want a… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: FLORIDA NEEDS A BREAK
<strong>Hello and happy Friday ...<br /></strong> State-licensed nursing homes and assisted-living facilities have been rece… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: SHOW US THE CONTRACT
<strong>Hello and happy Friday ...</strong> Even as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to tout the state's efforts to contain COV… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: COVID-19 RESIDENT TRANSFERS, PART II
<strong>Hello, and happy Friday</strong> The state is asking the federal government for 1,500 nurses to “surge into hospitals for … Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: FLORIDA'S LOOKING FOR NURSES
<strong>Hello and happy Friday ...</strong> Gov. Ron DeSantis said 10 days ago that “we’re not rolling back” Florida’s economic re… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: DRY BARS, COVID-19 AND OBAMACARE REPEAL
<strong>Hello and happy Friday ...</strong> Amid a surge in Florida coronavirus cases, Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration is chang… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: STATE CHANGES ICU REPORTING
Hello and happy Friday As the number of people diagnosed with COVID-19 in Florida rises, the DeSantis administration is cancelling weekly phon… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: COVID CALLS CANCELED
<strong>Hello and happy Friday ...</strong> With summer coming, Florida continues to edge further into reopening its economy. Gov.… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: DOORS OPEN, CASES CLIMB
<strong>Hello and happy Friday ...</strong> Florida’s long-term care industry has been dealing with the coronavirus storm for more… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: NURSING HOMES, COVID AND HURRICANES
<strong>Hello, and happy Friday ...</strong> One of the state's chief health-care regulators told nursing homes that they need to… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: DOUBLE CHECK THAT DATA
<strong>Hello and happy Friday ...</strong> "I''m not a doctor but I play one on TV. " The well-known line has been repeated by co… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: TV STARS, DOCS CELEBRATE MEDICAL GRADS
<strong>Hello and happy Friday.</strong> Gov. Ron DeSantis has maintained that Florida is embarking on a slow, step-by-step reopen… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: TOO FAST OR TOO SLOW?
<strong>Hello and happy Friday.</strong> Long-term care providers confronted by a sizable number of deaths due to the coronavirus … Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: NURSING HOMES CAUTIOUS ABOUT REOPENING HEALTH CARE SECTOR
<strong>Hello and happy Friday.</strong> With hundreds of thousands of people thrown out of work in Florida, there’s no doubt the … Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: DESANTIS CLAIMS VETOES COULD NIX NEED FOR SPECIAL SESSION
<strong>Hello and happy Friday.</strong> As the numbers of coronavirus cases continue to mount in the homes and centers that take … Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: NURSING HOMES SEEK SHELTER FROM LAWSUITS
<strong>Hello, and happy Friday ...</strong> Transforming the health care marketplace has gone from an academic discussion to a mo… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: TRANSFORMING THE MARKET FOR A COVID-19 SURGE
<strong>Hello, and happy Friday.</strong> State Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, the secretary of the Florida Department of Health, … Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: TESTING BACKLOG TO BLAME FOR COVID-19 JUMP?
<strong>Hello and happy Friday ….</strong> For the last two years, hospitals have been targeted by House Speaker José Oliva as amo… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: HOSPITALS GO FROM VILLAINS TO SENTINELS
Hello, and welcome to the late-night, sine-die edition of The Weekly Checkup. Blame it on a virus. But one of the strangest and most bizarre w… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: BLAME IT ON THE VIRUS
<strong>Hello and happy Friday.</strong> It's March Madness in Tallahassee, legislative style, and we are headed into overtime. Bu… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: MARCH LEGISLATIVE MADNESS IS HERE
<strong>Hello and happy Friday ...</strong> Could a long-time ally of Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis soon be running the s… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: PATRONIS PAL WANTS HEALTHY KIDS POST
<strong>Hello and happy Friday.</strong> House Speaker Jose Oliva has a health-care wish list with about 13 different issues and … Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: HEALTH CARE IS BARGAINING CHIP - BUT FOR WHAT?
<strong>Hello and happy Friday.</strong> We're approaching the fifth week of the 2020 session, which marks the halfway point of th… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: WILL APD CHANGES HAPPEN THIS SESSION?
<strong>Hello, and happy Friday.</strong> Options in Florida’s Medicaid managed-care market are shrinking. One health plan --- Cen… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: MEDICAID HMO OPTIONS DWINDLING
<strong>Hello and happy Friday.</strong> Whew. We survived the first week of the 2020 session where a torrent of health care legis… Read moreTHE WEEKLY CHECKUP: HEALTH CARE'S HOT IN TALLY