Floridians
Encouraged to Vote as if Their Health Depends on It
Posted October 19, 2016 05:05 am | Public News Service
Tallahassee, FL – Many people are calling the November election the most important in modern history, and health-care advocates in Florida say that isn't just because of the contentious race at the top of the ticket.
One of the biggest issues the next Florida Legislature will face is the shrinking safety net for the state's most vulnerable residents. Scott Darius, advocacy director for Florida CHAIN (Community Health Action Information Network), said the state's refusal to expand Medicaid means there are still major disparities in health coverage across the state, two years into implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
"While that narrowed the gap somewhat," he said, "we still see that Hispanic residents of central Florida are still 50 percent more likely to be uninsured than their non-Hispanic neighbors."
An estimated 800,000 Floridians fall into what's known
as the "coverage gap": They can't afford marketplace
insurance but don't qualify for traditional Medicaid.
Polls have shown that the majority of Floridians support
expanding Medicaid to cover more low-income adults, but
last year's Legislature rejected the federal funding to
do so.
Florida currently ranks 37th among the 50 states for the
per-capita rate of state funding that goes to public
health, and has dropped several spots in recent years.
Darius said there are consequences for not investing in
the state's health.
"Floridians are experiencing high rates of health
conditions that could actually be eased by public-health
intervention," he said, "things like infectious disease
and heart disease and diabetes."
The Tampa Bay Health Care Collective has assembled an
online guide at livesonthelinefl.org/voterguide to
show where state candidates stand on Medicaid expansion
and other health-related issues, and the League of Women
Voters has information about early voting and absentee
ballots on its website, thefloridavoter.org.
Images added by the Observer
This piece was reprinted by the Columbia County Observer with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.