As ACA Enrollment Window Closes, Florida Leads In Sign-Ups
A record number — about 20 million — signed up for ACA coverage. Over 4 million enrollees are in Florida. Also in Florida, the House began to move on its plans to boost the number of physicians and expand health care access. Meanwhile, data show cancer care improves in Medicaid expansion states.
Health News Florida:
The ACA Enrollment Period Ends Tuesday, And Florida Again Leads The Nation In Sign-Ups
With the deadline of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday approaching, Florida has more than 4 million Obamacare enrollees. Nationally, the ACA added 3.7 million for a record tally of about 20 million. (Pederson, Cabrera and Mayer, 1/12)
News Service of Florida:
Florida House Panel Backs Health Care Plan; Medicare Expansion Unlikely
The Florida House on Friday began moving forward with its version of a plan aimed at boosting the number of physicians in the state and taking other steps to expand access to health care. (1/13)
USA Today:
Cancer Care Improves In Medicaid Expansion States
A study published last week led by American Cancer Society researchers compared cancer patients in states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act with patients in states that did not. In states that expanded Medicaid, about 1 in 5 college- or working-age adults diagnosed with cancer were insured by Medicaid, the government health insurance program for low-income families and the disabled. Just 2% of cancer patients in these states were uninsured as of 2019. (Alltucker, 1/14)
The Mercury News:
Alameda County Seeking New Ambulance Contract, With New Requirements
Calling 9-1-1 for a medical emergency typically leads to a trip in an ambulance to a nearby emergency room. ... Now, Alameda County wants to change that wasteful practice so ambulance providers are more accountable for providing an appropriate level of care. ... The county will require its next provider to develop an “appropriate tiered system” for their responses, offering things like at-home telehealth appointments when appropriate, instead of just transporting people to the hospital. (Blair Rowan, 1/12)
The New York Times:
Diabetes Is Fueling An Amputation Crisis For Men In San Antonio
At a medical facility on the west side of San Antonio, the patients show up with disturbing regularity — most of them men. They have sores on their feet that won’t go away. And they leave with the same devastating news: Their diabetes has progressed to the point that their leg must be amputated to save their lives. Diabetes has been on the rise around the world, and Latino communities in the United States have been especially hard hit. A lethal combination of genetics, poor access to health care, diets high in processed foods and sedentary lifestyles has created a crisis in places like San Antonio, a majority Mexican American city in Southern Texas, that is costing a growing number of men their feet and legs — and eventually, for some, their lives. (Sandoval, 1/16)
NPR:
How A Soda Tax Pays For Fresh Fruit And Vegetables For Some Families In Boulder
It's a chilly, winter evening outside the Boulder Public library, with the sun low in the sky. Inside, tucked behind a spiral staircase, a small crowd begins to file into a meeting room. They are here for a distribution of coupons for the Fruit and Veg Boulder program, run by county health department staff and community groups. ... This program is part of a growing wave of nutrition incentive projects across the country. The federal government pays for many of these programs, but ... some places, like Boulder, are generating their own funding through a local soda tax. (Simmons-Duffin, 1/15)
