April 19, 2012
By Sarah Pusateri – Intensified investigations, heightened training and more resources. These are some of the changes that will be made to combat sexual assault in the military, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently announced. “General Dempsey and I consider this a serious problem that needs to be addressed. It violates everything the U.S military stands for,” Panetta told reporters in Washington D.C.
April 18, 2012
By Sammy Mack – Gov. Rick Scott signed Florida’s budget Tuesday – and more than three dozen health-related programs across the state were casualties of the governor’s veto pen. Health programs represented more than a quarter of Scott’s $142 million in line-item vetoes to the $70 billion state budget. Among the cuts: medical school projects, rape crisis centers, devices for people with epilepsy and childhood vaccination programs.
April 17, 2012
By Farah Dosani – Medicare covers treatment for diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. All are costly to the health care system – and all often have their roots in a larger problem. “Often times a lot of the conditions that we treat are affected by obesity or associated with obesity,” said Dr. Ayaz Virji, a bariatric and family medicine physician based in Camp Hill, Pa. The Medicare program recently announced it is now covering obesity screening and counseling by primary care providers – doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Many herald the move as a paradigm shift. Until eight years ago, Medicare said obesity was not a disease.
April 11, 2012
By Sammy Mack – Florida could lose out on more than $189 billion in federal health funds under House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan, according to an analysis from Families USA.
April 10, 2012
[VIDEO] By Farah Dosani – Primary care providers can now get reimbursed for treating what is often the root of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. The Medicare program recently announced it is covering obesity counseling. This comes at a time when about one-third of the 42 million Americans insured under the program are considered obese.
March 29, 2012
By Sammy Mack – Last year, Florida legislators passed a bill privatizing the state’s Medicaid program, moving recipients into managed care plans – a model patterned on a pilot program that’s been running in five counties since 2006. The statewide change still needs federal approval – and for one family already living in a pilot county, it’s a troubling prospect. HealthyState.org visits this Broward County family to find out why one mother has decided to leave so her son can get better access to health care.
March 19, 2012
By Farah Dosani and Kimberly Vlach – With the recession taking a toll on people’s wallets, dental care has taken a backseat to health care. Often times, it’s seen as a cosmetic practice (i.e. teeth whitening) or the last resort (i.e. when pain is no longer tolerable). But what’s often ignored is the correlation between oral health and overall health. Oral diseases have lasting negative health consequences. Still, due to factors such as poverty, lack of dental insurance, fear of dentists – many people put at risk their health through neglect of their teeth and gums. HealthyState.org further explains the connection between the mouth and body while exploring what happens when dental care isn’t made a priority.
February 27, 2012
By David Gulliver – It may not be as sexy as something we might see in the latest Hollywood sci fi thriller, but telemedicine is making some pretty incredible strides in health care. One of its biggest successes is getting people to actively monitor their own health. The difference that telehealth makes is that patients send their health data to their nurses via technology from their own homes. It is increasingly touted as a way to improve the quality – and decrease the costs – of health care. HealthyState.org looks further into why would hospitals want to use something that keeps people out of the hospital and why Medicare and insurers have yet to embrace it fully.
By Dalia Colón – Technology has pros and cons. Facebook connects us with friends but can also be a huge time-waster. Text messages are convenient but can wreak havoc when misfired. Telemedicine, the use of technology to provide health care, also has its advantages and drawbacks. HealthyState.org explores some of them.
While technology and health care have always gone hand in hand, the world of telehealth is in the stages of infancy. As the use of sophisticated technology becomes more ubiquitous in everyday life, health care professionals are turning to consumer technology as a delivery model for patient care. In this sense, the use of telemedicine is expected only to grow. Take a look at the numbers.
By Sammy Mack – Every morning at 10:00 a.m., congestive heart failure patient Marilyn Yeats of Naples conducts her own health checkup with the help of a computer. Call it a virtual visit. She uses a home health guide to send her vitals to her nurse in Tampa Bay via the internet. “This program is having your own private nurse,” says Yeats. HealthyState.org follows Yeats through her checkup and visits the behind-the-scenes of what happens to Yeats’ data.
February 16, 2012
By Dalia Colón – This isn’t about hating dodgeball or ignoring childhood obesity statistics. It’s about local control. That was the motivation behind the Physical Education in Public Schools bill, which would eliminate the required daily PE class for sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Those who want to keep gym class a mandate say education on physical health and behaviors are just as important as math and science. But supporters of the bill say making PE a requirement should be decided by the individual school districts, not the state. So does it make sense to remove gym class from mandatory middle school curricula? HealthyState.org explores the case for making PE an elective and not a requirement.
By Kimberly Vlach – Florida lawmakers who seek to remove the physical education requirement from the middle school curriculum argue that it’s a financial burden on cash-strapped schools to provide PE, when there’s no funding mechanism to support the program. But those who want to keep phys ed in grades 6-8 say that physical activity is needed during the day to allow students to release pent-up energy and be able to focus in the classroom. HealthyState.org looks further into the role physical education has in childhood development – physical, mental and social – and how fitness and academics are intertwined.
[VIDEO] By Farah Dosani – Drew Gordon, 11, dribbles his basketball across the Bonita Springs Middle School gym. The sixth-grader starts each school day with physical education this semester. But he may have to get used to the idea of not having the class at all if the Florida Legislature passes a bill to remove the state law requiring physical education in middle schools. HealthyState.org visited a gym class in Lee County to find out what the kids thought of PE and how the teacher and the school district view PE as a component of a student’s total education.
Florida middle schools are required to provide the equivalent of 1 class period per day of physical education to middle school students (grades 6 through 8). Elementary schools are required to provide at least 30 minutes of PE everyday. Take a look at how the numbers stack up surrounding the health and fitness of Florida’s children.
February 6, 2012
By Dalia Colón – There’s a lot of talk swirling about what it’ll take for Florida to remain competitive in the future: Small business tax breaks. High-speed rail. A larger investment in education. But more vital to Florida than any of that, pundits contend, is the health of its citizens. Many warn a proposed Medicaid premium of $10/person/month would force hundreds of thousands of people out of the program because they cannot afford it, thus leaving them without health care. HealthyState.org explores how Floridians’ collective health impacts the state’s education system, the economy, and, ultimately, Florida’s future.
By Kimberly Vlach – In the 2011 legislative session, lawmakers passed a drastic overhaul to the state’s Medicaid program – and one of those changes includes imposing a monthly premium of $10 per person. While HealthyState.org set out to investigate how a $10 premium would help shore up both the health care program and the state budget, we were met with candid responses from the state: the premium isn’t necessary in keeping Medicaid intact and is more a matter of principle. So changing tack, HealthyState.org looks at the reality that even the poor make too much money to qualify for Medicaid. The fact is, Medicaid participants are poverty-stricken, and the hospitals that help serve them know this all too well.
January 24, 2012
By Kimberly Vlach – Florida needs doctors. Florida needs jobs. The health care industry is a breeding ground for employment and economic growth. Two birds. One stone. Seems simple,right? HealthyState.org investigates the economic impact that inadequate health care access has on a community and how the state of Florida could be missing out on an opportunity for growth.
By Dalia Colón – Florida is running dangerously low on a key resource. And we’re not talking oranges. In much of the Sunshine State, primary care physicians – internists, pediatricians, OB/GYNs and others who work in preventative medicine – are in short supply. That supply grows shorter every day. Meanwhile, as the population continues to grow, the state is heading for a crisis if residents can’t find doctors. HealthyState.org looks into the grassroots efforts in solving this physician shortage.
January 23, 2012
[VIDEO] By Farah Dosani – Moore Haven in Glades County has long suffered a drought when it comes to doctors practicing in the area. All that changed in October of last year with the arrival of Dr. Edu Kirindongo. The rural Florida community now has a doctor – and he’s the only private physician in the entire county.