skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: Working Florida Parents Would Benefit from Medicaid Expansion

play audio
Play

Wednesday, April 15, 2015   

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida ranks 49th in the country when it comes to the rate of uninsured parents, and a majority of them are employed. That's according to a report released this week by Kids Well Florida and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families.

The Florida Legislature is currently debating a proposal to expand Medicaid to more than 1 million low income citizens. Leah Barber-Heinz, CEO with Florida CHAIN, says the legislature has the power to initiate change.

"The Florida Legislature has a very unique opportunity to make sure parents and families and children, especially working families, are able to access the health care coverage they desperately need," says Barber-Heinz.

Florida is one of 22 states that elected not to accept federal funding under the Affordable Care Act to extend Medicaid coverage to parents and other low income adults. That's left more than a million Floridians excluded from coverage.

Joan Alker, executive director with the Georgetown University Center, says it's important to note many Florida parents who lack health coverage have jobs.

"People often assume if you have a job, you have health insurance but that's just not the case for many of Florida's working families, and that really relates to the structure of Florida's economy," says Alker. "Most of the uninsured parents that could benefit are working in jobs that support Florida's service-based tourist-dependent economy."

According to the report, children eligible for Medicaid coverage or who have parents eligible for Medicaid coverage are more likely to be healthier, graduate from college and succeed financially, which in turn leads to more savings for taxpayers. Barber-Heinz says the time to act is now.

"It's extremely important this happens as soon as possible," she says. "We know people are really struggling out there without health care coverage and we know when people don't have access to health care they often end up in the emergency room, which is extremely expensive for all of us."

The report also finds when parents are insured, their children are more likely to have health coverage. In Florida an estimated 305,000 children are eligible for Medicaid-CHIP but are not enrolled.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021