By Gary Fineout, Associated Press, Reporter Bill Kaczor contributed to this story.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — It’s almost becoming an annual rite each year in Tallahassee: Another year, another billion-dollar plus budget shortfall.

Florida lawmakers head into their annual session in January confronted by a nearly $2 billion gap. This time around it is primarily caused by an unenviable combination of growing expenses in safety net programs such as Medicaid at the same a sluggish economic recovery is expected to keep tax dollars from growing significantly.

In the last several years, as the recession has taken its toll on the state’s battered real estate market and unemployment soared into double digits, the Republican-controlled Legislature has tried nearly every way to balance the state budget. They’ve cut spending, they’ve eliminated state workers, they’ve relied on billions in federal stimulus dollars and one year they even raised taxes.

This coming session legislative leaders and Gov. Rick Scott have already ruled out one option: Raising taxes or fees as a way to help balance the budget. That means lawmakers will instead have to come up with another round of cuts. Read the rest of this entry »

December 25, 2011|By Aaron Deslatte Tallahassee Bureau Chief TALLAHASSEE -

Throughout the recession and economic hangover, Florida social-services advocates have warned that budget woes could unravel the safety net that supports millions of low-income families, seniors trying to stay in their homes, and people with debilitating illnesses or disabilities. But entering Florida’s fifth year of billion-dollar budget shortfalls, the state’s core social services - from medical care to drug treatment to organ transplants - have proven remarkably resilient to cuts, thanks largely to billions of dollars routed to Florida by the 2009 federal stimulus act. But now that cushion is running out. And much of the give-and-take over how to balance Florida’s budget in the coming months will revolve around whether to replace stimulus cash - or cut services to the poor, sick and elderly by hundreds of millions of dollars. Read the rest of this entry »

By Kathleen Haughney, Tallahassee Bureau, December 11, 2011

Anti-immigration rhetoric flared up on Florida’s 2010 campaign trail and became a winning wedge issue for Gov. Rick Scott, who used it to woo the tea party and help win election. But with the 2012 legislative session fast approaching, social issues such as immigration, abortion and welfare change are taking a back seat in the state capital.

“I think that the top three issues will be job creation, a responsible budget that doesn’t raise taxes and reapportionment,” said House Speaker Dean Cannon. “And those things alone will occupy a huge amount of space during the process. Everything else — gaming, immigration, you name it — I would say is second to those three goals.”

That’s not to say that Florida lawmakers will totally ignore social issues. A number of bills have been filed on hot-button topics, but they will struggle for attention in a year likely to be dominated by budget cuts and the redrawing of congressional and legislative districts.

Cannon, R-Winter Park, has repeatedly said that the 2012 session, which begins Jan. 10, will have a narrow “bandwidth,” meaning issues that are normally attention-grabbers simply won’t make it onto the agenda.

An Arizona-style immigration law may be the prime example. Read the rest of this entry »

Florida Medicaid: A Division of the Agency for Health Care Administration

October 24, 2011

Receiving school therapy services does not prevent a child from receiving therapy services in a community setting or from a community based therapist.

Access to school-based services for eligible children will not change with the implementation of prior authorization through eQHealth on November 1, 2011. Prior authorization for these services is based on medical necessity and not contingent upon any therapy a recipient may receive from school. Prior authorization will be required for all fee-for-service community based physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology therapy.

For additional information, please contact your local Medicaid area office or refer to the Medicaid Therapy Services website at this link.

By Michelle Diament, disabilityscoop

November 22, 2011

About 5 percent of school-age children in the United States have a disability, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The statistic comes from a brief released this month offering an in-depth look at kids ages 5 through 17 with disabilities who live in community settings.

While the Census has long collected data on this group through its annual American Community Survey, this year marks the first time that government officials analyzed the results, said Matthew Brault, a Census statistician and the author of the report. Read the rest of this entry »

A new prior authorization program for Medicaid therapies began Nov. 1, requiring therapy providers to first obtain an authorization number for therapy services before treating clients.

The program administer is eQHealth, which also does prior authorizations for hospitals, home health, day treatment centers for medically fragile children and other Medicaid providers.

Unlike other Medicaid providers, the prior authorization process is new and unfamiliar to therapists.

The Alliance for Pediatric Therapies is receiving many calls and emails about technical challenges with the eQHealth system, ranging from payments to error codes. A common concern deals with plans of care.

We invite our Alliance members to utilize the new message board in the Members Only section of the website (click here). Members can post common problems and make suggestions.

The Alliance is also passing the concerns of our members onto the Agency for Health Care Administration for further assistance. We remain hopeful that the integration phase of this new program will get easier for everyone involved.

By Sam Baker, Healthwatch

NOV 14, 2011

Lawyers on both sides of the lawsuits over President Obama’s healthcare law were caught off guard Monday when the Supreme Court said it would debate whether the law’s Medicaid expansion is constitutional.

The high court was widely expected to take up the law’s individual mandate, and to take the case filed by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business. But the court’s decision to also hear the states’ Medicaid challenge came as a surprise to the healthcare law’s critics as well as its supporters.

“I don’t really know what that signals, but that signals something,” said Randy Barnett, a Georgetown University law professor who represents NFIB. Read the rest of this entry »

By Gary Fineout and Bill Kaczor, Associated Press

NOV 2, 2011

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Heading into a critical election year, Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders appear ready to scale back the number of substantial issues they plan to tackle in 2012.

Lawmakers already expect to be consumed by the once-in-a-decade chore of drawing new districts for themselves and for Congress. State leaders will also have to grapple with a budget shortfall that may be as much as $2 billion.

The prospect of a possibly highly charged political session - which starts in January this year - could discourage lawmakers from pushing for any major ideas. Read the rest of this entry »

By Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News Staff Writer

SEP 24, 2011

Autism treatment advocates have won one legislative battle after another since 2007, most recently in California, which sent a bill to the governor this month mandating that insurers cover the disorder. Now more than half the states have such requirements, but that success could be in jeopardy as federal officials set new national standards for health coverage.

Insurers and employers argue that the laws increase health costs because treatment is often expensive and lasts years. But the advocates have prevailed by using federal data showing a growing number of children with the disorder, compelling stories about middle-class families struggling to afford treatment and testimony from celebrity parents of children with autism, including former pro football stars Dan Marino and Doug Flutie. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Saunders:  The News Service of Florida

Posting or forwarding this material without permission is prohibited. Contact news@newsserviceflorida.com

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, September 23, 2011…..Florida is moving forward with a plan that will lead to health-insurance changes for thousands of state employees, after an appeals court broke a legal logjam this week.

The state Department of Management Services said Friday that UnitedHealthcare of Florida signed a contract to provide HMO services in 18 counties.

That announcement came after the 1st District Court of Appeal rejected parts of a legal challenge filed by United and declined to issue a stay. The other 49 counties will be divided among five HMOs that reached agreements with the state last week.

The department contends that the changes will save an estimated $400 million over two years, in part because of competition for the contracts. In most cases, employees will only be served by one HMO in each county, though they also can choose a preferred provider organization (PPO) plan offered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. Read the rest of this entry »