Floridians are frustrated with a complex healthcare system. Even the most simple questions are often difficult to answer. What will this procedure cost? Will my insurance cover it? Can I see the doctor I choose? How long will I have to wait for approval?<\/p>\n
Florida\u2019s next governor has an opportunity to put patients back at the center of healthcare. Byron Donalds has proposed a series of reforms aimed at doing exactly that. His \u201cYour Doctor, Your Price\u201d initiative would require hospitals and providers to publicly post cash prices for commonly used services, eliminate prior authorization requirements and surprise billing, and give Floridians greater freedom to see licensed providers of their choice.<\/p>\n
Donalds\u2019 ideas reflect an approach Americans for Prosperity-Florida has long supported: lower costs through transparency and competition, expand choices for patients, remove unnecessary barriers between doctors and the people they serve, and give individuals greater control over their own health care decisions.<\/p>\n
Knowing the price of care before receiving it should not be revolutionary. Neither should having meaningful choices about who provides your care. Yet too often, patients are expected to navigate a system where prices are difficult to find, administrative hurdles delay treatment, and decisions that should rest with patients and doctors are complicated by layers of bureaucracy.<\/p>\n
Florida can do better than the status quo.<\/p>\n
Donalds understands that price transparency can give families the information they need to make informed decisions. Greater provider competition can give patients more options. Direct primary care can strengthen relationships between doctors and patients without unnecessary middlemen. Reducing administrative barriers can allow healthcare professionals to spend more time treating patients instead of navigating paperwork.<\/p>\n
Then there is David Jolly\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n
Jolly has made Medicaid expansion a central component of his healthcare agenda. His plan calls for Florida to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act while also expanding primary care delivery through community health centers, county clinics, and nonprofit providers. Where Donalds\u2019 proposals emphasize prices, choice, and reducing barriers, Jolly would make expansion of a government healthcare program a major part of Florida\u2019s response to its healthcare challenges.<\/p>\n
Expanding Medicaid is not the answer. Coverage and access to care are not the same thing. Expanding Medicaid can increase the number of people enrolled in government coverage, but enrollment alone does not create more doctors, increase competition, make prices transparent or ensure that patients can get an appointment when they need one. Those are the underlying challenges Florida should be working to solve.<\/p>\n
Medicaid expansion would also create an additional long-term commitment for the state. Medicaid is jointly financed by state and federal governments, and the Affordable Care Act currently provides an enhanced federal matching rate for the expansion population. Expanding the program would commit Florida to financing its share and administering coverage for a larger eligible population.<\/p>\n
The debate over Florida\u2019s healthcare future should be about more than whether the government can enroll more people in a program. We should be asking whether patients can find a doctor, whether families know what their care will cost, whether Floridians have meaningful choices, whether providers are free to compete and innovate and whether reforms will remain sustainable over the long term.<\/p>\n
Those questions reveal a fundamental difference in approach. Donalds\u2019 healthcare proposals focus on empowering patients with more information, more choices and fewer barriers. Jolly\u2019s agenda would make Medicaid expansion a central piece of Florida\u2019s healthcare policy.<\/p>\n
Florida can improve access and affordability without expanding Medicaid. We can pursue reforms that strengthen competition, increase transparency and reduce unnecessary barriers. Ultimately we can put patients and their doctors back in control.<\/p>\n
Skylar Zander is the state director at Americans for Prosperity-Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Floridians are frustrated with a complex healthcare system. Even the most simple questions are often difficult to answer.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[483,28,30,29,482,109,76410],"class_list":["post-443442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-commentary","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-opinion","tag-social","tag-social-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}