Lottie Watts

Gov. Rick Scott has approved an increase in funding for the Agency for Persons with Disabilities to help about 750 people who are on the the waiting list for the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Medicaid waiver.

There are about 22,000 people on the waiting list.

Actress Angelina Jolie revealed this week that because she inherited a gene mutation that severely increases the risk of getting breast cancer, she decided to have a preventative double mastectomy, removing both of her breasts and then getting reconstructive surgery.  

Dr. Sue Friedman is the founder and executive director of an organization called FORCE, which stands for Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered. 

During the 2013 legislative session, Florida lawmakers were unable to agree on a plan to expand health care coverage for more low-income Floridians.  WUSF’s Carson Cooper talked to three state representatives about that issue for this week’s episode of Florida Matters, which aired Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on WUSF 89.7 FM. 

If you missed it, you can listen to the whole conversation here.

Florida lawmakers were unable to agree on a plan to expand health care coverage for more low-income Floridians.  We talked to three state representatives about that issue for this week’s episode of Florida Matters, which aired Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. on WUSF 89.7. 

Did you miss our Twitter chat? Not to worry -- you can view it anytime on Twitter by searching for the hashtag #HNFchat. 

Today, we discussed the Florida Legislature's decision to reject Medicaid expansion or an alternative, and the help available for uninsured Floridians under the Affordable Care Act.

Thanks to everyone for their questions and opinions.

The long-standing fight over how much doctors can mark up drugs for workers' compensation patients comes down to one thing now: Gov. Rick Scott's signature. 

The bill  limits the amount doctors can charge for drugs dispensed in their office to 12.5 percent over the average wholesale price. It increases the amount doctors get paid for giving patients the drug from $4 to $8.

Lawmakers in the Florida Senate voted 38 to 1 to pass the bill to create the Healthy Florida plan, state Sen. Joe Negron's alternative to Medicaid expansion.  

It accepts federal funds to provide premium assistance for about 1.1 million Floridians to buy health insurance.

Negron said people who receive the assistance will be responsible for co-pays and deductibles.

"This is not a giveaway program," Negron said. 

State Sen. Aaron Bean's bare-bones Florida Health Choices Plus plan is no longer an option.

An amendment presented by state Sen. Joe Negron removed the language to create that plan from the bill. Senators approved the amendment, which gives the Agency for Healthcare Administration $900,000 to fund the current Florida Health Choices Program, the state's insurance marketplace and deleted the language that created Sen. Bean's plan. 

The Florida Senate has passed a bill that limits doctors on how much they can charge for repackaged drugs for workers' compensation patients.

The bill, passed this afternoon by a vote of 39 to 0, caps the amount doctors can charge for the drugs to 12.5 percent over the average wholesale price. It  increases the amount doctors get paid for giving patients the drug from $4 to $8.

It is identical to the bill passed this morning by the House Health and Human Services Committee. 

State Rep. Mike Fasano, a longtime Republican legislator from New Port Richey, pleaded with his GOP colleagues to vote for the Senate's "bipartisan plan" to cover 1.1 million low-income uninsured Floridians.

Fasano begged them to "bridge the aisle" that separates the political parties in Tallahassee. He asked them to accept the Healthy Florida plan by state Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, which he presented as an amendment that would replace a House plan.

The House Appropriations Committee today passed HB 7169, a measure that creates a program called Florida Health Choices Plus, that will cover about 115,000 people.  

The Senate Appropriations Committee tacked on language to a bill to loosen regulations for approving new trauma centers, the the Miami Herald reports. That's similar to a move a committee in the Florida House made earlier this week.

For six years, the family nanny sexually abused Lauren Book. 

As a survivor, she has made it her mission to prevent other children from being abused. She's walking across the state for the fourth "Walk in My Shoes" campaign. It's a 1,500-mile journey that will end in Tallahassee, where she will press for a new law to help children who have been abused.

A hospital in West Palm Beach is trying out an electronic product that uses colored lights and -- as a last resort -- beeps to warn busy hospital nurses to wash their hands as they enter a patient’s room, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. Hand-washing seems like a no-brainer, but studies have found many health professionals forget, leading to the spread of MRSA and other infections.   

The state Senate Select Committee on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act wants Florida to pay for health insurance for temporary state employees who work more than 30 hours a week. 

State Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, said going along with this part of the new federal health law is the best option.

"This is just another example of the circumstances where the cost of compliance is $120, $130 million," Simmons said.  "The cost of non-compliance is $318 million."