Los expertos en políticas de salud están destacando una multitud de inquietudes con respecto al proceso de redeterminación de Medicaid de Florida, alegando que está dando como resultado una falta de cobertura para niños y familias elegibles.

Durante una convocatoria de medios el martes, los defensores argumentaron que a pesar del plan declarado por el Departamento de Niños y Familias de Florida para manejar la resolución de la emergencia de salud pública, la realidad ha estado marcada por el caos y la confusión.

Los datos oficiales publicados a finales de julio por CMS muestran que en el primer mes después de que terminaron las disposiciones federales de cobertura continua para Medicaid, 249,427 floridianos fueron dados de baja, el 82% de los cuales tenían sus casos cerrados por razones de procedimiento o "burocracia", como la falta de respuesta a un aviso.

Erica Monet Li del Instituto de Política de Florida, dice que el tiempo de espera del centro de llamadas del estado se encuentra entre los peores de los 17 estados que iniciaron redeterminaciones en abril.


"El 48% de las llamadas realizadas al DCF fueron abandonadas y el tiempo medio de espera para un primer contacto fue de 40 minutos antes de ser derivado a otra línea de ayuda," informa Monet.

El Departamento de Niños y Familias de Florida ha publicado una guía en su sitio web, sin embargo, los defensores dicen que algunos enlaces a la asistencia legal no funcionan, la traducción del inglés al español es confusa y necesita mejorías, y dicen que el sitio web debe modernizarse con una opción compatible con dispositivos móviles para facilitar la navegación de los floridanos.

Según los Centros de Servicios de Medicare y Medicaid, todos los estados deben presentar una estrategia para agilizar la reinscripción y reducir las pérdidas de cobertura.

Joan Alker, del Centro para Niños y Familias de Georgetown, señala que un mecanismo denominado renovaciones "ex-parte", destinado a simplificar la verificación basada en los ingresos y las renovaciones automáticas, sólo se está aplicando en Florida en aproximadamente un 19%.

Ella expresa su preocupación por la posibilidad de que los métodos de procesamiento del estado justifiquen una investigación.

"Debido a que Florida tiene una tasa ex-parte baja y una proporción relativamente alta de niños, Florida puede ser uno de los estados que está siendo investigado por este problema y esperamos que la aplicación de CMS lo siga," dice Alker.

Los defensores dicen que es difícil navegar por un proceso tan complejo y piden a los funcionarios de Florida que emitan una pausa en las redeterminaciones hasta que solucionen los problemas o puedan ejecutar adecuadamente el plan del estado.

Lynn Hearn del Florida Health Justice Project, que tiene un tablero en su sitio web para rastrear el proceso de redeterminación, dice que escucha muchas historias de personas que están confundidas acerca de los avisos del estado.

"El aviso tampoco indica claramente como apelar correctamente," subraya Hearn, "las instrucciones de apelación están perdidas en el aviso, después de un aviso de varias páginas, después de una página completa de códigos QR para otros programas potencialmente irrelevantes."

Florida es el único estado que no ha aprovechado las flexibilidades ofrecidas por los Centros de Medicaid que solucionarían problemas comunes, y los grupos instan a los líderes de Florida a centrarse en solucionar los problemas actuales para garantizar que los niños y las familias del estado que reúnen los requisitos no se queden sin la cobertura necesaria.

Toughing it out during spring allergy season is not in your best interest if you want to avoid asthma later in life.

New Mexico has plenty of grass and weed pollens carried by the wind which contribute to itchy, watery eyes, a stuffy nose and sneezing fits this time of year.

Dr. Osman Dokmeci, associate professor of internal medicine at the University of New Mexico, suggested for those who suffer acutely, seek an allergy test and possibly medication to prevent asthma from taking hold.

"One out of 10 has asthma in America," Dokmeci pointed out. "Having seasonal allergies increases your chance of developing asthma at least fivefold."

He recommended treating allergies early and as aggressively as possible. May is "Asthma Awareness Month," which aims to bring attention to the health issue and highlight improvements in care and quality of life. Nationwide, asthma affects more than 25 million Americans, including 4 million children, and disproportionately affects certain racial and ethnic groups.

Allergies do not "cause" asthma but people who have allergies, or have family members who have allergies, are more likely to get asthma than those who do not. Research shows allergy season is starting earlier and lasting longer. A 2022 study from the University of Michigan found pollen count could increase by 200% by the end of the century due to climate change, which is why Dokmeci stressed it is important not to ignore the problem.

"There's no treatment that actually makes your asthma not happen," Dokmeci explained. "But once you develop asthma, there are good treatment options."

The estimated economic impact of asthma is more than $80 billion per year from direct and indirect costs, such as missed school and workdays.

Recent research shows approximately half of people who die by suicide had contact with a health care professional within the month prior to their death.

However, a recent study shows only 8% of hospitals are currently implementing all four recommended suicide prevention practices: safety planning, warm handoffs to outpatient care, patient follow-up and lethal means counseling.

Melissa Tolstyka, director of Behavioral Health Services for Trinity Health Ann Arbor, said a seamless transition from inpatient to outpatient care is critical. At Ann Arbor, she saw a 46% increase in compliance with comprehensive suicide risk assessments and patients discharged on the suicide care pathway now receive a safety plan, which she sees as progress.

"We continue to see a need for really robust programming," Tolstyka explained. "Not just within the behavioral health world, but in the medical world as well. Our organization really wanted to focus on bringing the behavioral health and the medical services together to enhance our safer suicide care practices for our patients."

The initiative is being piloted across various units at Trinity Hospitals in Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids including the emergency department, psychiatric medical and inpatient nursing units. If you or anyone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by calling or texting 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Casie Sultana, clinical nurse leader for Trinity Health Grand Rapids, prioritizes patient well-being, emphasizing support and improvement over solely managing risks within the facility.

"We want to be someplace that people feel welcome to come to who are dealing with suicide," Sultana emphasized. "You feel so alone. It's a very lonely journey and we want people to come seek help and feel welcomed when they do that."

Susan Burchardt, clinical services manager at Trinity Grand Rapids, advised other hospitals considering a similar program to learn from organizations already using it.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.


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Access to reduced-price medication is a necessity for many rural Missourians with low income.

Rep. Cindy O'Laughlin, R-Shelbina, the Senate Floor Leader, said Big Pharma is trying to confuse legislators with unrelated hot-button topics such as abortion access and illegal immigration in a last-ditch effort to stop the state from joining a program to force drugmakers to sell medicines at a discount.

"Appealing to nuclear topics, which really do not apply in this situation, is a disingenuous way to try to defeat a bill that is actually good for Missouri," O'Laughlin asserted.

O'Laughlin pointed out the program is transparent, and uses the tax money saved to help low-income families deal with chronic conditions such as diabetes.

The drugmakers object to the government forcing them to give significant discounts, arguing hospitals' and for-profit pharmacies' bottom lines, particularly those owned by pharmacy benefits managers, are being exploited. Nationally, 46% of contract pharmacy agreements involve pharmacies linked to the three largest benefits managers.

Rep. Tara Peters, R-Rolla, introduced the 340B contract pharmacy access billand said the lobbying is absurd.

"Federally, 340B program does not allow for abortion drugs," Peters stressed. "Why would any legislation that we're trying to pass in the state allow for that? I mean, the thought of that even being in existence is absolutely ludicrous."

The Missouri Senate passed the bill 27-3 on Monday and it now goes to the House.


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