Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida TaxWatch released Social Determinants of Health: Social and Community Context, the fourth commentary in a five-part series that will explore […]
Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida TaxWatch released Social Determinants of Health: Neighborhood and Built Environment, the third commentary in a five-part series that will explore
Similar to demographic trends across the U.S., Florida will encounter a rapid increase in the number of elderly residents requiring long-term care and services. Florida’s 65 and older population is anticipated to grow by 52.1 percent over the next two decades from 4.4 to 6.7 million elderly residents. A variety of continuum of care options exists to accommodate the impending rise in long-term healthcare utilization, ranging from nursing homes to home and community-based settings. Not only do these options differ in their public costs and quality outcomes, but the COVID-19 pandemic has spotlighted the importance of physical risk and exposure to infection when considering what long-term settings exist. Due to the projected growth in Florida’s elderly population over the coming decades, it will be critical to expand resources across the state’s entire continuum of care.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the opportunity- and the need- to make telehealth as accessible as practicable. Telehealth helps reach audiences that may otherwise be unable to access care and provides the opportunity to improve patient care, treatment, education, and services, and ultimately bend the cost curve.
Telemedicine increases access to quality care and can be used as an innovative tool to reduce costly medical interventions such as emergency room utilization and length of hospital stay.
Since 2014, Florida TaxWatch has researched and supported the expansion of telehealth (see Critical Connections to Care and Telehealth in Florida: Where We Are and What is Next) and our work has consistently found that telemedicine provides a way for Florida to increase self-sufficiency, contain costs, and improve health care access and outcomes.
My name is Dominic M. Calabro, and I am President and CEO of Florida TaxWatch, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, taxpayer research institute and government watchdog which, for over 40 years, has worked hard to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability of Florida government and promote a fair and equitable system of taxation.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) released its latest report, Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) , which finds that participants in this innovative program enjoy a higher quality of care, improved quality of life, and consume services at a lower cost than that of other comparable Medicaid and Medicare programs. PACE is a comprehensive, long-term care program where a single provider is responsible for all primary, acute, and long-term care services, as well as all appropriate social, restorative, and supportive services for adults 55 or older at home or in health care facilities who are certified as needing nursing home level of care.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A new report by Florida’s premier independent government watchdog, Florida TaxWatch, finds that increasing access to palliative care can play an important role in improving patients’ quality of life and reducing healthcare spending.
Introduction Many in the Florida Legislature have been rightly criticizing local governments for rapidly increasing property taxes and budgets. The property tax debate and the
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