Hospice and Palliative Care Hospice and Palliative Care

Hospice and Palliative Care

Florida is a National Leader Among the States Looked to for Best Practices in Compassionate Care

/ Categories: Research, Budget/Approps, Cost Savings, Economic Development, Health Care, Retirement, Workforce Development

Florida's aging population is driving sustained demand for cost-effective, patient-centered care across the continuum. Palliative care—non-curative, interdisciplinary support for patients with serious but often nonterminal conditions—improves quality of life and can lower overall costs when introduced early in the disease course. Hospice provides end-of-life care once a clinician certifies a terminal prognosis; in Florida, hospice providers operate under a Certificate of Need (CON) program that authorizes new entrants only when unmet need is demonstrated through twice-yearly batching cycles.

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Enhancing Lives, Ensuring Accountability: The Value of Florida’s Behavioral Health Managing Entities Enhancing Lives, Ensuring Accountability: The Value of Florida’s Behavioral Health Managing Entities

Enhancing Lives, Ensuring Accountability: The Value of Florida’s Behavioral Health Managing Entities

Tenth Year Review

/ Categories: Research, Cost Savings, Health Care

Florida’s Behavioral Health Managing Entities (BHMEs) are at the heart of an innovative, community-based network delivering critical mental health and substance use services across the state. This report’s summary reveals how BHMEs efficiently coordinate a vast network of providers with minimal overhead—ensuring accessible, continuous care for vulnerable populations—while highlighting the risk that stagnant operational funding poses to their long-term sustainability. It ultimately recommends boosting operational funding from 3% to 5% to maintain the system’s effectiveness and guide future policy decisions.

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Social Determinants of Health: Social and Community Context Social Determinants of Health: Social and Community Context

Social Determinants of Health: Social and Community Context

/ Categories: Research, Institute of Quality Health and Aging,

This research examines how social relationships and community dynamics profoundly influence individual health outcomes. The report reveals critical insights into the complex interactions between social support, community engagement, and personal well-being

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Social Determinants of Health: Neighborhood and Built Environment Social Determinants of Health: Neighborhood and Built Environment

Social Determinants of Health: Neighborhood and Built Environment

/ Categories: Research, Housing Affordability, Institute of Quality Health and Aging,

Florida TaxWatch's latest report looks into how neighborhood and built environment factors significantly affect community health. The analysis highlights the impact of poor housing conditions, overcrowding, and limited access to essential resources like healthcare and healthy food, which elevate the risk of chronic illnesses and mental health challenges. Unsafe neighborhoods and environmental hazards also disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. The report underscores the need for strategic community investments to improve health outcomes and economic stability, advocating for healthier and safer environments that can lead to reduced healthcare costs.

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«September 2025»
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8/28/2025
Government Efficiency Should Not Be Something We Do Every Four Years

Government Efficiency Should Not Be Something We Do Every Four Years

Florida has proven ideas, demonstrated wins, and active tools; now it needs permanence. By embedding efficiency into the annual budget cycle—backed by transparent tracking and regular reporting—the state can convert sporadic initiatives into sustained savings and better service delivery for taxpayers.

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9/2/2025
Apportionment Changes Amid Policy Proposals

Apportionment Changes Amid Policy Proposals

Apportionment Changes Amid Policy Proposals explains how Florida’s 2020 Census undercount—about 750,000 residents (3.48%)—reduced the state’s political representation and likely cost billions of dollars in federal funding over the decade. The report examines what Florida stood to gain if the count had been accurate and how proposed changes to who is counted could affect future apportionment.

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9/4/2025
The Taxpayer's Guide to Florida's FY2025-26 State Budget

The Taxpayer's Guide to Florida's FY2025-26 State Budget

Florida TaxWatch’s The Taxpayers’ Guide to Florida’s FY2025-26 State Budget explains the Legislature’s $114.8 billion spending plan (after $376 million in line-item vetoes)—a 3.2% decrease from FY2024-25—while maintaining $12.6 billion in reserves. General Revenue (GR) spending rises by $556 million, and the recurring GR base increases by $1.9 billion, even as total positions fall to 111,886 (-1,871).

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9/10/2025
Trends in the Cost of Construction Materials

Trends in the Cost of Construction Materials

Construction is a cornerstone of Florida's economy, contributing $97 billion (5.7 percent) to the state's GDP in 2024. However, rising material costs are presenting significant challenges to the industry, impacting everything from large-scale infrastructure projects to residential home building and affordability for Florida taxpayers. This report from Florida TaxWatch examines the national and statewide trends driving these price increases and their potential consequences.

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