Reporting on Health Care and Health Insurance: The Florida Story

Health care costs for Florida and the nation are skyrocketing. At the same time, health plans are often inadequate to cover those who are insured. The number of uninsured is rising. Many areas of health care are experiencing what has been termed an “extreme shortage” of personnel.

Foundation for American Communications will provide background on these issues in a seminar for journalists on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at the Orlando Sentinel.

The faculty includes:

• Paul R. Duncan, Ph.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Health Services Research at the University of Florida. He will focus on the present status of health insurance in Florida, including a discussion of the number and characteristics of uninsured Floridians, the impact of health insurance on health and health care; the consequences for hospitals and other providers; the consequences for insured people, and the various means by which they obtain insurance.
• Glen Mays, Ph.D., Chairman, Department of Health Policy and Management, University of Arkansas. Mays will review recent trends in health care spending both nationally and in Florida specifically, examining the major components that drive health care spending. He will examine how health insurers, policymakers, and consumers are responding to these trends in terms of recent developments for cost control and care management.
• Andrea C. Gregg, DSN, R.N., Campus Director and Associate Professor, University of Florida College of Nursing. She will discuss the workforce shortage in Florida health care, with an emphasis on nursing. Gregg serves on the board of directors of Gov. Jeb Bush’s new Florida Center for Nursing and is a trustee of the Florida Nurses Foundation. She also serves on the Florida Hospital Association’s nursing shortage advisory committee and is a member of the Council on Collegiate Education for Nursing.

The seminar includes breakfast and lunch. There is no cost to attend, but participants must be registered in advance. For further details or to register, go to http://www.facsnet.org

FACS is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational institution providing seminars for journalists on complex issues in the news. FACS is a programming partner of SPJ.