Welcome to the Coalition to Heal Florida’s Healthcare
You Can Help Save Healthcare for 45,000 Floridians
Medicaid Medically Needy and Aged/Disabled programs must be protected. Florida cannot eliminate healthcare coverage for 45,000 vulnerable Floridians. Smoking impacts nearly every citizen of Florida, either first-hand or through second-hand smoke. Teenagers continue to begin smoking at ever-younger ages—now at the rate of almost 4,000 per day. The costs in terms of lost wages, loss of health, and loss of hope as these smokers become sick is overwhelming to our community. Something needs to be done.
And why is a tobacco tax increase a good idea? Because nothing has been shown to reduce teen smoking as much as an increase in the price per pack. Adult smoking drops 4% and youth smoking by 7% with each 10% increase in price.
And there’s more. Without an increase in the tobacco tax, the Medicaid programs which fund services for the Medically Needy and Aged and Disabled, may be eliminated. This means 45,000 Floridians will lose their healthcare coverage. Not only will these persons become sicker, but their unfunded visits to emergency rooms and urgent care centers will overwhelm hospitals and healthcare agencies. The increase in the tobacco tax would also be an investment in Florida’s healthy future. Research is needed at the biomedical level; residents and nurses must be educated and kept here in Florida—where they provide up to 75% of care to the indigent; and programs for pregnant women, children, and newborns must not be eliminated.
Please look into these facts for yourself and join our coalition. You can sign-up for legislative alerts and even send an e-mail to your legislator. Together, we can make Floridians aware of the importance of increasing—not decreasing—money to help stop smoking and enhance the healthcare we provide to all of our Florida’s citizens.
Listed below are tools you can use when communicating to legislators, community and business leaders and your colleagues. Please join us in a Coalition to Health Florida’s Healthcare.
