KATHLEEN PASSIDOMO: Gov. DeSantis signs Kathleen Passidomo’s signature ‘Live Healthy’ package

Florida Politics

Christine Jordan Sexton

March 21, 2024

'This is a game changer, our state will forever be changed.'

Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a health care overhaul orchestrated by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, who called it the pinnacle of her legislative career.

The suite of bills (SB 1758, SB 7016, SB 7018 and SB 330) deal with everything from where babies are born to the creation of new behavioral health teaching hospitals. But the core of the legislation is designed to boost the number of health care professionals working in a state that is growing yet also getting older.

“This is a game changer, our state will forever be changed,” said Passidomo before DeSantis signed the bills at an event held in Bonita Springs. Joining DeSantis and Passidomo were Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, Agency for Persons with Disabilities Director Taylor Hatch and Tampa General Hospital CEO Jon Couris, along with a bevy of legislators involved in passing the bills.

Combined, the bills infuse about $1.2 billion into Florida’s health care workforce so the state can prepare for a burgeoning and aging population.

Live Healthy does not include a Medicaid expansion as allowable under the federal health care law often referred to as Obamacare. Passidomo repeatedly throughout the 2024 Session said expanding Medicaid would not guarantee access to health care. She reiterated those comments Thursday at the bill signing.

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