Healthcare trends changing access and costs in Florida

Coverage shifts, consolidation and denials are reshaping healthcare access and costs across America.

Catch up with the coverage below:

Eric and Rebecca Tennant of Bridgeport, West Virginia, fought for months to get Eric’s cancer treatment approved by his insurer. When West Virginia’s Public Employees Insurance Agency eventually decided to reverse the denial in May, Eric had become too sick for the procedure.

NO. 1: ‘NOT ACCOUNTABLE TO ANYONE.’ INSURERS ISSUE DENIALS, PATIENTS RUN OUT OF OPTIONS

How people are navigating the healthcare system. | Published June 16, 2025 | Read Full Story by Lauren Sausser

Stephanie Johnson, a geriatric nurse practitioner, checks her patient Ellen with a stethoscope during a hospice consult. By Jariel Arvin

NO. 2: NURSE PRACTITIONERS ARE TREATING OLDER ADULTS AS RANKS OF GERIATRICIANS SHRINK

What to know about what’s happening with senior care. | Published June 21, 2025 | Read Full Story by Jariel Arvin

Francoise Cham of Miami has health insurance coverage for herself and her daughter through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, also known as Obamacare. The budget law signed by President Donald Trump on July 4 creates new rules for verifying eligibility for subsidized coverage, shorter enrollment periods, and other changes that will cause about 870,000 Floridians to lose health insurance by 2034. By Daniel Chang

NO. 3: EVEN IN STATES THAT FOUGHT OBAMACARE, TRUMP’S NEW LAW POSES HEALTH CONSEQUENCES

GOP lawmakers in the 10 states that refused the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion for over a decade have argued their conservative approach to growing government programs would pay off in the long run. | Published August 11, 2025 | Read Full Story by Daniel Chang and Sam Whitehead

Affordable Care Act declares that young adults who turn 26 generally must get off their family’s plan and figure out their coverage themselves.

NO. 4: WHY YOUNG AMERICANS DREAD TURNING 26 AS THEY FACE HEALTH INSURANCE CHAOS

Amid the challenges of adulthood, one rite of passage is unique to the United States: | Published August 12, 2025 | Read Full Story by Elisabeth Rosenthal and Hannah Norman

Patients aren’t the only ones using AI to explain test results

NO. 5: AN AI ASSISTANT CAN EXPLAIN MEDICAL LAB RESULTS FOR YOU. READY FOR THE INFO?

When Judith Miller had routine blood work done in July, she got a phone alert the same day that her lab results were posted online. | Published September 15, 2025 | Read Full Story by Kate Ruder

Medical debt continues to grow as hospital financial assistance fails to cover all patients, leaving many to navigate costly medical billing challenges.

NO. 6: LOOPHOLES IN HOSPITAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE MEAN PATIENTS GET STUCK WITH THE BILL

Quinn Cochran-Zipp went to the emergency room three times with severe abdominal pain before doctors figured out she had early-stage cancer in the germ cells of her right ovary. | Published September 30, 2025 | Read Full Story by Michelle Andrews

Health care drove nearly half of U.S. job gains in 2025, but immigration enforcement and Medicaid cuts risk slowing hiring and reducing jobs across the sector.

NO. 7: HEALTH CARE EMPLOYMENT GROWTH CLOUDED BY IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN AND MEDICAID CUTS

The health care sector is a bright spot in the economy this year, driving nearly half of the nation’s employment gains, but economists and experts say immigration crackdowns and looming Medicaid cuts pose a threat to future job growth. | Published October 3, 2025 | Read Full Story by Phillip Reese

CDC’s updated fall guidance clarifies COVID, flu and RSV recommendations for people 6 months and older. Health plans cover shots By D.A. Varela

NO. 8: CONFUSED ABOUT VACCINES? NEW GUIDANCE ISSUED FOR COVID, FLU AND OTHER SHOTS

For people whose autumn agenda includes getting vaccinated against respiratory diseases — COVID, flu, and, for some, RSV — this year may be surprisingly routine. | Published October 23, 2025 | Read Full Story by Michelle Andrews

Employer-sponsored family premiums rose 6% to $26,993 in 2025, driving higher deductibles and cost sharing as drug and hospital prices strain workers and employers.

NO. 9: AS HEALTH COMPANIES GET BIGGER, SO DO THE BILLS. WILL TRUMP’S TEAM INTERVENE?

A cancer patient might live in a town with four oncology groups, but only one accepts his insurance — the one owned by his insurer. | Published November 11, 2025 | Read Full Story by Elisabeth Rosenthal

A nurse gives a vaccine to prevent pertussis.

NO. 10: WANING IMMUNITY AND FALLING VACCINATION RATES FUEL A FLORIDA PERTUSSIS SURGE

Rates of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, are surging in Florida, California, Texas and other states. | Published November 21, 2025 | Read Full Story by Céline Gounder

Applicants in Miami line up at a mall to register for Obamacare in 2014.

NO. 11: OBAMACARE ENROLLMENT FRAUD? SEE RISKS OF PLAN-SWITCHING AND IMPERSONATIONS

Florida resident Keith Jones says his Affordable Care Act insurance plan was changed multiple times this year without his permission. | Published December 11, 2025 | Read Full Story by Julie Appleby

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.