Health care dominated the conversation on today’s Context Florida, with opposing posts on aspects of Obamacare, and another describing the many benefits of team-based care. A final piece, from Darryl Paulson, brought the third installment in a six-part series on black voting in Florida.
Daniel Tilson wrote on Gov. Rick Scott’s many efforts to undermine Obamacare, this time featuring the governor’s Monday letter to US congressional leaders sounding “the identity-theft alarm that only opponents of Obamacare seem to find in any way alarming.” While Scott addressed the letter to House Speaker Bohner and Senate Majority Leader Reid, Tilson submits that Scott clearly intended the memo for “the red meat consumption of Scott-leaning voters” heading into election season.
This Scott-leaning voter took a different look at the same issue — namely, how Obamacare supporters blame Republicans for tainting American opinion instead of looking reflectively at the plan’s flaws. According to this week’s USA TODAY/Pew polling, Obamacare has a major image problem even among liberals, and is facing its worst numbers yet in terms of support and awareness.
On far more common ground, Tim Stapleton, executive directors of the Florida Medical Association, and Jay Millson, executive director of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians, co-wrote a column on why “team-based care” is a phrase Floridians will hear a lot about in the coming months. The two associations, representing 25,000 physicians across the state, will advocate for long term solutions to expanding Florida’s health care workforce and access to primary care.
Finally, Darryl Paulson discussed the history of the poll tax in Florida, sharing that the Sunshine State was the first to adopt such a policy and one of four states that relied extensively on it to impede black voting. Paulson also talked about the use of violence to intimidate potential black voters. The next installment of Paulson’s series will focus on the literacy test and the grandfather clause.
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