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Friday's Afternoon Update
What you need to know about Florida Today
Census: 30% of Floridians without health insurance
Florida ranks second-worst among states in percentage of working-age population without health insurance. 29.8 percent of Floridians age 18-64 didn't have health insurance in 2010, according to new Census Bureau data released this week. Only Texas, with 31.6 percent of working-age citizens without health insurance, is lower. The data shows nearly 1.6 million Floridians making under $15,372 a year were not covered by health insurance in 2010 and would be eligible for Medicaid if the state went along with a controversial expansion of the program under the Affordable Care Act. Gov. Rick Scott has said the state will not go along with an optional expansion of Medicaid eligibility, partly because of potential costs. More from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Column: Business lessons to draw from the RNC
Robert Trigaux, business columnist for the Tampa Bay Times, gives three examples other communities can learn from when staging huge civic events. He liked Front Row Tampa Bay with their live-streaming and marketing efforts at the RNC. Trigaux looked at how big business and Super PACs s entertained and influenced GOP delegates outside the convention center. And he speculated on why protests were nearly nonexistent. Read his column at the Tampa Bay Times.
FHP joins national crackdown
"Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" is the traffic theme this Labor Day weekend, courtesy the Florida Highway Patrol. The Patrol will join thousands of other law enforcement and highway safety agencies across the nation to remove impaired drivers from Florida’s roadways in an effort to save lives. "In an effort to get drunk and drugged drivers off the roads, FHP troopers will aggressively look for impaired drivers during the crackdown," said FHP Director Col. David Brierton. More from AP.
» FRIDAY PREVIEW: Next week on FloridaTrend.com, we'll be running a series on Health Care Trends in Florida, including
- Cutting Edge Technology: Advanced training for doctors and other medical professionals in Florida
- Pharmaceuticals: An analysis about physicians dispensing prescriptions
- Profile of Capital Health Plan: The Tallahassee-based HMO has held down costs and kept its customers happy
- Proton Therapy: There's a medical arms race in Florida
- The road ahead under the ACA: Three effects of the Affordable Care Act in Florida
» You'll find all these stories first on the Daily and Afternoon Pulse e-mails.
Labor Day Weekend in Florida Labor Day may mean the unofficial end of summer, but in Florida, the outdoor fun goes on and on. Here are some links for lists of events happening this weekend in the Sunshine State. Have a happy, and safe, Labor Day! • Okeechobee: Annual Okeechobee Cattlemen's Labor Day Rodeo |
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