In the News
News-Press: Julio Fuentes: Support basic patient protections for employees
As president of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, I work every day to promote the economic advancement of over 400,000 Hispanic businesses in the State of Florida.
Our mission is breaking down administrative and bureaucratic barriers to ensure economic and political empowerment and a better quality of life in communities across Florida.
So, while we are committed to developing a more robust environment for investment, we are also committed to working towards making Florida a more vibrant place to raise a family.
One issue at the top of mind for many business people is health care. From the cost to their bottom line, to understanding changes in the law, to the need for a healthy workforce, our members, now more than ever, have to be more knowledgeable about health coverage and the quality of that coverage.
For instance, while we may see more people covered under new health plans, we are also seeing a growing policy within insurance plans to deny coverage until a cheaper medicine is tried and proven to be ineffective.
Some of these controls, such as prior authorization or fail first/step therapy, may have started as reasonable measures to contain costs. However, in some cases, they have been over-utilized, under the cloak of confusion surrounding health care, to the detriment of many employees.