ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
MGN Online FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) – Florida health officials and lawmakers are facing a quandary over how to replace the likely annual loss of $1.3 billion in federal funds which compensate hospitals and providers that care for large numbers of uninsured and Medicaid patients. The state has known for some time that the so-called low-income pool funding will likely end in June. It’s still unclear what the bottom line impact will be on the state budget, but the seemingly inevitable loss in hospital funding could be just the ammunition that Medicaid expansion proponents have been looking for. The federal government asked Florida to study alternate ways to help hospitals pay for treating uninsured and Medicaid patients. A report released late Thursday offers three possibilities, including expanding Medicaid to roughly 1 million more low-income Floridians, which Republican lawmakers have vehemently opposed. But they may warm to the idea when faced with the possibility of having to dip into general revenue funds. The Legislature, which convenes in March, would have to approve any expansion. Federal health officials have given Florida’s low income pool more than $1 billion a year since 2005, but are likely stopping the funds this summer because the Affordable Care Act assumed that states would expand Medicaid and that hospitals wouldn’t need those funds because more patients would have insurance. But when Florida lawmakers rejected Medicaid expansion in 2013, hospitals have lobbied aggressively about the negative impacts of losing those critical funds. The report laid out two other possible ways to replace the federal funds, including switching to a broad-based funding source, which could include a health care related tax and an increase in how much patients and insurance companies pay for services. Another possibility is to create an incentive program that pays hospitals for quality health outcomes such as low infection and re-admission rates. But hospitals generally do not like that approach because they aren’t guaranteed payments as they are now and would only get the funds if they meet certain objectives. The report warns “no single option or combination thereof is void of drawbacks.” The reports points out that Medicaid expansion would significantly reduce the amount of uninsured, but warns the state might not want to pick up the tab. The federal government has agreed to pay 100 percent of the bill for the first three years and 90 percent after that. But one of the main reasons state Republicans rejected expansion in 2013 is because they worried the feds won’t make good on their 90 percent commitment, leaving Florida on the hook for billions of dollars. Florida hospital groups are pushing for Medicaid expansion and a replacement funding source, saying both are essential. “Florida has over 3 million people without health care coverage. Most work in low wage jobs that do not offer health benefits. They often lack access to primary care and wait until serious illness arises before seeking treatment. The uncompensated care that results is something Florida’s businesses and patients have come to understand through higher health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs,” Florida Hospital Association President Bruce Rueben said, noting the challenges in the current Medicaid program highlighted in the report. The state transitioned its Medicaid program to a managed care model last year, paying private insurance companies a set amount of money to care for patients. The loss of federal hospital dollars could also impact those insurers. That’s because some hospitals like Miami’s Jackson Health System are able to get local government funding to offset their costs for caring for so many uninsured patients. When the federal hospital funding dipped during the recession, some hospitals gave their local funds to the state so the state could draw more federal dollars and essentially buy back their rate cuts. “If insurance companies have to increase how much they pay hospitals to make up for this loss, then it could impact the state budget because the state might have to pay insurers more money to manage Medicaid populations,” Florida’s Medicaid director Justin Senior told a Senate committee last week. When asked how much it could impact the state budget, Senior said it’s difficult to predict. “There are $800 million in local tax dollars that go to support hospital rates,” and he said it’s possible that all, none or some of it would have to come from state’s general revenue.