If you’re reading this, odds are good you live in the real world. The world where people are worried about barbaric terrorist attacks against Israel, the cost and availability of property insurance, and the latest “just when you think they can’t get any more out of touch” headlines emerging from Washington D.C. Odds are also pretty good that a teenager or young adult you care about in this post-COVID world is grappling with depression. Or maybe it’s a medical bill you weren’t expecting that bears no rational relationship to reality. Or you’re watching in frustration as government largess makes some wealthy, while inflation puts your family farther and farther behind. You’re not alone.
Since 2020, I have represented Clay County in the Florida House of Representatives, and currently chair the Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee. We all know health care is ridiculously expensive. What you may not know, is our state’s health care budget comes in at approximately $45 billion. (That’s billion with a “B!”) Tallahassee spends more money on health care than all but 12 of our fellow states’ total annual budgets in their entirety.
As we begin preparations for January’s Legislative Session, here are three real world needs I anticipate being a specific focus of this year’s House health care budget.
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH: We live in the most affluent, prosperous, technologically sophisticated society in the history of the world. And yet, substance abuse, anxiety, depression, and suicide, especially involving teens and young adults, are through the roof. Something is seriously wrong.
I firmly believe this is the biggest challenge of our post-COVID world. Now more than ever, funding health care for Floridians includes the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health conditions. This will be a massive, multi-year undertaking and the sad reality is there’s not enough money in the world to fix all the behavioral health problems our society has created for itself.
That is why Florida must be strategic in our approach and focus first on those with the most severe, acute illnesses and treatment needs. We must look at our state mental health hospitals and ask: Do we have enough beds? Do we have the right people in those beds? And are we providing the right treatment, focusing on the highest possible quality care at the lowest possible cost? A challenge this large can seem overwhelming, but this is where we must start.
TRANSPARENCY: Before we can solve a problem, we must first understand it; and data is essential to understanding the ever-increasing price of care.
In 2016, Florida established itself as a national leader by creating a health care transparency database and website to provide our citizens with the information necessary to be wise consumers of health care. Now, nearly eight years on, it is time to circle back and see if the project is achieving its intended results. We must distinguish between data and platforms that facilitate reliable and informed decision-making (good) and those that perpetuate bureaucratic busy-work (bad).
ACCOUNTABILITY: With so much taxpayer money being spent on health care, we must create and support systems that reduce the risk of fraud, waste, and abuse. Bad actors who take advantage of our most vulnerable must be held accountable. Transparency and accountability are required in equal measures. Nothing less can be tolerated.
We can all be thankful that Tallahassee isn’t Washington D.C. Floridians live in the real world, and I can report with confidence that Governor DeSantis and your Legislature work hard to solve the equally real health care challenges that life throws at us all.
Our state and our families deserve nothing less.
State Representative Sam Garrison (R-Fleming Island) was first elected to office in 2020 and serves as the chair of the Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee. He is slated to become speaker of the Florida House in 2026.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Florida health care budget to include behavioral health priorities
