In “Central Floridians wonder, worry about health care,” an article featured in the Orlando Sentinel, Naseem Miller writes:

“A day after the U.S. House approved a Republican health-care reform bill, Central Floridians were left wondering how it would affect them.

‘I’m thrilled that they’re trying to do something. I’m just not sure what it means,’ Deborah Graham, a practice manager for Orlando Urology Associates, said Friday. ‘I don’t have faith that they’ve actually talked to doctors, other providers and practice managers. … we’re the engine, the doctors and the medical staff.’

The legislation, which was passed on a tight 217-213 vote, still has to get through the U.S. Senate.

President Trump has said the Affordable Health Care Act will lower premiums and deductibles, but opponents of the bill worry that many will lose their insurance and coverage would get more expensive for low-income individuals.

‘The AHCA would shift $7 billion in Medicaid costs to Florida over the coming decade,’ said Joseph Pennisi, executive director of Lake Mary-based Florida Policy Institute, in a news release. ‘Further, since this bill allows states to waive protections for pre-existing conditions, Floridians with cancer, diabetes and asthma could be denied life-saving health care coverage.’

Florida has a lot at stake; more than 1.7 million people in the state have signed up for a plan in 2017, once again leading the nation in the number of people who picked a plan in the federal health insurance marketplace.

More than 130,000 people in Orange County enrolled in a plan this year, up from 121,000 in 2016 and 109,000 in 2015. The number of enrollees also increased between 2015 and 2017 in Lake and Osceola counties. The only county that saw a drop was Seminole, where enrollment dipped from 37,000 in 2016 to 36,500 in 2017.”

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