TAMPA — A bipartisan pair of state lawmakers spent 90 minutes Thursday hearing from health care professionals about what is wrong with the system in Florida and what might be done to change it.
Contending that all healthcare is local, Florida state Rep. Gallop Franklin (D-Tallahassee) has been holding roundtable discussions with physicians, hospital administrators, members of provider organizations, and academic institutions around the state to gain insight about the biggest problems in the system.
After previous meetings in Miami and Tallahassee, Franklin came to Tampa Thursday, where he co-chaired a roundtable discussion with state Rep. Adam Anderson (R-Tarpon Springs) and more than three dozen health care professionals at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine.
With dozens of issues to contend with, Franklin, a pharmacist, said the goal of these meetings is to “try to synthesize and digest what are some of the lower-hanging fruit that we might get done faster and what are some of the larger complicating issues that’s going to take additional meetings and additional work.”
“We’re really trying to drive a better quality of life for patient outcomes, and it’s good to have all perspectives to do that, and so there’s a ton of ideas that you heard today,” he added following the meeting.
Among the problems that the panelists discussed were frustrations with Medicare Advantage plans, workforce shortages, and credentialing delays for health care workers.
Ghost networksRosemarie Latham, government affairs chair with the Florida Association of Nurse Practitioners, said “ghost networks” are adding to the lack of available physicians in a community.
Ghost networks refer to providers being listed in a health plan’s provider directory who aren’t available to provide care as indicated. Studies have shown that it’s common to encounter these networks while looking for care.
Rosemarie Latham, the govt. affairs chair with the Florida Association of Nurse Practitioners, in Tampa on September 18, 2025 (Photo by Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix) “The payers keep a list of who their providers are,” she said. “That list is not current. That list can include dead providers. That list can include providers who are no longer practicing. That list can include providers on multiple lists, because when they are credentialed, they need to be credentialed at an address.
“So, if an organization has multiple sites in which they provide care, that provider needs to be credentialed at each of the sites. So, that is falsely and erroneously inflating the amount of providers that are available. That is wrong, and that is resulting in providers not able to be empanelled, credentialed, whatever verbiage that you would want to use to become network providers, because they are denied because there are [supposedly] enough providers in the area. It is a false narrative. Ghost networks need to be rectified quickly.”
There were complaints about reimbursement payments.
“All across the state, with the exception of Miami-Dade … we’re struggling with EMTs and paramedics to get them to go to school to make a wage that’s supported by a reimbursement rate that’s woefully low,” said Terence Ramotar, director of government affairs with the Florida Ambulance Association.
The cost in Florida for an ambulance ride can range from $600-1,000, he said. Medicaid, he continued, pays only $136 per trip with no mileage.
“Funding is the most important, right? We are trying to get EMTs in this area. Thirteen, fourteen bucks an hour? Amazon’s a better option.
“But we can’t get the reimbursement. Most of our stuff is government-funded, or commercial insurance-funded. All of which under-reimburses the cost. So that ends up backing up the entire system. So we have to get there. The emergencies come first, which are inundated, and then we have to prioritize the non-emergency [calls] and then ensure that we can make payroll. It’s a scary world.”
Rep. Anderson, chairman of the Health Care Facilities & Systems Subcommittee, told the attendees at the conclusion of the meeting that it was vitally important to get their input. But he acknowledged that legislative remedies may not be imminent.
“These things can take a long time to fix, right?” he said. “Sometimes these larger initiatives are procedures that take multiple years, multiple sessions to get things done. So don’t be discouraged if you don’t see some progress at the beginning of this session that’s coming up.”
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCareMeanwhile, a major health care decision is scheduled to take place in Florida’s capital city next month.
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) and Florida State University have reached a tentative agreement after months of negotiating. TMH would become a part of FSU Health, with the university taking control of all city-owned assets of the hospital, as reported by the Tallahassee Democrat. That is, if the Tallahassee City Commission approves the deal sometime in October.
Franklin said he supports the general idea of having an academic hospital system, but that the question is what the structure of such a partnership would look like.
“Should it be how it is where the local government still owns the property and then there’s an engagement between, FSU being with TMH in a way that works for both of them?” he said. “Should that structure be where Florida State actually owns the property? Should it be where TMH owns that property, right? So I think that structure is the more complicated part.”
Franklin added that he intends to hold future roundtable health care discussions in Broward County, Orlando, the Naples-Fort Myers region, Jacksonville, and a location in the Panhandle, possibly Pensacola.
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