His healthcare policy record is being scrutinized as he gears up for a potential 2024 White House bid. In this second part of a five-part series, we examine DeSantis's healthcare policies and their impact on Florida.
According to a Washington Times report, conservatives have praised DeSantis for his response to the Coronavirus pandemic. He criticized mask and vaccination mandates, lockdowns, and school closures that were being pursued in states across the country.
He became an early critic of former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, saying last year that "someone needs to grab that little elf and chuck him across the Potomac."
DeSantis was later than most governors in imposing lockdowns on April 1, 2020, and started loosening restrictions after only 28 days. By September 25, 2020, he lifted the sanctions, declaring in his executive order that Florida had "suffered economic harm."
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Paragon Health Institute President Brian Blase told the Washington Examiner, "DeSantis's policies to target protective measures for the most vulnerable, avoid mandates, and keep schools and businesses open led Florida to have one of the best overall COVID responses in the country."
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In January 2023, DeSantis launched the "Prescribe Freedom" initiative, which passed the Florida legislature, aimed at permanently ending mask and vaccine requirements and allowing "protecting medical freedom of speech" of physicians. The bill will enable doctors to "disagree with the preferred narrative of the medical community."
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DeSantis is pushing back even further on the Coronavirus response, starting the Public Health Integrity Committee, overseen by Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, to assess federal public health recommendations to decide whether Florida will follow them.
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The move comes with the state filing a petition for a grand jury to "investigate crimes and wrongdoing committed against Floridians related to the COVID-19 vaccine," as well as an inquiry into "sudden deaths of individuals that received the COVID-19 vaccine."
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The Washington Times reported that under DeSantis, Florida has taken on the American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics, pushing the "gender-affirming care" model of responding to children with gender dysphoria.
In 2022, Ladapo issued guidance stating social transitions — like allowing children to use different names, pronouns, and restrooms — and genital mutilation surgeries "should not be a treatment option for children." The guidance also says children should not be prescribed drugs such as puberty blockers and hormone therapies.
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Florida's legislature recently passed several bills related to treating gender dysphoric children, which DeSantis is expected to sign. One bill bans using puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and surgeries on children, allowing courts to remove children from homes that would enable such treatment.
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Doctors who provide treatment will also have their medical licenses suspended and can be subjected to felony charges. Another bill bans the required use of "preferred pronouns" or alternate names for school children and forbids the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation until the ninth grade. Similarly, a bill requires gender-exclusive restrooms and that students use bathrooms that align with their sex.
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DeSantis has made several moves to reduce prescription drug prices and regulate the pharmaceutical industry. Last week, DeSantis signed a bill to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, the organizations that acquire medications from drug companies and distribute them to pharmacies.
The measure requires more transparency from PBMs, which authors say have been "allowed to operate virtually unchecked," and increases consumers' pharmacy choices. It also requires pharmaceutical companies to disclose when drug prices increase and why that is the case.
In 2020, Florida became the first state to submit a proposal to the Department of Health and Human Services to begin importing prescription drugs from Canada. The program would allow Florida to import drugs from Canada, which is less beholden to market changes because the Canadian government controls pricing. HHS stopped the program's implementation, citing foreign countries' quality and safety standards. Pharmaceutical companies in the United States have successfully lobbied against foreign importation of drugs.
Florida is one of 10 states that has not adopted a Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act that would have increased eligibility for people earning up to 138% of the poverty line. As a member of Congress, DeSantis voted for one of the more extensive options to repeal the Affordable Care Act, initially voting against a softer undoing. The pandemic saw Florida's Medicaid recipients increase from 3.8 million in March 2020 to 5.5 million. Because the "continuous coverage" benefit expired on March 31, 2023, Florida is determining whether recipients still qualify — a process that can take a year.
DeSantis has pursued several changes to Medicaid, such as expanding the program's postpartum eligibility from 60 days to 1 year post-delivery to reduce maternal mortality rates. The Agency for Health Care Administration also issued a rule prohibiting Medicaid reimbursements to providers for puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and transgender surgical procedures.
To combat opioid addiction and overdose and enhance recovery efforts, Florida launched the Coordinated Opioid Recovery network, a partnership of addiction care centers and infrastructure in 12 Florida counties. The initiative aims to stop the "revolving door of addiction and overdose" by bolstering recovery from emergency response to rehabilitation.
After responding to an overdose, the system would bypass other hospitals, send patients to a specialty center "similar to a trauma center," and pursue treatment through recovery. The program focuses on treating other medical and mental health problems alongside addiction and involving social services for job training, housing, and food assistance.
According to the Department of Health, since its August 2022 launch, the program has provided 100,000 services to patients, transported 5,000 overdoses to specialized care, stabilized 2,000 overdoses, and placed 98% of opioid use patients on medicated assisted treatment.
"We are giving Floridians the tools they need to break the substance abuse cycle," DeSantis said. "Substance abuse can affect any family at any time, so from education to law enforcement to treatment, we are going to make sure that Floridians can take advantage of this new addiction recovery model."
DeSantis's "Framework for Freedom" budget includes a permanent sales tax exemption for baby and toddler necessities, $96 million in foster and child care, and $143 million in aid to pregnant and postpartum women.
According to the Florida Health Department, the Sunshine State has invested over $308 million in maternal and child care over the past four years, telling the Washington Examiner the state is on track to meet its 2030 benchmark of lowering infant mortality to five deaths per 1,000 live births. Other achievements include 94% of babies receiving all immunizations by 24 months.
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