SARASOTA – Florida Blue and Sarasota Memorial Health Care System are at a crossroads in contract negotiations that could ultimately result in Sarasota County’s public hospital and doctors affiliated with First Physicians Group becoming out-of-network providers.
Florida Blue sent letters to more than 15,000 members in the Sarasota-Manatee County area Tuesday, alerting them that their contract with Sarasota Memorial will technically end April 1.
On Wednesday, both sides indicated that the contract may be extended 90 days, through the end of June, based on what is currently, at least according to Sarasota Memorial, a verbal agreement.
Florida Blue spokeswoman Christie DeNave characterized negotiations as an ongoing discussion.
Medically vulnerable people under 65 can get COVID-19 vaccine in Florida; where and how is unclear
Anita Winchell had a simple question.
“I am 64,” she wrote in an email to the Herald-Tribune, “and I am at high risk for COVID due to lung disease. When and how can I get this much needed vaccine?”
The answer should have been simple.
But, with murky rules about vaccine distribution from the state combined with high demand for the limited, though growing, supply of vaccine, it wasn’t.
When the state of Florida released who would qualify for the COVID-19 vaccine it included people who are 65 and over, front-line health workers and those living and working in nursing homes.
34 new COVID-19 deaths reported in Manatee County. Total cases top 30,000 infections Jessica De Leon, The Bradenton Herald
Feb. 12 MANATEE The COVID-19 death toll in Manatee County spiked on Friday, with the Florida Department of Health reporting 34 new deaths almost a fifth of all new deaths reported statewide.
Also, with the 146 new infections reported on Friday, there have been 30,118 people in Manatee County who have contracted the coronavirus.
The Florida Department of Health did not immediately respond to questions regarding the spike in newly reported COVID-19 deaths, but it has previously explained such jumps as being the result of backlogs in the certifications of deaths.
Jan. 28 MANATEE Another two Manatee County residents have died from COVID-19, the Florida Department of Health said Thursday. There have been 495 local residents who have died since the start of the pandemic, according to state health department's official death toll. Statewide, the deaths of 202 residents and five non-residents from COVID-19 were confirmed on Thursday. Since last March, .