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It seems Lee County is always at the epicenter of something bad lately. First it was foreclosures. Now, it's health care.
Paul Keckley was blunt with a crowd of executives who gathered at Harborside Event Center recently in Fort Myers: Lee County is at the epicenter of the nation's health care problems.
Keckley ought to know. He's the executive director for Deloitte Center Health Solutions and has been involved in the debate over health care reform.
The top three payers for health care in Lee County are Medicare, the uninsured and Medicaid. Medicare is the government health-insurance program for the elderly and Medicaid is the state program for low-income people. Meanwhile, the base of people who have private health insurance continues to shrink as unemployment grows — unemployment is nearly 14% in Lee County.
With cuts in Medicare and Medicaid on the Obamacare menu, hospitals and doctors face difficult choices. “No community faces the storm you face,” Keckley told the crowd.
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