DIAGNOSIS: in Florida health care politics The top influencers

Curated by Christine Sexton and Peter Schorsch

Often disregarded as overly wonky and completely unsexy, health care can be a glossed-over part of Florida politics. But it is one of the most complicated, important and controversial areas of policy in the Sunshine State. Whether it’s on who should qualify for Medicaid, whether kids should get access to gender-affirming care or how doctors get reimbursed, the debates can sometimes spill from boardrooms to dining rooms, even if some of the nuance doesn’t always translate.

That’s where the state’s health care influencers come in. They’re lawmakers and lobbyists, regulators and doctors. And together, they help determine where and how Floridians access care; how much they pay for it; and, in the case of this year, if they should even be allowed to have it.

This is a group of influencers that, in recent years, has seen it all. They’ve navigated a pandemic filled with questions about masks and vaccines. They’ve waded into the murky moral grounds of transgender care. And they’ve tackled a legal framework that pits insurance providers against lawyers.

Here are the lawmakers, lobbyists, CEOs, nonprofit leaders, medical school deans and others who make it all happen.