As myregion.org continues to focus on the overall opportunities and threats facing the region, it has become a priority to resolve a broad range of issues that are affecting the quality of the healthcare service delivery to our region.

The aging and younger populations in the region are rapidly increasing. The region is lacking funding for accessible healthcare, including transportation.

Uninsured and underinsured patients are increasing, which in turn increases medical costs. Even though Healthcare represents Central Florida’s second largest industry, employing more than 114,000 people and generating over $4 billion in revenue, medical liability insurance premiums continue to increase and we are losing our physicians and medical care personnel.

While the January edition of myregion.org’s e-newsletter will be devoted to address the current healthcare crisis and its impact to our region, you can be a voice today to effectively assist our regional leaders deal with the barriers such as cost, poor transportation, lack of insurance and healthcare disparities.

Sixty-four chambers of commerce, representing thousands of Florida employers, have participated in this year’s Florida Chamber Health Insurance Survey.

This statewide survey is the largest ever conducted and will be instrumental in providing information on current trends and challenges facing Florida employers in their effort to offer health insurance to their employees.

More than 2,500 employers have already responded, with that number expected to double by the January 3 submission deadline. Survey results will be shared with the Governor and legislators as another step in passing significant relief measures during the 2003 legislative session.

We invite you to participate by taking this survey online. The results will be released at a February 5 news conference at the Capitol in Tallahassee and will be posted on the myregion.org website.

Take your survey online today; simply click here.