Rick Mayer
Digital ProducerI’m the online producer for Health News Florida, a collaboration of public radio stations and NPR that delivers news about health care issues.
This is an important position at WUSF. In 2019, the typical U.S. family spent about 11 percent of its annual income on health care, so it stands to reason issues of cost, quality, access and innovation are consequential to all Floridians. Then COVID-19 came along, and the weight of these matters gained exponentially. I take our reporting on these topics quite seriously, as I’m sure you do, too.
Literally growing up in newsrooms and a little serendipity along the way prepared me well for the post. Here’s the abridged version: I’m a Tampa guy, graduating from H.B. Plant High and thrust into the world with my USF degree rolled tightly in hand. From there, it was three mostly sleepless decades as an editor at The Tampa Tribune, then developing and managing an online journal serving physician executives. There’s also my side job editing a statewide health magazine.
And being married to a longtime hospital nurse/case manager helps; dinner conversation often gives me a feel of what’s happening on the front lines. The good and not-so-good.
Of course, my time isn’t always spent flailing in the health news vortex. You’re actually more likely to find me breaking down the Bucs, Bulls or Bolts after a game, taking Oodle the poodle to the dog park or tinkering the backroom piano while vicariously reliving my former life as a musician. (Remember, kids: Parents of percussionists have plenty of patience. Plenty!)
Contact Rick on Twitter @rmayer2361 or by email at Mayer1@wusf.org.
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Many hospitals are shuttering their obstetrics units because insurance and Medicaid aren't reimbursing enough to cover the cost of births, the report notes. -
The highly contagious disease was reported by someone 20 to 24 years old in Polk. It's unknown if it's connected to a school outbreak in Broward, where a case involving a child under 5 was confirmed. -
The course would be developed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in consultation with the Department of Elder Affairs. -
The House Health Care Appropriations subcommittee unanimously advanced the measure, and it next goes to the Health and Human Services Committee before a floor vote. -
The Tampa Bay Rays, coming off their fifth straight postseason appearance, return to Charlotte Sports Park after a year away because of damage caused by Hurricane Ian. -
The Biden administration is requiring states give CHIP beneficiaries 12 months of continuous coverage, even if families don't pay monthly premiums. State lawyers say premiums are needed for expansion of coverage signed into law last year. -
Health Canada said “bulk importation will not provide an effective solution to the problem of high drug prices in the U.S." while noting it would ensure Canadians have access to the medications they need.” -
As enrollment numbers continue to drop, Health and Human Services wrote to Florida and eight other states asking them to work with federal authorities to find solutions and get people insured again. -
Tampa police will set up an exclusion zone before the 4 a.m. razing of the former DoubleTree Westshore. Area roads, including I-275 bordering to the south, will be shut down ahead of the blast. -
The judge agreed with prosecutors that 14-year-old Kadyn Michael Abney remains a danger to the community. He faces a second-degree murder charge in the shooting death of an innocent bystander.
