Two Broward hospital systems would lose more than $100 million over three years if voters approve Amendment 3, a constitutional amendment dramatically increasing homestead exemptions.
The North Broward Hospital District (Broward Health) would be hardest hit in the state with a potential shortfall of $100.4 million across the three-year span studied. The South Broward Hospital District (Memorial Healthcare System) would lose $2.2 million.
While the numbers are smaller, the loss to many rural hospitals would be more devastating.
Florida Politics writes: "Meanwhile, in Baker County — whose only hospital lacks an OB-GYN, leaving residents without a safe place to give birth — the comparatively modest $1 million shortfall amounts to roughly 76% of the authority’s yearly hospital revenue."
The study was conducted by the Florida Policy Institute (FPI), an Orlando-headquartered nonprofit, which examined the 28 hospital and health care taxing districts statewide that currently levy property taxes to underwrite treatment for uninsured and underinsured patients.
FPI Policy Analyst Erica Monet Li, who authored the report, said most voters have no idea their tax bills fund local care.
“It’s important that Floridians understand the risks associated with adopting sweeping property tax cuts without first considering alternative solutions to the affordability crisis in our state,” she said in a statement.