The Wall Street Journal has published an interactive map showing that Florida wage growth lags behind the rest of the country. From 2004 to 2013, when adjusted for inflation, 50 of Florida's 67 counties saw average annual wages decline. Across the country, one third of U.S. counties saw wages decline during the same period.
A coalition of businesses have presented a plan to use federal funding to extend healthcare coverage to nearly a million Floridians. A Healthy Florida Works would attempt to extend coverage to those with incomes under 138 percent of the poverty level who would have been covered by Medicaid had Florida expanded coverage under the Affordable Care Act. So far, 27 states have expanded Medicaid coverage. The proposed alternative plan would call for mandatory premiums, but the premiums would be used to fund savings accounts to be used by the beneficiaries for healthcare or education costs.