TOP STORIES FROM LAST WEEK

Our panel of 100 influential leaders discusses the most important issues affecting you.

Wael Barsoum, M.D., president and CTO, Healthcare Outcomes Performance Co. Hearing aids will soon be sold over the counter as the FDA works on finalizing a new rule. As many as 30 million Americans have some trouble hearing, but few can afford to pay for the doctors’ exams and prescriptions for hearing aids. According to the FDA, only about one-fifth of Americans with hearing loss get help. The new rule could enable better access to treatments for adults ages 18 and older with mild to moderate hearing loss.

Bernie Fernandez Jr., M.D., CEO, Baptist Health Medical Group. While skepticism continues to swirl about the effectiveness of a second booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, an Israeli study found the fourth shot was beneficial in preventing breakthrough cases, especially of the Omicron variant. The study included 5,331 health care workers who received a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine during a surge of the Omicron variant in January 2022. Among those workers, 368 or 7%, had breakthrough infections, compared with 20% of workers who only had three doses of the vaccine. This study ought to allay skepticism that boosters don’t offer protection, especially for vulnerable populations.

Eric Poms, CEO, Orange Bowl Committee. The College Football Playoff announced this week that Miami and South Florida will host the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship on Jan. 5, 2026 at Hard Rock Stadium. The Orange Bowl Committee, which hosted the first 20 South Florida national championships, successfully led the communitywide bid effort alongside the region’s counties, municipalities, tourism bureaus, chambers of commerce, local universities and others. Despite the unprecedented challenges presented by COVID-19, the 2021 CFP National Championship Game benefited our region in many ways, and we look forward to an even greater impact in 2026!

Gregory Stuart, executive director, Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization. The U.S. Department of Transportation this week awarded Brightline and the Florida East Coast Railway a $25 million Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant to fund major comprehensive safety improvements along their railway corridor. Spanning the entirety of Florida’s Atlantic Coast, this project is just one part of a robust multi-agency strategy to be rolled out over the coming months and years to address train-involved incidents along the corridor. Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization is there every step of the way as we work together with our partners, both public and private, to create the advanced transit system our residents need and deserve.

Tim Ryan, member, Broward County Commission. On Tuesday, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, a monumental achievement that will reduce pollution, lower health care costs for seniors, and make the tax code fairer. The legislation makes historic investments to battle climate change through grant programs for governments and tax subsidies for consumers and industry. For the first time, Medicare will be allowed to negotiate drug prices and annual prescription drug costs will be capped at $2,000 for Part D enrollees. And a new 15% minimum tax will be applied to corporations that make over $1 billion in global profits.

Howard Simon, retired executive director, ACLU of Florida. In a distressing development in the contest for the Democratic nomination for governor between Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Commissioner Nikki Fried and Congressman Charlie Crist, Fried responded to an investigative article about the practice of open-burning of sugar cane by Florida sugar companies by claiming that the reporters and editors were paid off by the Sierra Club. The failure to use all of the authority of her office to address one of our state’s major environmental and public health threats, largely affecting poor and Black communities around Lake Okeechobee, is unforgivable. But claiming corruption by journalists without evidence is disqualifying.

Thomas Wenski, archbishop, Archdiocese of Miami. The leftist regime of President Daniel Ortega continued its persecution of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua with several acts of repression in recent days. On Saturday, August 13, a large procession with the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima was to precede the closing Mass at the Managua cathedral for the Marian Congress titled “Mary, Mother of Hope,” but the regime prohibited the event. On Friday, Bishop Rolando Alvarez of Matagalpa was taken by police after more than two weeks of “house arrest.” Catholic universities and radio stations have been shuttered by the government.

Dan Gropper, dean, College of Business, Florida Atlantic University. President Biden signed the misinformation-named Inflation Reduction Act into law. This massive spending and tax bill will not likely reduce inflation at all — but the name helped sell it as fighting inflation. In reality, this spending bill will reward donors who are investors in favored companies and who now will be enriched by the billions of dollars spent by the federal government directly and shifted indirectly through tax credits, subsidies and ESG-related regulatory changes. These credits and subsidies complicate the tax code, making compliance more difficult and inviting sketchy behavior and outright fraud — but the IRS is expanding to help!