Driver captured on video dumping basket of cats into floodwater in North Miami Beach

While Florida voters backed measures aimed at lowering taxes, Broward County voters went in a different direction, approving a sales tax increase supporters say will expand access to cancer and heart screenings and other preventive health care.

The measure raises Broward County’s sales tax rate by a quarter-cent, bringing it to 7.25%.

The additional money will be used to provide free heart and cancer screenings to Broward County residents, regardless of income.

Funding will also go toward primary and preventive care for residents who cannot afford it.

Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen pushed for the initiative, arguing that insurance does not always cover the screenings and other medical care residents need.

Dr. Gilberto Lopez, Chief Medical Oncologist at the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, said the program could be especially important for people who are uninsured or underinsured.

“In Florida as a whole, a lot of people have not been able to maintain their health insurance, and that is true in Broward County as well,” Dr. Lopez said. “So our people absolutely need help with anything related to healthcare costs and underinsurance.”

The county will establish an independent agency to administer the program, with an expert advisory panel helping oversee it.

Bogen said the goal is to make potentially lifesaving medical care available regardless of a resident’s financial situation.

“Regardless if you’re making a dollar a year or a million dollars a year, you’re going to have the same access to the Cleveland Clinics, the University of Miamis and Baptists and all of the other hospitals out there,” Bogen said. “It will level the playing field for everybody.”

Supporters of the initiative point to heart disease and cancer as leading causes of death and say greater access to screening and early detection could help prevent illness or identify disease sooner.

The mayor and medical community also say as many as 80% of heart attacks are preventable, emphasizing preventive care and early detection as key goals of the new program.