This is southwest Florida in focus.

Coming up, the hurricane ravaged Naples pier is now on the fast track for repairs.

An investigative news report details how a political donor might have influenced the FEMA funding.

More turmoil over tariffs.

A shortage of global materials is stifling creativity for artists and celebrating 100 years of Bob Rauschenberg.

A look at the cosmic forces that brought the artist to Captiva.

Hello, I'm Sandra Victor.

Over.

Thank you for joining us.

Millions of Floridians could lose their health insurance before the end of the year due to premiums that are expected to rise dramatically.

This according to a federal report.

Florida leads the nation with almost 5 million enrollees in the Affordable Care Act marketplace, also known as Obamacare.

Now, tax credits that discount those premiums are set to expire at the end of this year unless Congress agrees to extend them, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

If those subsidies expire, nearly half of the Florida enrollees are expected to lose their insurance.

Remaining enrollees will face higher premiums.

Nationally, the average premium could increase by 18%, the largest hike since 2017.

WGCUs Jennifer Crawford explains how these changes could impact Southwest Floridians.

Professional dance instructor Gianna montoya.

Hey there, you guys.

Prides herself on running a successful dance studio in Fort Myers.

One visit, but a traumatic life event five years ago left her almost penniless.

I went to poverty level overnight, Montoya says, with no income to pay for health care coverage.

She was relieved to qualify for a plan that cost $0 per month on the government's health insurance marketplace.

Being able to have the subsidies for the Affordable Care Act literally saved my life.

Opening schools, opening doors.

Doctor Nadeen Singh says subsidies are the lifeline for many people in southwest Florida.

She's having some long term swelling in her feet.

At Premier Mobile Health Clinic, she sees 10 to 15 patients a day.

Most are uninsured or insured with help from the Affordable Care Act.

Tax credits.

4.7 million Floridians benefit on ACA.

Those those are families who were able to put their children until they're 26 on their health plan.

Those are working people who may not qualify for Medicaid.

Doctor Singh says nonprofit health clinics like hers can expect to see a significant surge in patients if the Affordable Care Act subsidies are allowed to expire at the end of the year.

I am very concerned.

Doctor Singh believes the impact of not extending subsidies could be catastrophic.

It's going to be costly not only to them but also to the health care system.

It's going to cost higher tax burden.

When patients get sick and go to the hospital, they're going to have higher bills.

It's going to be a triple effect.

As for Montoya, she says she's lucky.

Beginning in November, she won't need the assistance.

I'm getting married in a in about a month, and so I'll be very, very happy to be able to be on my fiancé.

New husband's insurance.

For WGCU news, I'm Jennifer Crawford in Fort Myers.

Oh my Joining us with more on the potential impact of the increased cost of health insurance plans to our state is Mary Mayhew.

She is president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, which represents more than 200 hospitals and health systems in our state.

Welcome, Miss Mayhew.

Thank you.

I really appreciate the opportunity to be here.

Thanks again.

Well, let's start with an explanation as to why are we seeing these these rates increase so much.

The federal marketplace that now provides health insurance coverage to more than 4.7 million Floridians is caught in the crosshairs of an intense political debate in Washington, D.C.

the benefit of the marketplace is that it provides premium assistance subsidies to millions of Floridians.

The debate right now is that many of those subsidies expire at the end of this year.

We are advocating that Congress should extend those subsidies.

That is what's making the difference between someone having a health insurance card in their wallet and not there are more than a million Floridians who are at risk of losing their coverage through the exchange, because it's just not realistic that they will be able to afford premiums of more than $1,000 a month when those subsidies expire at the end of this year.

So you believe that the increase in these rates will mean more Floridians are going to lose their insurance?

How many people are we talking about, and why do you think they'll lose?

The insurance simply can't be unable to pay.

I think it's really important to understand that of the 4.7 million Floridians covered through the marketplace, 3.8 million earn less than 200% of the federal poverty level.

So to put that in perspective, for a family of three, at 200% of the federal poverty level, that's $54,000 a year at 150% of the federal poverty level.

For a family of three, that's $39,000 a year.

These monthly premiums for health insurance are going to skyrocket without the benefit of subsidies.

And again, these are individuals who are working and they're working in many small businesses in Florida.

And it's also the owners of those small businesses.

So think about the pizza shop owner down the street, the gentleman who's opened up an auto repair shop.

They haven't been able to afford health insurance in the traditional small group market, and they've not been able to provide coverage to their employees.

That's why the establishment of the federal marketplace has been a game changer for working Floridians who don't have employer sponsored health insurance at their place of employment.

And for these small businesses, the entrepreneur or the startup, they've been able to get peace of mind and health insurance through the marketplace because of these subsidies.

Why should Floridians care about this?

Even if they get insurance from their employer, they're okay.

They didn't have to go through the marketplace.

Why should they care?

Yeah, unfortunately, the way that our health care system is financed know at the end of the day, hospitals have to provide care to anyone who comes through their doors, regardless of whether or not they have an ability to pay.

But those costs have to be covered.

So when more individuals rely on the emergency department, the cost of that charity care ends up being shifted to those, individuals with commercial health insurance.

So those premiums and the charges are increased.

You know, hospitals are playing a much more expansive role in health care beyond just the traditional services within a hospital.

They're making sure that that pediatric practice stays open, that ObGyn are there in a community, that hospitals have labor and delivery units, and we've had labor and delivery units close, and we've had inpatient psychiatric units closed, because those are services that often lose money and hospitals are trying to preserve access.

When our charity care increases, when the number of individuals who are uninsured increase, that just puts a further financial strain on the overall health care delivery system.

Mary Mayhew with the Florida Hospital Association, thank you very much for your time.

Thank you very much for having me.

The ACA tax credits are at the heart of the current government shutdown.

Democrat lawmakers have said they won't vote for any funding bill that excludes an extension of the ACA subsidies.

Republicans say the tax credits are too costly and benefits some people who earn too much.

Well, coming up, an investigative report details how a political donor may have swayed a decision to accelerate federal funding to rebuild the Naples pier.

Three years after Hurricane Ian destroyed the Naples pier, the city is finally getting FEMA disaster funds to replace it.

But now there are concerns over how the city got those delayed federal dollars.

An investigation by news outlet ProPublica showed how Mayor Theresa Heitman reached out to Doctor Sinan Gross Soi, a political donor of homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, because other efforts had stalled.

Secretary Nome oversees FEMA.

According to that reporting, in August, days after that donor reached out to Nome, the secretary reportedly expedited millions of dollars for the pier's reconstruction.

In a statement to WGCU Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the allocation of FEMA funds was not politically motivated and, quote, criticizing the secretary's visit to the pier is bizarre.

As she works to fix this issue for more than 1 million visitors that used to visit the pier in the Naples community.

We are joined by the lead reporter on this ProPublica story, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Joshua Kaplan.

Thank you for joining us, Mr.

Kaplan.

Thanks so much for having me.

So you've covered government for years now.

How common is it for political donors to get involved in matters like this?

Donors essentially asking politicians to support specific projects.

I mean, so obviously the influence of donors on the federal government as a whole are certainly making asks of the white House, for instance, is sadly a common fact of, you know, fortunately or unfortunately, a common fact of government these days.

And, you know, you see this, all the time with the Trump administration.

But you also saw it under Biden, under Obama, Bush.

But, you know, I don't think that that means that this is something one should be cynical about.

I mean, you know, more specifically with FEMA and with disaster relief, what happened here is quite unusual and is not something that has been documented like this.

I mean, we we talked to disaster relief experts, and it's, I mean, as one put it, he'd never heard of anything this egregious.

He had never heard of something like a donor calling and making an ask and then just getting that.

So your reporting his texts and emails to show that Naples Mayor Teresa Heitman turned to Doctor Chris Choi for help after the city was unable to get the disaster funds released.

I guess for more than six months.

Correct?

Yes.

Then your reporting says that after Doctor Soy reached out to Secretary Nolan, those FEMA funds were released less than two weeks later.

Why do you think people should care about this story?

I mean, well, first, I think it's important to have a little bit of context here.

I mean, there's been a lot of criticism of Kristi Noem this year, including really very pointedly recently from one of Trump's Republican allies in the Senate that Noem has made FEMA far too slow to respond after natural disasters.

And so, you know, we saw this after the deadly floods in Texas over the summer.

You know, at this time where there are serious bipartisan questions about just how well FEMA is delivering on its incredibly important mission, life saving mission.

You know what happened?

Noem's actions in Naples point to a level of political favoritism.

And I think that's something a lot of people we spoke to found alarming.

I mean, it's also important to note here that Noem has really consolidated her power over all of the money going out of FEMA.

There's a there's a policy she put in place where, any expense over $100,000 needs her personal sign off, which is a lot of money for you and me.

But in the context of disaster relief is incredibly small.

And there'd already been a lot of concerns about that creating delays from a logistical perspective.

But I think something that really hasn't been talked about as much is that through these sort of policies, Noem has also given herself an unusual degree of power.

And I think what happened here heightens concerns about how that power will be used.

So Mr.

Kaplan in Naples, certainly the community is gearing up here that, you know, was really popular, that they loved rebuild after three years of waiting.

How do we know that this community wasn't simply the next in line to receive this disaster aid, that it wasn't simply their turn to get those dollars released?

So, I mean, it's, you know, we have all these documents, these texts, these emails that really lay out the timeline in granular detail.

And, this, this Naples officials had been struggling for months, as you said, to, try to get this assistance out of FEMA.

They, you know, they tried going through Senator Rick Scott.

They had kind of expensive DC lobbyists or consultants on their payroll.

And, they were feeling really desperate.

I mean, they were feeling like they, you know, things were you know, the mayor herself was writing to FEMA saying that she's perplexed by the delays and, you know, as she put it herself, she was she was feeling increasingly helpless.

Before she had the idea of going through one of those donors, and, when this donor texted him within 24 hours, he comes back to the mayor with exciting news.

He says expect a call from FEMA fixers soon.

And then within two weeks, everything is changed.

Naples officials are celebrating, how well things are going.

As one city official put it, that FEMA is now moving at, warp speed.

You know, there's also documentation from FEMA of, you know, it says things like, inside FEMA where FEMA officials are writing things like per leadership instruction, push and project immediately.

So you really you can see the cause and effect here.

This was certainly I'm not, you know, if there is wrongdoing here, it is not that Naples is getting up here, but just how this process was, how how campaign donors really distorted this process, which I think is laid out very clearly in all of the documents.

Joshua Caplan, we thank you so much for your time, and we thank you for your reporting.

Thank you.

Thanks again for having me.

We reached out to Mayor Hyman's office, who responded in part, that FEMA has not yet obligated funds, and they anticipate receiving the final permits soon.

They also added that it's unfortunate how the secretary visits was portrayed when they, quote, represent meaningful engagement and support for our recovery.

For the full response from Mayor Hyman's office, you can visit ICU talk.

Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have had an impact on industries like construction and automotive, but the rising costs on imported goods are also taking a toll on local artists weakness.

John Davis shares how tariffs are making it difficult for textile artists around the world to make a living.

Textile art or fiber art, is rooted in traditional crafts and domestic arts, but over the years it's garnered broader recognition as a legitimate form of contemporary art.

One recent example of this is the South Florida Surface Design Group's Uncommon Threads exhibition, now on display at the Courthouse Cultural Center Galleries in Stuart.

It's an international juried show of 70 works, including wearable pieces, stitched fabric works, collage and mixed media.

Fiber artist and educator Suzanne Connors has a piece in the exhibit.

She's also maintain the IoT fiber studio in Stewart for the past 12 years, and says the Trump administration's tariff war is impacting her bottom line.

Because I do Japanese textiles, I import a lot of my tools and supplies from Japan, and I also buy a lot of fabrics from India and from different countries.

Even my natural dyes come from the UK, and I always had to pay some sort of tariffs.

You were always allowed up to your first $800 to be totally exempt from paying tax.

Now we're paying tariffs on everything.

I mean, India's tariffs right now are 50%.

That makes, you know, a $3,600 order.

There's going to be $1,800 in tariffs on top of just the shipping.

Connor says much of the overseas supplies are specialty items that aren't available domestically, like silk from China.

We don't harvest silkworms here.

That's not a U.S.

industry.

Even the products that you do buy in the U.S., there are already substantially more money than the products we import.

Connor says even her overseas suppliers are worried about business due to the tariff war.

The guy who weaves my silk scarves from India, from me.

For me, he's a small family run mill.

He said all his orders right now are on hold.

He's had to let people go.

He doesn't know if he gets any orders and how long it will take.

U.S.

customs has been a challenge for fellow fiber artist Cindy Barton, who curated the Uncommon Threads exhibition.

But I did order some watercolors because I'm using that with some of the photography things, and I didn't really think about it being from a Canadian company.

I didn't have to pay extra duty for it, but my watercolors spent six days trapped in U.S.

customs.

Customs delays also impacted the exhibit itself.

Four, two, six says an artist in the Netherlands was too afraid to send her work.

Fedex, DHL postal companies suspended shipments to the US and it supposed to be temporary.

She was afraid to go ahead and ship it.

Not having any idea when it might actually get here.

So she ended up not sending her work, which was a real loss for us because our work is absolutely fabulous.

Instead, bar two sick hung photographs of the artists work in the show.

She echoed Connors concerns about foreign suppliers being able to hold on the watercolors I was talking about that I ordered from Canada.

They're produced by an indigenous family and small business.

What's going to happen to them if shipping and the tariffs become such a barrier that their business no longer becomes sustainable, particularly in the art world?

There are a lot of small businesses, Family-Owned or tiny things.

I fear that some of them aren't going to survive this.

Naples based artist Muffy Clark Gayle also has some collage and mixed media pieces in The Uncommon Thread show.

She worries for artist communities.

Beyond the tariff challenges, the National Endowment for the Arts has faced sweeping cuts this year amid Trump's calls to eliminate the agency.

Florida state funding for the nonprofit arts and culture sector has also been gutted the past two years.

Even murals on public roadways are being painted over under Florida law.

Things that are going on right now in the art world, the people being shut down and public expression being stifled by painting over sidewalks.

You know, it just boggles the mind that all of a sudden, why are people having a problem with understanding art when it's it's such a help to people.

It keeps people alive.

And, you know, I just worry about that.

A book, John Davis, WGCU news.

After the break, celebrating 100 years of Bob Rauschenberg.

How a passion for astrology created a lifelong connection between the artist and southwest Florida.

Legendary artist Bob Rauschenberg lived by his quote.

Curiosity is the main energy.

Rauschenberg, who would have turned 100 this month.

He's that curiosity to search for a new home and part of a month long celebration of the expressionist arts and culture.

Reporter Tom Hall shows us Rauschenberg's path to Captiva.

In 1968, American artist Rauschenberg bought property on Captiva Island.

Two years later, he made it his permanent home.

Jay Dellinger with the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery, says it was a move written in the stars.

He visits this whole town.

Mason.

Mason tells him that you need to avoid the mountains.

After getting his astrology chart made.

Avoid the mountains and find a coastal location to make your home.

Zoltan Mason was the astrologer to the stars, and his advice resonated with the artist.

Rauschenberg had spent several pleasurable weeks in 1960 on Florida's Treasure Island, completing illustrations for Dante's Inferno, and found this little fisherman's wharf.

Supposedly, it was about to be knocked down.

He convinced the owner to let him stay there for a number of months, and he would pay him very little rent.

But during that time, between 58 and 60.

In 1960, while here he managed to illustrate Dante, he did a contemporary version of it, actually.

Rauschenberg had recently gone on a drive with a collector and her white Jaguar sports car.

So Bob traded a painting for this automobile, which became his escape from Manhattan, and also the car that he drove as he made the stops down the East Coast and eventually found his way to Captiva.

Captiva spoke to him in an almost primordial way.

Bob always identified with and or believed that he was part Cherokee, and that as he came down the west coast of Florida, and particularly when he got to Captiva and he saw Sanibel, and there is this history that he became, palpably, palpably, aware of.

He felt the presence of this kind of energy that had to do with, I think, both the Tamaqua and the, Calusa Indians.

A couple of events reinforced the connection Rauschenberg felt for the barrier island.

He talked about getting out of a car and being surrounded by a ball of butterflies, or having to stop because there was a tortoise crossing the road and helping it along its way.

Rauschenberg paid homage to Zoltan Mason in the role he played in guiding him to Captiva.

He would acknowledge it later in one of his most famous works of art, an addition to print called booster that he did with Gemini G.L.

in Los Angeles.

The background of a full bodied X-ray of Rauschenberg as a self-portrait is that star chart from Zoltan Mason.

While his move to Captiva may have been written in the stars.

Rauschenberg once said that by virtue of working on Dante's Inferno on Treasure Island, he'd pass through hell to end up in Paradise.

For WGCU news, I'm Tom Hall Does Florida's farming future lie under the water?

Coming up next week, we learn how seaweed could be the next super crop for the state.

We thank you for joining us.

Make sure to download the GQ app.

You can find all of our stories, plus those extended interviews, and we hope you will join us next week right here on Southwest Florida.

And focus.