As storms grow stronger and insurance becomes harder to access, Floridians are looking for answers—and support. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) is working to stabilize the insurance market while giving homeowners the tools to build resilience before disaster strikes. 

Florida Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky discusses the launch of new wind mitigation resources, the expansion of the My Safe Florida Home program, and how Florida is investing in smarter, safer homes through inspections, grants, and homeowner education. He also explains how these efforts are helping to attract more insurers back into the state and keep premiums manageable. 

Whether you’re a homeowner navigating insurance decisions or a policymaker seeking scalable solutions, get insight into how state-led strategies can empower people to protect what matters most. 

Mike Yaworsky has served as Florida’s insurance commissioner since March 2023. Prior to his position his was the vice chairman of the Florida Gaming Control Commissioner and was OIR’s chief of staff from 2017 to 2021. Prior to joining OIR, Yaworsky served as legal counsel for the Georgia Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner.  

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Explore My Florida Home to apply for a free inspection or grant 

Keep up to date with OIR’s resources, information, and more 

Stories around substance use disorder (SUD) have too often been framed around crisis and moral failing. But SUD is a health condition—no different from heart disease or cancer—and it deserves public response rooted in care, not stigma. San Francisco is working to change that narrative. Through evidence-based treatment, innovative telehealth programs, and groundbreaking stigma-reduction campaigns like Living Proof, the city is reimagining recovery and how public health can meet people where they are. 

Dr. Jeffrey Hom, Medical Officer for Science and Policy in San Francisco’s Department of Public Health Substance Use Services joins us to discuss how storytelling can shift public perception, and accessible services can guide people onto paths of recovery. The conversation is a reminder that recovery becomes possible when health systems lead with both science and empathy. 

Dr. Jeffrey Hom is the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s Substance Use Services Medical Officer for Science and Policy. He previously served as medical director for the City of Philadelphia’s Division of Substance Use Prevention and Harm Reduction and has lectured for Jefferson Health and the University of Pennsylvania. 

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Learn more about San Francisco’s Night Navigator and street care programs 

Hear from people recovering from SUD in San Francisco through Living Proof 

Palm Beach County, Florida, was the epicenter of the state’s opioid crisis for many years as pill mills and malfeasance plagued the county’s communities. Since 2017, the county has been addressing the crisis, forming an advisory committee, appointing a drug czar and shifting its response toward a strategy centered on long-term recovery. With opioid settlement money to allocate over the next 20 years, the latest plan looks to spend 90% on social determinants of health—like job training, stable housing, and community support—and 10% on acute care. 

This paradigm shift is rethinking traditional approaches to addressing substance use disorders (SUD), placing recovery at the heart of government response. Palm Beach County Drug Czar John Hulick joins this episode to discuss this bold action and how other local governments can draw from the county’s playbook to inform their own work on SUD.  

John Hulick was Palm Beach County’s Office of Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorders senior program manager and drug czar. He began serving in this position in 2018. He previously had focused on policy in New Jersey, being tapped to serve as former Governor Chris Christie’s executive director of the Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and serving as policy advisor to the governor for Human Services, Children, and Families in the Office of the Governor. He is an individual in long-term recovery and has also supported his daughter throughout her journey in recovery from addiction.

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Read the Palm Beach County Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorder Plan 

How do you turn complex environmental health data into something people can actually use—and trust?  

In this episode of Empathy Affect, we talk with Matthew Montesano, senior director of data communication at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Bureau of Environmental Surveillance and Policy. Matthew leads the team behind the city’s Environment & Health Data Portal, a public-facing platform that unpacks key environmental health topics—like air quality, heat, and traffic—and distills complex data into clear, accessible information New Yorkers can use to understand their environment and protect their health.  

We explore how thoughtful design, clear communication, and human-centered strategy can transform government data into trusted sources of information. This episode dives into how cities can meet the public’s expectations for clear, actionable information.  

Matthew Montesano is the senior director of data communication at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Bureau of Environmental Surveillance and Policy. He was previously the immunizations program communication lead for the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health and led the development and maintenance of the Minnesota Public Health Data Access Portal. He has experience in community organizing, grant writing, and health communication. 

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Explore NYC’s Environment & Health Data Portal 

On the battlefield or in an emergency, military health professionals must make life-or-death decisions under extreme pressure. So how do they prepare to step into a high-pressure trauma scenario without putting real lives on the line? Enter medical modeling and simulation, where virtual reality, augmented reality, high-fidelity mannequins, and other cutting-edge technology are integrated into training to give military health professionals the reflexes and experiences they need to save lives when it matters most. 

The Defense Health Agency (DHA) Defense Medical Modeling and Simulation Office (DMMSO) identifies and adopts these training technologies for the Military Health System. In the latest Empathy Affect episode, DMMSO Chief Ruben Garza shares how advanced simulation tools are strengthening medical readiness and ensuring military medics are prepared for anything. 

Ruben Garza is chief of the DHA DMMSO. He has served in the military for 37 years—first in the Air Force as a medical technician, then standing up a modeling and simulation program in the Air Force. He has since helped centralize joint defense medical modeling and simulation training at DMMSO. 

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Learn more about DMMSO here 

Americans rely on safe roads, railways, and transportation infrastructure every day, so what goes into keeping them resilient and reliable both on the day-to-day and during emergencies? We explore this question with Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Assistant State Emergency Operations Coordinator Matt Needham, learning how his team protects Georgians during snowstorms, hurricanes, and other emergencies in collaboration with agency partners. Learn what it takes to keep our communities resilient in the face of extreme weather and hazards in this episode's conversation. 

Matt Needham is the GDOT assistant state emergency operations coordinator. He has dedicated more than 20 years of his career to serving Georgians at GDOT, first serving as a civil engineer working on roads and infrastructure before transitioning to emergency operations. 

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Explore 511 GA to get the latest on traffic conditions in Georgia 

Stay up to date with GDOT alerts and travel information 

Disasters like the wildfires in Southern California have destroyed homes, displaced people, and are costing the country hundreds of billions of dollars to recover. It raises the question: how can we proactively invest to protect our communities from the impacts of extreme weather and natural hazards? Washington State has looked to answer this question through its Climate Commitment Act (CCA). Passed in 2021, it has generated and reinvested $500 million across the state to reduce emissions and leverage technology to mitigate harmful and large-scale wildfires and other disasters. We speak to Joe Nguyen, one of the legislative proponents of the CCA, to discuss the program’s impact across Washington State and how other states could adopt similar initiatives to keep their communities safe and resilient.

Joe Nguyen is the director of Washington State's Department of Commerce. He was elected to the Washington State Senate in 2019 and was chair of the Environment, Energy, and Technology Committee. He also served as vice chair of the Ways and Means Committee.  

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Learn more about the Climate Commitment Act 

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) created its Veterans Experience Office (VEO) in 2015 with the goal of integrating a customer experience (CX) approach to veteran care, benefit, and service delivery. Since the office’s launch, VA has measured that veteran trust in the department has grown from 55% to 80%. Because of VEO’s collaboration with VA's administrations, veterans have been able to more easily navigate VA websites, have more streamlined and empathy-driven medical care, and more. Denise Kitts, VEO’s enterprise measurement and design executive director, helped stand up VEO and has been a key player in improving how veterans, their families, and their caregivers interact with VA. She joins us in this episode to learn how CX has transformed the way veterans can get the service they need from VA and the role CX plays in building trust with veterans. 

Denise Kitts is the VA VEO executive director of Enterprise Measurement and Design. She rejoined VEO in 2022 after helping establish the office in 2015. She is responsible for the VA Qualitative and Quantitative Data Strategy and for deploying VA’s Trust Survey, along with other operational and program-level surveys. She was chief data technology officer for the chief technology officer prior to rejoining VEO. 

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Explore the Veterans Experience Office 

Learn more about the Veteran Trust Report 

Although the United States has made great strides in reducing tobacco-related disparities, commercial tobacco use is still the leading cause of today’s biggest health challenges. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) has been leading tobacco prevention, cessation, and control. The office's director joins us to discuss the progress the team has made in decreasing tobacco use, as well as the challenges and work ahead.  

While CDC has found that smoking and e-cigarette use are down, new nicotine products threaten progress. OSH works to protect future generations by addressing these evolving threats to reduce preventable tobacco-related death and disease in the United States. 

Dr. Deirdre Lawrence Kittner is the director of OSH. She has more than 20 years of public health experience, with a focus on global tobacco control, tobacco and health behavior science, and preventative policy development. Previously, she worked at the National Cancer Institute and served as deputy director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products' Office of Science.  

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Read the new Surgeon General report on prevention and control strategies to reduce tobacco-related disparities. 

Find resources to help quit smoking. 

Explore the Empower Vape-Free Youth and Tips From Former Smokers campaigns. 

The 2024 election season brings fresh and complex challenges to election systems across the country—from mis- and disinformation to threats to security. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) serves as a federal election hub, providing resources, training, grants, and support to our state and local election administrators, helping them prepare for this election so that voters can cast their ballots with confidence. For our Season 2 finale, EAC Commissioner and current Chairman Ben Hovland discusses the hard work that’s gone into developing secure, resilient election administration and systems. So, whether you’ve voted early or plan to vote on Election Day, tune in to discover how the EAC is ensuring every vote counts!

Ben Hovland is a commissioner and the current chairman of the EAC. He has served as co-chair of the Election Infrastructure Subsector's Government Coordinating Council and chair of the Joint Subsector COVID-19 Working Group, coordinating pandemic response among state and local election officials, federal partners, and the private sector. His career in elections spans over 20 years, including as acting chief counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and deputy general counsel for the Missouri Secretary of State’s office.

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Visit vote.gov or helpamericavote.gov to plan to vote or learn to become a poll worker

Discover video guides for voting and more about how the EAC is building election readiness