A Florida Senate panel said no to Medicaid expansion in Florida. (Photo from FlSenate.gov)
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
It looks like Medicaid expansion in Florida under the federal health care law might not happen.
Committees in the Senate and House have rejected plans to expand Medicaid coverage to more poor and uninsured people in the state — even though Gov. Rick Scott announced his surprising support for Medicaid expansion.
Florida has one of the highest rates of uninsured in the country. The proposed expansion is expected to cover 1.3 million more Americans.
The New York Times reports that the Senate committee did propose an alternative to Medicaid expansion. Under that proposal, the state would accept the federal funds, but use the money for another program that would provide health care coverage to struggling families and individuals.
According to the Times:
A Senate committee will convene to develop a plan that would use federal dollars under the law to expand Florida Healthy Kids, a well-established, well-liked health care exchange for low-income children. The proposal would allow the one million uninsured adults who qualify under the health care law to join and choose among various insurance plans. They would pay on a sliding scale, depending on income.
“I think it’s important for us to say no to having Washington tell us to expand our Medicaid program,” said Senator Joe Negron, the Republican chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, who made the Healthy Kids proposal.
But, he said, the committee still hopes to address the larger problem. “We want to try to find a creative way to help people, empower people to have their own private health insurance but not put them into the Medicaid program,” he said.
Whether or not Florida accepts the funds, Floridians will continue pay taxes to the federal government, which means residents here will pay for the expanded Medicaid programs of other states. Democrats and health care advocates have pleaded with state lawmakers to accept the funds, but so far the GOP-controlled Legislature has maintained an idealogical opposition to health care reform money.
The new state Senate proposal could give Republicans a way to accept the federal funds without giving the money to Medicaid, a move that is politically toxic for conservative members of the Florida Legislature.
Ultimately, the more conservative House will have to approve any plans passed in the Senate.