Today, the House Select Committee on Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act voted to turn down federal dollars to expand Florida’s Medicaid program — State Representative Mike Fasano says he is both disappointed and critical of the decision.
“By voting to turn back these dollars, this committee has, in essence, told millions of Floridians that they are not worthy of having access to primary health care services,” Representative Fasano states. “Our office receives untold numbers of calls from single women, single mothers and others who may be living on the edge, that they cannot see a doctor because they do not qualify for Medicaid under existing criteria.”
The dollars offered by the federal government would have expanded Medicaid eligibility so that many of these constituents would receive health care coverage for years to come.
“Florida’s taxpayers are donors to the federal government,” Representative Fasano states. “The dollars that the federal government offered to the state are dollars that Florida has already sent to Washington. By not accepting these dollars, Florida is not only guaranteeing that people will not get the coverage they need, they are also guaranteeing that those dollars will go to some other state which will gladly accept and use them for their own residents.”
It is estimated that 4 million Floridians would have been eligible for health care coverage if the federal dollars were accepted for Medicaid expansion.
“All we hear in Tallahassee is no, no, no,” Representative Fasano continues. “If it is the leadership’s intent to deny access to primary health care to millions of people currently not covered, then what is leadership’s alternative plan to help their fellow Floridians get the adequate health care services they want and, more importantly, need?”
