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Rick Scott says he’s suing feds for “coercing” state into Medicaid expansion

Published on April 16, 2015 in Statewide/Top Headlines by Christine Jordan Sexton

Florida Gov. Rick Scott said on Thursday he will sue federal government for “coercing” the state into expanding Medicaid under the federal health care law by withholding supplemental Medicaid funding known as Low Income Pool. “It is appalling that President Obama would cut off federal healthcare dollars to Florida in an effort to force our state further into Obamacare,” Scott said in a press release announcing the lawsuit. At press time no lawsuit had been filed. The decision to sue…

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Top Medicaid official warns feds not to ‘coerce’ state into expansion

Published on April 15, 2015 in Statewide/Top Headlines by Christine Jordan Sexton

One day after receiving a letter from the federal government advising that uncompensated care pools were not a wise use of federal tax payer dollars, Florida’s leading Medicaid official fired off a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday accusing the federal government of coercing Florida into expanding the Medicaid program. “(T)he U.S. Supreme Court explicitly warned the federal government against attempting to coerce states into participating in Medicaid expansion — yet that appears to be…

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Congressional Republicans send letter to feds: Don’t hold LIP hostage

Published on April 15, 2015 in Top Headlines by Christine Jordan Sexton

Six Republicans in Florida’s congressional delegation sent a letter to the acing director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services April 14, saying that supplemental Medicaid funding should not be held “hostage” for a statewide expansion of Medicaid. The letter — signed by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis, Curt Clawson, Richard Nugent, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Ted Yoho — asks that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services come to an agreement “in principle” by mid-April to keep Low Income Pool funding, which helps pay for…

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