Some Florida leaders just don’t care who they hurt

MIAMI – Next time you hear that Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital is unable to help needy residents who can’t afford to pay for health care, think of Florida Gov. Rick Scott first, and then his merry band of ideologues known as the republicans in the Florida legislature.

Consider what is happening in Florida at this very moment. It deals with an urgent issue that is about to boil over – but should not catch any of our Tallahassee legislators by surprise. Starting, of course, with Gov. Scott, who allowed this to happen in the first place.

The news is not good. The Obama administration has informed Florida leaders that it has no intention of sending the more than $1 billion needed in this year’s budget to cover hospital costs for the poor and uninsured. That deficit showed up in last year’s budget, but the federal government bailed the state out then and agreed to send $1.3 billion to what in Florida is called the Low Income Pool (LIP) – an account where the federal dollars are matched with money from counties, hospital taxing districts and state agencies.

You would think that Florida legislators, in spite of a republican problem with ObamaCare, would have taken what happened last year seriously and come up with a plan to deal with the issue. In other words, this was not a surprise, a last second problem to be dealt with. No! They knew it was coming. The proposal by the feds was clear: upon passage of the new law, Florida would do away with LIP and replace it with the expansion of Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

In spite of this, and with full knowledge that we would run into this medical funding problem, again, republicans dug in their heels and basically said NO to ObamaCare for Florida. Adding by their actions: And we don’t care who this hurts!

The result: Florida leads the nation in turning down Medicaid funding from the federal government, according to a report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute, which was reported last August by newspapers around the state. By these idiots (sorry for the insult, but is there a better word?) turning down Medicaid money, Florida stands to lose $66.1 billion in federal funding over the next decade. Making us, by the way, number one in the country in lost federal funding. We managed to edge out Texas who stands to lose a bit over 65 billion.

Even more serious is that as the months go by real people in need of health care – including children and the elderly – will have settle for an outcome that could have been avoided if republicans in Tallahassee cared more for their constituents and little less for those who are sponsoring them. And by the way, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times, Jackson Memorial “is among the biggest potential losers” in this ideological battle.

But there’s more to this story. It’s a jobs element. The aforementioned Foundation and Urban Institute report also mentioned that the 24 states who have decided not to expand Medicaid – most led by republican governors – stand to lose the addition of 172,400 new jobs in 2015. As if we could afford this…

Critics will counter with, “But the program is not free. We have to pay it back.”

That’s partially true. But let me explain it, and then you decide. Under ACA, the first three years of the expansion (Medicaid), the federal government pays 100 percent of the costs. After those three years, then the state pays a portion. Specifically, in Florida’s case, for the $66.1 billion I mentioned earlier, we would have to come up with $5.4 billion through 2022.

Folks, look at it another way. Pretend you went to the bank and your banker tells you: “Buddy, we’ve got this great deal going on and I think you should jump on it.” And he adds, “For every 66 dollars I lend you, all you have to pay me back is $5.40. Oh, and by the way, the first three years I’m lending you money, there’s no need to pay me back…”

Now weigh this: Does ideology trump a good deal that can lead to better health care for the many people who need help in Florida – whose numbers are upwards of a million?

Heck, even business stalwarts like Associated Industries of Florida and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, who are usually on the side of republican legislators, have issued policy papers urging lawmakers to accept the federal dollars to expand Medicaid.

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