Florida House Adjourns Early After Tiring Of Fight With Senate Over Medicaid
The state Senate is advancing a plan for Medicaid expansion but House leaders are adamantly opposed. Also, Florida's governor has filed suit against federal officials, arguing that they are trying to coerce the state into accepting an expansion plan by threatening to cut some funding for hospitals.
Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald:
Florida House Abruptly Adjourns Session Early, Saying Impasse Is Insurmountable
Florida's Legislature collapsed into chaos Tuesday as the House unilaterally ended the annual session with more than three days left, leaving dozens of major bills dead and escalating tensions between the House and Senate over their health care stalemate. The state Senate responded by remaining in session for two more hours and announcing plans to return Wednesday, an attempt to send the message that they are willing to work through the impasse that has bitterly divided Republicans, and frayed emotions. (Klas and Bousquet, 4/28)
The New York Times:
Florida’s House Adjourns Early In Quarrel With Senate Over Medicaid
A fight over Medicaid expansion among Republicans in the Florida Legislature turned rancorous Tuesday after the House of Representatives adjourned three days early, leaving in limbo the state’s $77 billion budget, a trail of unfinished bills and an unresolved feud with the Senate over the federal program. The surprise announcement means that the House speaker and Senate president, both Republicans, must agree to a special session. They must also overcome their differences on Medicaid expansion — the House opposes it, the Senate supports it — to finish the state’s budget by the June 30 deadline. (Alvarez, 4/28)
Kaiser Health News:
Florida House Goes Home Early Over Medicaid Impasse
The Florida House – at odds with the state Senate over the expansion of Medicaid – abruptly ended its session three days early on Tuesday, leaving hundreds of bills unrelated to health care unfinished. Shortly after the adjournment, Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, filed a lawsuit against the federal government over the same issue. (Hatter, 4/29)
Reuters:
Florida GOP Lawmakers Split, End Session Abruptly With No Budget
Deep divisions over healthcare funding in Florida's Republican-dominated statehouse brought a dramatic end to the legislative session on Tuesday, with the state senate vowing to keep working even as the other chamber's members were leaving town with no budget passed. With the 60-day legislative session scheduled to conclude on Friday, the state House of Representatives called it quits three days early. (Cotterell, 4/28)
The Associated Press:
Scott Files Lawsuit Against Obama Over Medicaid Expansion
Florida Gov. Rick Scott sued the Obama administration Tuesday, charging that federal officials are coercing the state to expand Medicaid in order to get $1 billion in federal hospital funds. The Republican governor points to a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision saying the federal government can't coerce states to expand Medicaid, which is exactly what he says the Obama administration is doing by withholding hospital funds. (Kennedy, 4/28)
The Miami Herald:
Florida Lawsuit Takes Aim At Federal Health Officials
As a standoff over Medicaid expansion brought the legislative session to an unexpected halt on Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott filed a lawsuit claiming that the federal government tried to force the healthcare policy upon Florida. Scott first floated the idea two weeks ago, after federal health officials said they would be more likely to continue a $2.2 billion hospital funding program known as the Low Income Pool if state lawmakers voted to expand healthcare coverage to low-income Floridians. (McGrory, 4/28)
Reuters:
Florida Governor Sues Obama Administration Over Healthcare Funding
Florida Governor Rick Scott sued the Obama administration on Tuesday, challenging the federal government’s decision not to extend a $1 billion healthcare funding program for low-income patients. The state argued that federal healthcare officials cut the funding as a way to coerce Florida into dropping its refusal to expand Obamacare for the working poor in Florida. (Cotterell and Adams, 4/28)
Miami Herald:
CMS To Florida: LIP Is Not Linked To Medicaid Expansion
Hours after Gov. Rick Scott announced he's filed a lawsuit suing the federal government for linking the Low Income Pool to Medicaid expansion, CMS released a statement saying that LIP funding is "not dependent on whether it expands Medicaid." ... Here's the statement from Aaron Albright, spokesman for CMS: “The decision to expand Medicaid, or not, is a state decision. We will work with Florida and each state that has an uncompensated care pool regardless of its Medicaid expansion status, to support access to health care for low-income residents that works for individuals, hospitals and taxpayers, taking into account the state’s specific circumstances. CMS will review proposals regarding uncompensated care pools based on the same principles whether or not a state has expanded Medicaid.” (Klas, 4/28)
