Page 4 - 4-21-15 Tuesday's Edition

Feature
Elected Officials Slam Governor Over Federal Lawsuit
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Last week, Governor Rick Scott announced his plans to file a federal lawsuit against President Barack Obama over the Affordable Health Care Act. Governor Scott contends that Presi- dent Barack Obama’s fed- eral healthcare agency stopped Low Income Pool (LIP) healthcare funds to Florida in order to force the state to take Legislative ac- tion to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.
Governor Scott said, “It is appalling that President Obama would cut off federal healthcare dollars to Florida in an effort to force our state further into Obamacare.
“Not only does Presi- dent Obama’s end to LIP funding in Florida violate the law by crossing the line into a coercion tactic for Oba- macare, it also threatens poor families’ access to the safety net healthcare services they need. The population in Florida served under the LIP program is different from the population that would be covered under any Medicaid expansion, as is well docu-
ARTHENIA JOYNER Senate Democratic Leader
mented in a recent Urban In- stitute report that said Florida would still have $1.6 billion in uncompensated care costs with or without an expansion of Medicaid.”
In response to his an- nouncement, local elected of- ficials shared their comments on Governor Scott’s proposed lawsuit.
U. S. Representative Kathy Castor serves on the Health Subcommittee in the U. S. House of Representa- tives and was instrumental in the previous extension of the Florida Low Income Pool.
Rep. Castor said, “In an attempt to cover up his fail- ure to serve the best interests of Floridians, Florida Gov- ernor Rick Scott an- nounced a wasteful and
KATHY CASTOR U. S. Congresswoman
baseless lawsuit to divert at- tention away from a budget impasse in the state capital that is largely of his own making.
“Governor Scott has been aware of the June expi- ration of the Low Impact Pool monies for a year, but he included the funds in his proposed state budget any- way. The Florida LIP is a fairly unique provision of Florida’s federally-approved Medicaid waiver, and is greatly in need of reform as it is not the most cost-efficient and effective way to serve Floridians.
“Governor Scott ap- pears to be caught in his own ideological trap as he pro- poses to sue President Obama because billions of
ED NARAIN State Representative
dollars for health services for hard-working Floridians are now available through an ex- pansion of Medicaid rather than the more convoluted LIP.
“Once again, Governor Scott is not playing it straight here and will waste taxpayer money to wage an ideological fight rather than work to provide access to health care for more than 800,000 Floridians.”
Senate Democratic
Leader Arthenia Joyner
(D-Tampa) said, “Today’s grandstanding underscores his commitment to wasting Florida’s tax dollars to get what he wants, at whatever cost,” said Leader Joyner, who, together with the Sen- ate Democratic Caucus has joined the Senate Republi- cans in supporting the Florida Senate’s healthcare expansion plan.
“This is all about scoring points against President Obama. It has nothing to do with protecting ‘the health- care of Floridians’ or ‘their right to be free from federal overreach.’”
“According to the gover- nor’s announcement, he was undertaking legal action be- cause the federal government was using a “coercion” tactic by supposedly withholding Low Income Pool or “LIP” funding to force the state into expanding Medicaid under Obamacare.
“Governor Scott re- cently flipped his position on Medicaid expansion once again, this time opposing it, yet still demanding that the federal government, send Medicaid funds exclusively to pay for LIP. The LIP funds are set to expire at the end of June under a formal agree- ment signed more than a year ago by the state. As part of that agreement, the state agreed that LIP would end at that time.
“The governor’s actions raise his hypocrisy to new heights,” said Leader Joyner, a fierce critic of the governor’s ongoing war against the President’s initia- tives.
“Federal dollars are fed- eral dollars, whether they’re spent on LIP or Medicaid ex- pansion. The only difference is one has “Obamacare”
JANET CRUZ State Representative
stamped on them. “Maintaining the status
quo, as the governor is pulling out all the stops to do, locks us down into perpetual triple taxation: paying for a broken system of expensive emergency care, paying for LIP that only covers hospi- tals, and paying for Medicaid expansion in other states that we can’t get at home.
“The real government ‘overreach’ Floridians should fear is by the governor’s own hand.”
State Representative Ed Narain said, “The Gov- ernor’s lawsuit is nothing more than a stall tactic that will hurt Floridians. He and House Republicans have chosen to fight the federal government in a political game of “chicken” that bene- fits no one. By October of this year, several safety net hospi- tals (i.e. Shands Jacksonville, Tampa General) will run out of the funding needed to op- erate and have to close their doors without the Low In- come Pool funds from the federal government. This ul- timately hurts communities like ours.”
State Representative Janet Cruz said, “It is dis- appointing but not shocking to learn that Governor Rick Scott has decided to try another empty political ploy to deny health coverage for over 800,000 Floridians by suing the Obama Admin- istration. At a time where we could make a substantial im- pact on the lives of our fellow Floridians, Gov. Scott and Florida House Republicans continue to hold our state hostage. For more than a year, CMS has let it be known that there would be no exten- sion of LIP funds that expire June 30TH, due to the $50 billion in federal dollars they are offering to expand health coverage; and for more than a year, Governor Scott and Florida House Republicans have delayed and wasted this opportunity.
“The Florida Senate, Florida House Democrats, Florida’s health care and business communities, and the people of Florida stand united on expansion, and I will continue to fight for working families who do not have health coverage.”
PAGE 4 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015