The ranking Democrats on four House health-care committees sent a letter to the federal government Friday requesting that it reject Florida’s proposed Medicaid overhaul.
The letter came as the state Agency for Health Care Administration faces an Aug. 1 deadline for submitting the proposal, which would lead to almost all Medicaid beneficiaries enrolling in managed-care plans by October 2014.
Also, Reps. Mia Jones, Steve Perman, Elaine Schwartz and Mark Pafford asked that the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services deny an extension of a five-county pilot program that started in 2006. Federal and state officials have been negotiating such an extension, with an agreement possible by the end of July.
The Democrats pointed to problems in the pilot program, as they argued against approval of the broader Medicaid overhaul.
“The new legislation builds on a failed managed care platform, expands its scope, introduces additional experimental elements and dramatically accelerates its implementation, but without resolving the outstanding problems and concerns of the current pilot,’’ the letter said.
Gov. Rick Scott and Republican legislative leaders made overhauling Medicaid a top priority during the spring legislative session. They argued that moving to a managed-care system would help control costs and improve care for beneficiaries.
