As the Florida Legislature’s latest session came to a close, Democrats renewed a call for a special session to expand health care coverage to cover more uninsured Floridians.
Legislators adjourned last week without passing legislation that had been filed that would have either used federal money to extend coverage to more than a million people or used state money for a smaller subsidy.
Billions to Florida
Under ‘Obamacare’ – the 2010 Affordable Care Act – the federal government promised to pay all of the Medicaid expansion costs during the first three years and the vast bulk after that. Obamacare would send more than $50 billion to Florida over the next decade.
“By blocking passage this session of a plan that would dramatically help 1.2 million of Florida’s low-income and working families, many Floridians are disappointed and will continue, despite the session’s end, to expect the governor and Legislature to approve a bipartisan health coverage expansion compromise that relies upon available federal funds,” said House Democratic Leader Perry Thurston.
He called on Gov. Rick Scott to call lawmakers back to Tallahassee “at the earliest convenience to pass a bipartisan health coverage expansion plan for Florida’s working families.”
