By now everyone has heard about the recent legislative shut down up in Tallahassee, Florida, right?
Well, in case you haven’t heard, the Florida House of Representatives, led by Speaker Steve Crisafulli, decided to adjourn after it became very clear to lawmakers that the ongoing “stalemate” over Medicaid expansion was going no where.“We didn’t get everything we wanted, and we won’t get everything that we hoped, but we have done all that we can do for this session.” -Speaker Steve Crisafulli (TB Times)
The Florida House is firmly against expanding Medicaid under Obamacare, while the Republican-led Florida Senate, for whatever reason, is giving the measure a great big bear hug.
Do you think the 2nd Amendment will be destroyed by the Biden Administration?(2)
Crisafulli’s friend of on the Senate side, Republican Senate President Andy Gardiner, is at the center of the Medicaid debate, and some are starting to wonder if Gardiner’s feverish push to extend the Obamacare Medicaid expansion in Florida has anything to do with the fact that he is the Vice President of External Affairs and Community Relations for Orlando Health.
According to bizjournals.com, back in 2013, Orlando Health seemed to be treading water.
Orlando Health lost $8.1M in its 3QOrlando Health Inc. finished its third-quarter 2013, ended June 30, with an $8.1 million loss.
The health care system had $481.5 million in revenue, up 1.8 percent from $472.5 million for the year-ago period. Expenses grew to $491.3 million, up 2.7 percent from $478.1 million for the same period last year.
On operations, the hospital lost $9.7 million, but made $1.6 million on investments, for a total loss of $8.1 million. For the first nine months of the year, the hospital has made $13.2 million in profit, compared to $82.8 million a year ago.
By expanding Medicaid in Florida, Orlando Health and other healthcare networks and providers could benefit from the influx of tax dollars that the federal government will pour into the state to fund the expansion.
Could this be the real reason Senate President Gardiner and the Florida Senate are ignoring Floridians, who overwhelmingly oppose Obamacare?