Governor Rick Scott followed up his trip to Washington DC last week with an open letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, Sylvia Burwell.
He thanked her for taking the time to meet with him and reiterated what they discussed during his trip further urging her to side with Floridians instead of Obama’s agenda.Scott said:
I want to reiterate that it would not be in the best interest of Florida taxpayers for the state to burden them with a $5 billion, 10-year state costs (in addition to their federal income taxes) to increase those enrolled in the Medicaid program under Obamacare.
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He went on to say Medicaid expansion in Florida would be not only costly but it would force residents who have private insurance to lose their insurance Obama initially told them they could keep.
Next, he poised several questions he said would better guide the Commission’s work over the next few weeks if they knew the federal government would approve them:
1. Would HHS consider giving Florida a block grant of federal money to decide how to cover those who do not have health insurance?2. Would HHS be interested in a larger population of Floridians being eligible for insurance offered on the 100-percent-federally-funded-federal exchange?
3. Would HHS support healthcare coverage benefits that protect hundreds of thousands of Floridians between 100% and 138% of the federal poverty line from losing their private health care plans on the federal exchange with any future reforms?
He finished off the letter by thanking the HHS for their “continued partnership in helping Florida develop solutions to decrease costs and increase quality and access to healthcare.”
You can read the full letter here: HHSLetterMay122015