Scott Signs Off On Medicaid Rewrite, Other Health Bills

June 3, 2011

Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday signed a landmark Medicaid overhaul that calls for shifting hundreds of thousands of low-income and elderly Floridians into managed-care plans.

Scott’s signature on a two-bill package (HB 7107 and HB 7109) was not a surprise — he has long pushed for transforming the Medicaid system.

Now, it will be up to the state to convince the federal government to go along. The state Agency for Health Care Administration is required to submit a proposal to federal Medicaid officials by Aug. 1 and is scheduled to start a flurry of public hearings June 10.

If the overhaul is approved, AHCA in July 2012 would start moving forward with a mandatory managed-care program for seniors who need long-term care. That phase would be finished by October 2013.

AHCA would then start putting in place the managed-care requirement for a broader Medicaid population — such as low-income women and children — in January 2013 and finish by October 2014.

The plan, however, has faced opposition from Democratic lawmakers and some patient advocates. They argue, in part, that relying on HMOs and other types of managed-care plans could squeeze needed services for Medicaid beneficiaries.

Lawmakers spent more than a year considering changes to the $20 billion Medicaid program and passed the two bills on the final day of the 2011 legislative session.

Also late Thursday, Scott signed one in a series of controversial bills dealing with abortion.

The bill (HB 97) would ban abortion coverage from policies sold through a health-insurance exchange — a type of insurance marketplace that is scheduled to start operating in 2014 as part of last year’s federal health law.

Scott also approved another measure (HB 1193) that takes aim at the hotly debated federal law. That bill says people cannot be compelled to buy health insurance, except in limited circumstances.

The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the bill in response to what has become known as the “individual mandate” in the federal law. That mandate will require almost all Americans to have health insurance starting in 2014.

By Jim Saunders
The News Service of Florida

Comments

4 Responses to “Scott Signs Off On Medicaid Rewrite, Other Health Bills”

  1. reannaa on June 3rd, 2011 3:05 pm

    Can a governor be fired??? Petition maybe….H’s making a lot of rash changes without any experience in government..

  2. Kathy on June 3rd, 2011 7:22 am

    There is no consent from HHS to operate such a program. Hopefully HHS will shut it down before it starts. IT is a miserable failure in Jacksonville. Go research it. More money for business less care for the elderly and less fortunate.

  3. 429SCJ on June 3rd, 2011 6:51 am

    I shudder to think when the Lord rings up my bill, I would hate to stand before him with abortion on my soul, HB 97 is a victory! Scott your stock is rising! If I do not see yall on the road, I will see you in that long line.

  4. tbpcola on June 3rd, 2011 5:40 am

    Scott continues to operate Florida as a business. Yeah, sure. He’s going to run the business of Florida right into the ground.

    Less than four years to deal with this one term governor.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News