Florida Governor Rick Scott’s
proposal to cut Medicaid is drawing opposition and resurrecting
Scott’s own troubles with Medicaid during his tenure as a health
care executive.
Scott is proposing to cut Medicaid
costs by $2 billion by paying hospitals less money for their
treatment of patients who are on Medicaid. These cuts, says Scott,
will be used to boost public school spending by $1 billion. Medicaid
is a joint federal and state funded medical insurance program that is
administered at the state level and covers low-income adults and
children, primarily through the Supplemental Security Income and
Supplemental Security Disability Income program
Two million Florida residents presently
receive Medicaid.
Governor Scott’s controversial
proposal is drawing fire from numerous quarters, including the
hospital industry, and is a catalyst for reminding Floridians of
Scott’s former occupation as chief executive officer of a
non-profit hospital that paid a record $1.7 billion in fines for
Medicare fraud.
Children biggest losers
The biggest losers would be hospitals
in urban areas or ones that specialize in treating children, such as
Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami and All Children’s Hospital in
St. Petersburg, according to an analysis by a hospital lobbying
group. (Miami Herald, Dec. 8)
Jackson Memorial, the hospital with the
largest Medicaid population in Florida, would lose $133.5 million,
according to the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, a lobbying
group for 15 of the state’s largest hospitals. All Children’s
would lose $39 million, and Tampa General would lose $32.5 million.
Miami Children’s Hospital would lose $34 million.
Scott, whose campaign for governor
received vocal support from various Tea Party coalitions, is no
stranger to cuts in necessary services. At one point early in his
tenure, he proposed to slash state monies used to provide supportive
services at group homes for individuals with developmental
disabilities. That proposal also engendered widespread opposition.
Florida has no state income tax, but
does have a high sales tax on most items, a form of regressive
taxation that disproportionately impacts lower income people. The
state has benefited substantially from federal stimulus programs, but
home foreclosures remain high—a process that began several years
ago partly as result of skyrocketing homeowner insurance premiums in
the wake of a series of four hurricanes that hit various parts of the
state.
Scott’s proposal to slash Medicaid
highlights the need for a socialized health care system,where
people’s needs are put first and health care is seen as a right not a
privilege.
