Governor Rick Scott proclaimed that his administration will file suit against the federal government for holding back over $1 billion unless their Medicaid program is expanded. The Obama administration fired back by saying that Scott misinterpreted the 2012 Supreme Court finding on the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Scott was quoted as saying, “It is appalling that President Obama would cut off health care dollars to Florida in an effort to force our state further into Obamacare.”
He went on to say that the court’s decision states that the feds cannot put a “gun to the head” of states to force them to expand Medicaid under the health care law.
Conservative pundits say that this may be a case of payback. Florida led the country in the lawsuit that questioned the constitutionality of the ACA law – mainly the individual mandate. To almost everyone’s surprise, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts gave the law the okay and he was the deciding vote.
White House Spokesperson Josh Earnest fired back, “It’s difficult to explain how somebody would think that their political situation and their political interest is somehow more important than the livelihoods of 800,000 people.”
The Obama administration claims that they are not forcing anyone to do anything. However, if the Governor does not expand the Medicaid portion of Obamacare, $1.3 billion dollars will be taken away from hospital funding. This may not be blackmail, but the government is withholding money to get what they want.
The billion-dollar battle puts low-income families on the chopping block. The approximately $1.3 billion comes from the federal government and combined with state money, the total comes to $2.2 billion. This money is for the “Low-Income Pool” program, which helps the poor with their health care needs.
Also in jeopardy is the state’s budget, which must be balanced and complete by May 1, 2015. Florida has a state constitutional duty to balance its budget and the money in question will play a major role.
