Business leaders find no unity on health care this session

There’s infighting among the “business” ranks this session on the health care front.

By the second week of session it’s clear that National Federation of Independent Business, Florida; the Florida Chamber; and Associated Industries of Florida differ on how Florida should approach the loss of federal Medicaid finding that’s used to pay hospitals and federally qualified health centers, and to train future doctors.

AIF thanked the Senate Health Policy Committee for agreeing to introduce a Medicaid expansion bill Tuesday that has similar approaches to the A Healthy Florida Works plan. However, Florida Chamber President and CEO Mark Wilson withheld support of the bill. The Chamber supports expansion but wants to see a broad array of issues included in the proposal.

NFIB Florida Executive Director Bill Herrle was at the meeting but didn’t testify. He sat quietly in the committee taking it all in. His association, whose members are exclusively smaller employers, opposes any proposal that would expand Medicaid and tap into available federal funding.

Instead, the NFIB wants a proposal to allow patients to sign contracts with doctors and for a prepaid amount get primary care. NFIB’s proposal — which is to amend insurance laws to make it clear that direct primary care contracts are not insurance contracts — has support in the House.

The Florida Chamber has a broad bill no one likes, Wilson joked. The Florida Chamber supports an 8% reduction in insurance rates and a 32% cap on the growth in Medicaid. The bill also expands scope of practice for health care providers.

The Florida Chamber makes a real break from AIF, and NFIB, in proposing changes to the state’s workers’ compensation to mitigate court rulings.

“Nobody likes this bill,” Wilson said.

The Florida Chamber does not have a bill sponsor for its 49-page proposal, and Senate Health Policy committee Chairman Aaron Bean, a Fernandina Beach Republican, said  many of the ideas the the group is proposing are too hot to be included in the already controversial committee bill.

Nevertheless, Wilson remains optimistic: “I would expect bits and pieces might be taken up.”

While Herrle sat quietly in the Health Policy committee meeting on Tuesday he said his members will speak on the issue soon enough.

“There is no unanimity in the business community on expansion,” he said.