Christine Jordan Sexton
Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday he’s prepared to walk away from additional Medicaid funding and prepare a base budget if the state doesn’t get approval from the federal government on the Low Income Pool soon.
Scott talked with reporters after a meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell. Scott went to Washington to request the federal government to approve the state’s amendment to its existing 1115 waiver, which allows the state to operate a mandatory Medicaid managed-care program.
The Low Income Pool — a $2 billion pot of supplemental Medicaid funds composed mostly of county and federal dollars — is part of the 1115 waiver. The federal government agreed to extend the waiver last year through the end of next month.
Florida has been unable to craft a budget with the uncertainty over the Low Income Pool infusion.
“If we don’t get an answer from (the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) in the next few weeks, their inaction is the same as ‘no’ and we will prepare to go into a Special Session to do a base budget that keeps government running,” Scott said. “I told her that we need federal action right now. The low-income families in our state cannot wait on the federal government any longer.”
U.S Sen. Bill Nelson criticized the governor for his handling of the situation. Scott has sued Burwell for refusing to extend the LIP funding to the state, arguing that the federal government is trying to “coerce” Florida into a Medicaid expansion.
“Florida is not a corporation, it’s a community and Governor Scott should govern accordingly,” Nelson said in a news release. “Right now he’s showing a callous disregard for the needs of many of his fellow Floridians.”
