Christine Jordan Sexton
Nine days after announcing the dates, the Florida Legislature issued the proclamation for the special session.
The call is wide open, including Medicaid expansion, elimination of certificate of need law, direct primary care, state group health insurance changes,the budget and conforming bills from the 2015 regular legislative session and tax relief. As previously announced, the session will run from June 1-20.
“At this time, budget allocations have not been agreed to by the President and the Speaker, but will be reached before the beginning of Special Session on June 1, 2015,” the proclamation reads.
The 2015 legislative session came to an end without the one must pass bill: the General Appropriations Act, or the budget. Lawmakers couldn’t come to an agreement on healthcare access and the federal government would not provide Florida with any insight on whether it would approve the $2.2 billion Low Income Pool program beyond June 30.
LIP is made possible by a waiver that requires federal approval. Florida has submitted a waiver amendment and is waiting to hear back from CMS as to how much it can expect to get.
Gov. Rick Scott sued the government in federal court over LIP negotiations.
It’s not clear what has changed between now and the end of April when legislators called it quits. Florida still does not have any insight on what supplemental Medicaid finances the federal government will approve for the 2015-16 fiscal year.
Meanwhile the Florida Hospital Association released a statement saying it appreciates the session will include a plan to “develop a sustainable approach to health care that fully meets the needs of our patients, those who are fortunate enough to have health insurance and those who are not.”
FHA President Bruce Rueben said, “We look forward to working with the House and Senate to find solutions that include coverage and a replacement for the Low Income Pool. Both are essential to ensure low-income, working Floridians have access to preventative care and critical services.”
A bipartisan business coalition led by Associated Industries of Florida called A Healthy Florida Works issued a release saying, “we appreciate the progress being made by the Florida House and Senate and believe that by working together this special session the Florida Legislature can cut taxes, create jobs, boost our economy, and allow more working Floridians to purchase private health care coverage.”
