AP Day: Audrey Gibson blasts Mary Mayhew as AHCA choice

Florida Senate Minority Leader Audrey Gibson won’t offer a warm welcome to Mary Mayhew, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ choice to lead the Agency for Healthcare Administration.

“We know that there is a scathing audit from the state of Maine that disabled community individuals were left lacking and individuals actually died under the watch of this secretary,” Gibson said.

The Jacksonville Democrat referenced an audit publicized recently by a Miami New Times report looking at Mayhew’s history running Maine’s medical programs.

A federal audit in 2017 found Mayhew’s office failed to investigate the deaths of 133 Medicaid patients with disabilities. The audit also uncovered 423 allegations of sexual abuse of patients with disabilities.

Gibson slammed Mayhew in a news conference at the Associated Press legislative briefing in Tallahassee. She compared the selection of Mayhew to the swift ouster of Secretary of State Mike Ertel when photos surfaced of the official in blackface mocking Hurricane Katrina victims.

“We had one hiccup, if you will, with a secretary where apparently there was no knowledge of the deed that he had done, ridiculing people who should not have been ridiculed,” Gibson said.

Yet, a documented history of failure in advance of Mayhew’s selection did not prevent her appointment.

Gibson said she and several members of the Democratic caucus in the Senate have reservations about her selection, which will likely come up during the confirmation process.

The Democratic leader also said she will continue to push for a Medicaid expansion.

“Medicaid expansion delivers health care to the nearly 1 million Floridians who don’t have any and get their health care in the most expensive place there is, which is the emergency room, where they wait hours,” Gibson said.

While a Medicaid expansion remains something for which Republicans leaders show little desire, Gibson did appreciate colleagues across the aisle expressing a desire to revisit retroactivity. That helps Medicaid applicants who apply for coverage after an emergency, but that’s something set to expire.

Gibson said lawmakers need to prioritize health care access especially as more families choose not to provide insurance for even their children because of high costs.

“It’s a cycle of uninsuredness,” she said.

She also cited other budget pressures facing lawmakers this year. Gibson credited DeSantis for an executive order regarding water quality spending. But she reiterated a concern where $2.5 billion in spending included in a Desantis executive order might come from.

“I don’t know how you put money to an executive without a thoughtful process that includes the Legislature,” Gibson said. “The question is not so much the amount as where it comes from. That remains to be seen.”

She did express a desire for septic tank conversions to be a priority and said there must be state directive and not just local grants aimed at that problem. And she said while South Florida remains important, she doesn’t want the rivers and streams throughout the state to suffer as a result.

“The St. Johns River is very important to those of us in North Florida,” she said.

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AP Day at the Capitol is hosted by The Associated Press. Several state leaders are slated to speak to media from across the state throughout the day. Check back for continued coverage.