A.G. Gancarski
Florida’s senior Senator doesn’t believe in free health care for people who aren’t in the job market.
During an appearance on “The Charlie Kirk Show,” U.S. Sen. Rick Scott strenuously argued for Medicaid benefits to be tied to work.
“We’ve got to make this a program that you have to work to get that. You don’t get it just because you don’t feel like going to work,” Scott said of Medicaid.
“We shouldn’t be covering people that don’t want to even look for a job,” he added. “If you don’t want to even look for a job, then why are we giving you free public housing, food stamps, health care, any of that?”
He wasn’t done. Toward the end of the segment, Scott said that for “people to take advantage of the program, that’s not fair to the American public that’s out there working every day.”
Scott, a former health care executive, has eyed cost savings from Medicaid since he’s been in the Senate.
In February, he filed the Leveraging Integrity and Verification of Eligibility for Beneficiaries (LIVE Beneficiaries) Act, which is designed to ensure Medicaid recipients are actually alive, potentially saving “tens of millions of dollars.”
He framed the legislation as “common sense and a practical step to cut down on improper payments and ensure tax dollars are spent wisely.”
Scott’s former company Columbia/HCA was hit with $1.7 billion in fines for a Medicaid and Medicare fraud investigation that he has framed as political persecution.
“I fought Hillarycare, and guess what happened when I fought Hillarycare? Justice came after me and attacked me and my company,” he said back in 2024.
As Governor, Scott teased support of Medicaid expansion when running for re-election in 2014.
However, soon after votes were counted, he reversed his position, expressing concerns that federal support for expansion wasn’t reliable.
11 comments
Paul
May 5, 2025 at 1:29 pm
Lord knows he worked hard for his Medicaid.
Foghorn Leghorn
May 5, 2025 at 1:32 pm
Um, do you know what Medicaid is?
MH/Duuuval
May 5, 2025 at 1:46 pm
Half of US children require Medicaid, as do seniors in nursing homes, and disabled without other insurance. Oh, and a tiny sliver of Medicaid goes to hospitals that treat poor folks for free — because it is the law (Hill-Burton).
So, what was it you wanted to mansplain, I M Peachy?
Foghorn Leghorn
May 5, 2025 at 1:49 pm
My response was to Paul MH. Sounds like Paul took a shot at Scott and him receiving Medicaid. You and I both know that Scott does not receive Medicaid. How’s that?
MH/Duuuval
May 6, 2025 at 1:58 pm
Don’t muddy the waters, I M Peachy.
Carl Marks
May 6, 2025 at 4:39 pm
Medicaid is the thing that Rick Scott was ripping off in 2003 when his company paid the largest healthcare fraud settlement in history.
MarvinM
May 5, 2025 at 4:24 pm
Rick Scott worked hard at defrauding Medicare to line his and his companies’ pockets, until he/they got caught. So yeah, he’s already leveraged his advantage of having so many $$ he doesn’t need to rely on medicaid in his old age. Pretty sure his wife is safe too.
The rest of us don’t have that advantage, and most of us will eventually need medicaid for long term care. Unless we have saved up some serious means and have well-enough off children and grandchildren whom we have a good relationship with and who live close by (or we can move closer to them).
As someone downthread noted, a lot of Floridians, most I’d say, who are getting medicaid right now are:
1) Children
2) Senior citizens in nursing homes
3) Disabled persons being taken care of at home
Hey Rick Scott, how on earth is that population supposed to “get a job”?
Point is, most people on medicaid can’t work, or if they can, already are, but make so little money they still qualify for medicaid. New work requirement rules will only add a burden to the agency responsible for keeping track of a medicaid recipients work/work search history. It makes government bigger, not smaller.
Ocean Joe
May 5, 2025 at 4:17 pm
Scott said that for “people to take advantage of the program, that’s not fair to the American public that’s out there working every day.”
No one has been less fair to the American public than Mr. Scott, whose management of HCA led to the largest medicare fraud in US history. Scott was shown the door, along with his $300M golden parachute, some of which he used to buy the governor’s seat. Only in Florida could a guy bereft of any honesty get elected, and only Mr. Scott could have the gall to criticize others and claim his own HCA was the victim of politics. He has absolutely no business holding a position of public trust. You want to reform medicaid, good, but wash your filthy hands first.
MH/Duuuval
May 6, 2025 at 6:47 pm
And, when brought to the bar, he took the 5th A over 75 times — a sure indication he was up to something and wanted to hide it.
Matt
May 6, 2025 at 8:56 am
Nothing spells hypocrisy more than a millionaire who made their money defrauding Medicaid creating roadblocks for those who rely on it.
Most people on Medicaid work, are caring for a dependent or have a disability.
All work requirements will do is create a new bureaucratic burden on the states and citizens to waste time and money. I’m sure it will cost more to administer this program than it will actually save.
Wilhelmina Nash
May 6, 2025 at 10:00 am
Most of these Politicians that hold a job in government don’t really know how Medicaid works. They get in office to get rich but have no idea about current Laws that affect the citizens of our state ( Florida ) Please Rick Scott educate yourself about how certain legislation works. Stop saying things that make no sense to the people who put you in the office you hold today.. We really need to educate and evaluate who is representing our citizens in our state. And who knows how the laws work.
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