Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Staff ReportsJune 7, 2016

The U.S. House is expected Tuesday to pass Congressman Vern Buchanan‘s legislation to preserve Medicare Advantage plans for thousands of older people in Sarasota and Manatee counties. “Medicare Advantage plans have a proven track record of improving health, reducing costs and offering much-needed personal choice to seniors,” Buchanan said in a statement. “I am committed to […]

Associated PressJanuary 8, 2016

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi says she was wrong to urge Medicare to pay for high-priced and unnecessary drug screening tests from a company being investigated for defrauding Florida Medicaid of millions. Bondi told The Palm Beach Post in an email Friday that she never should have issued a 2014 letter to the Centers for Medicare […]

Christine Jordan SextonMay 21, 2015

Senate President Andy Gardiner sent a memo to members on Thursday advising that the tentative $1 billion approval of Low Income Pool funds for fiscal year 2015-16 does not mean that Florida’s health care debate is over. In fact, it’s the opposite. “The news brings certainty to what we have known for over a year […]

Christine Jordan SextonMay 21, 2015

The budget impasse paralyzing the state could come to an end soon as the federal government advised Florida today in a letter that it could receive an additional $1 billion this year in supplemental Medicaid funds to help pay hospitals for providing care to the uninsured and poor The state can expect $600 million in supplemental […]

Mitch PerryMay 18, 2015

Gov. Rick Scott‘s call for Florida hospitals to share their profits if the federal government refuses to authorize $2.2 billion in health-care spending has been greeted as a form of socialism by critics, including some from his own party. “That’s government price controls,” Niceville-based GOP state Sen. Don Gaetz said in a recent radio interview. “That really brought […]

Christine Jordan SextonMay 18, 2015

The Florida Hospital Association has a message for Florida Gov. Rick Scott: don’t increase our taxes. In a May 18 two-page draft letter, the association has written the governor a letter making clear that the hospitals don’t believe a way to plug the loss of the federal Low Income Pool program is through a tax […]

Christine Jordan SextonMay 13, 2015

After an acrimonious and abrupt ending to this year’s session, Florida legislative leaders have started piecing together a framework for a new state budget and to avoid a possible state government shutdown. Some of that framework was discussed in an all-day meeting Wednesday between Sen. Tom Lee and Rep. Richard Corcoran. Gov. Rick Scott for […]

Christine Jordan SextonMay 12, 2015

As the rhetoric around Medicaid funding grows louder, Florida hospitals caught in a Medicaid financing war between the state and federal government are beginning to brace for what an austere state budget might mean. On Tuesday Gov. Rick Scott met with members of the Florida congressional delegation to update them on Florida’s “battle” with the Obama […]

Christine Jordan SextonMay 7, 2015

Florida Democratic Party Chair Allison Tant issued a statement saying “sometimes there are no words” after Gov. Rick Scott told reporters he supported Medicaid expansion in 2013 because the state had just gotten approval from the federal government to expand its mandatory managed care program for three years. “The lengths to which Rick Scott will […]

Bob SparksApril 30, 2015

What a week. First, Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Florida is suing the Obama administration over the Medicaid expansion issue. Then, we witnessed some remarkable political gamesmanship when the House adjourned three days early. The words “insurmountable differences” on the budget and Medicaid expansion accompanied the banging gavel in the House […]

Tag: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Las Vegas Strip transforms into a Grand Prix.

U.S. House to approve Vern Buchanan measure protecting seniors

Pam Bondi says supporting company being investigated was mistake

Andy Gardiner still wants health access fix in spite of $1 billion in Medicaid money

Feds advise Florida that LIP could be $1 billion this year, $600 million next year

Rick Scott defends call for Florida hospitals to share wealth

Hospitals tell Rick Scott in a draft letter: don’t tax us

Budget details emerge after top lawmakers meet informally in Tallahassee

Rick Scott goes to Washington to talk LIP (again) as hospitals prepare for austere year

Allison Tant calls Rick Scott out for his Medicaid expansion remark

Bob Sparks: Do new statements jump-start budget negotiations?