In exactly a week, the Supreme Court of the United States will begin hearing a legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the health care reform law that was signed in 2010. Leading the challenge in court is the state of Florida.
As the state aims to balance the budget in the face of a $2 billion shortfall, Medicaid recipients might see their doctor’s visits slashed. Florida’s $70 billion budget, which was released yesterday and is set to be voted on Friday, drastically cuts visits to emergency rooms and primary care doctors for Floridians enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program.
A federal agency denied Florida’s request to begin imposing a $10 premium for Medicaid beneficiaries late last week. Imposing new premiums was part of the state’s plan to lower the cost of Medicaid and overhaul the program.
A report released yesterday found that a measure requiring a $10 premium from Medicaid recipients could force out about 800,000 people from the program — 660,000 of which will likely be children.
As the state Legislature prepares for an estimated $2 billion budget shortfall, Gov. Rick Scott has maintained that it is the state’s spending on Medicaid that is to blame. But some state policy experts say pinning blame for the state’s budget woes on the cost of Medicaid is “disingenuous.”
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