Most of the measures passed by the Florida legislature during yesterday’s special session were approved unanimously in the House and with overwhelming majorities in the Senate. In the House, the most disputed measure was the override of Chalie Crist’s veto of rule-making reforms. In the Senate, it was a resolution detailing the legislature’s plans to reform the state’s delivery of Medicaid services, which are expected to cost the state $5.5 billion a year.
The resolution called on the federal government to give states more leeway, in a manner modeled off the welfare reform law passed in 1996.
According to the News Service of Florida, state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, said the resolution signaled the legislature’s intention to move the program to a system driven by “managed care.”
The St. Petersburg Times adds:
He said that managed care essentially means HMOs and warned: “If you think you got a few phone calls last year, put people in an HMO and the phones will be ringing off the hook.”
State Sens. Joe Negron, R-Palm City, Don Gaetz, R-Destin, and Nan Rich, D-Sunrise, are holding hearings today, where they will hear from patients, doctors, hospitals, and other interest groups affected by Medicaid.
The Senate resolution:
