Rejoice Magazine - Enough is Enough: State of Florida Must Expand Medicaid Now

Op-Ed

By Corrine Brown

Enough is enough! The state of Florida needs to implement Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act immediately! The decision is simple and straight forward: Florida taxpayers would benefit from an expansion, Floridians in need of health care would obtain insurance, and the Florida health care system would prosper. So what is the hold up? State House Republican lawmakers and Florida Governor Rick Scott are stuck on stupid and playing politics with the healthcare of our most vulnerable residents.

Ironically, the billions of dollars that would be provided by the federal government to expand Medicaid for uninsured Floridians is made up of taxes that Floridians have already sent to Washington! Yet just like the federal funds for high speed rail that were refused by the governor and quickly disbursed and re-routed to other states, ACA funding for Medicaid expansion, if it continues to be rejected by the state legislature, will be utilized by other states to provide health coverage to their own residents, thanks in part to Florida taxpayers. Even Republican Governor Rich Scott has been quoted as saying previously, when he supported Medicaid Expansion, that "by refusing federal money, the House plan inflicts a "double-hit to state taxpayers," allowing their tax dollars to help finance the Affordable Care Act while getting nothing in return.' Obviously, this is simple math, and if federal dollars are not accepted, all Floridians lose in the end. To date, of the nine states that continue to receive Low Income Pool (LIP) funding, only four have not expanded Medicaid: Florida, Texas, Kansas and Tennessee. Not surprisingly, all of them are struggling with severe budget deficits.

In addition, a reduction in the number of uninsured Floridians would bring huge relief to Florida hospitals, which are required to treat all emergency room visits regardless of a patient's ability to pay. A report commissioned by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured estimates that Medicaid expansion in states across the nation shows "state savings, revenue gains and limited costs.' Conversely, Governor Scott's decision to allow $51 billion (over ten years) in Florida taxpayer money to flow to other states for their residents' healthcare is a critical part of what is exacerbating the financial problems at non-profit hospitals that serve low income Floridians, such as UF Health-Jacksonville and Jackson Memorial in Miami. Thus far the state of Florida has lost just under $5 billion in Medicaid funding since the Governor refused Medicaid Expansion. Yet if the House Republicans in the state legislature would wake up, they would realize that the Affordable Care Act provides that the Federal Government pays 100% of Medicaid expansion costs for the first three years, and gradually decreases the percentage until it hits 90% thereafter in 2022.

Moreover, the state of Florida accepts various types of federal funding, including funding for transportation, education, housing, health care, and environmental programs. In fact, in 2013 Florida received $24.2 billion from the federal government, which amounts to 31.5% of total revenue. The state of Florida received over $200 million in Housing assistance; $4.5 million in education funding; $2.2 billion in Transportation dollars, and $2 billion in healthcare funding…so to refuse these additional health care dollars is not only hypocritical, it makes absolutely no economic sense!

And for naysayer Republicans in the state legislature who continue to refuse this funding because of a dislike for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), let me remind you once again of a few of the ACA's benefits:

No American can be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition.
No woman can be charged a higher premium just because she's a woman.
No American has to worry that one major illness will mean bankruptcy for their family. No senior will ever again have to pay a co-pay for key preventive services, such as cancer screenings.
Millions of children with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied coverage.
Over 100 million Americans no longer have a lifetime limit on their coverage.
The Medicare prescription drug donut hole was filled, and by 2020, there will be a 50% discount on brand-name drugs to completely close the donut hole, with 75% discounts on brand-name and generic drugs.

In my congressional district, Florida's 5th:

10,000 young adults now have health insurance through their parents' plans.

114,000 seniors in the district received prescription drug discounts.

133,000 individuals in the district -- including 27,000 children and 58,000 women -- now have health insurance that covers preventive services without any co-pays, coinsurance or deductible.

Up to 159,000 individuals in the district now have access to quality, affordable coverage without fear of discrimination or higher rates because of a pre-existing health condition.

And while Republicans continue to say we need to rein in entitlement programs, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has demonstrated that one of the main reasons that our nation's deficit is decreasing is because of falling health care costs, largely due to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). In the words of President Obama, "Partly because health care prices have been growing at the slowest rate in nearly 50 years, the growth in what health care costs the government is down, (and) health care has long been the single-biggest driver of America's future deficits. It's been the single-biggest driver of our debt. Health care is now the single-biggest factor driving down those deficits.'

In closing, it is obvious that if Governor Scott and House Republicans in the Florida state legislature truly care at all about providing health care to ALL Floridians and improving our state's economy, they need to approve of Medicaid expansion during the special session.

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