Florida opts out of Medicaid expansion
Now that the Supreme Court has decided that the federal government, under Obamacare, can’t put a gun to the head of the states on Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, the states are reacting. Prior to that ruling, if a state did not agree to greatly expand its Medicaid coverage, the federal government could withhold all Medicaid funding, not just the “expansion” funding.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Sunday announced his state is opting out of an expansion of Medicaid, a joint federal-state health care program, now that the court will allow it to do so…In his release, Scott said Florida can’t afford the expansion, which he says would eventually cost the state $1.9 billion.
As a resident of Florida, I can assure you that we don’t have $1.9 billion kicking around with nothing on which to spend it. So I applaud my governor. Our state will spend far less covering the cost of medical treatment for the uninsured than Obamacare would force it to spend.
Why?
Because each state seems far more attuned to the needs of its citizens than the giant federal bureaucracy is. With all of the Obamacare mandates on what must be covered, Medicaid costs will soar for the states under this expansion. And, the state is more conscious of spending your tax dollars wisely than the federal government is…unless, of course, you live in Connecticut, or New York, or Illinois, or California, where it is pretty much a wash.
At the moment, Louisiana, South Carolina and Wisconsin are considering doing the same, and I have heard that eight others are pondering this issue, but I can’t confirm either who they are, or whether they are.
My solution, much like that of many Republicans in Congress, is to block grant federal Medicaid money to the states and let them spend that money based upon the needs of their residents. This is much like the Medicare Advantage program.
Oh, wait, I forgot. Obamacare kills Medicare Advantage.
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Malloy will rake in the expansion funding without batting an eyelash.? CT residents are doomed — by federal *and* state government.?
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On a different (& unrelated) note, my youngest daughter just told me that all the youtube.com ads so far today are Obama campaign ads trashing Romney.? She outed herself as a conservative-leaning 16 year old the other day.? That’s 2 out of 3 I can claim victory for.? The oldest will figure it out as her paycheck disappears bit by bit.
Great, the shell game continues. By killing Part C coverage, it sounds like Obama has moved the funding to another pot for his political advantage and gamesmanship.
I applaud Florida’s Scott for having the cashews to stand up to the O-Care leviathan. Scott sounds honest, well, as honest as a politician can sound. In Connecticut, we can have exactly no expectation that our governor will only use any Federal monies for their intended purposes.
As I understood the run-up to the SCOTUS decision, if EVERYONE is to be covered by O-Care, why would anyone need Medicare? Wouldn’t it be a redundant program; isn’t it a mechanism for Obama to pander to the poor (read that as, likely Democrat voters)?
. . . err, Medicaid. Anyway, I thought it may stimulate some discussion.
(I go to the VA. No clue how O-Care will effect that. I only know that civilian hospitals, i.e. Hartford Hospital, et al,? are fast to push patients onto Medicaid. Ergo, they win, you lose . . . house, savings, etc, etc.)
I was planning to “opt out” of Obamacare by joining “Christian Science”. I figure they will have millions of new members.
THIS IS FOR???:? ricbee,
???
Try becoming a Amish, they are exempt also? exempt.? AND THEN, you get a horse and carriage. I bet you can get and exemption to drive to work in the HOV lane !!!!!
The horse’s “exhaust” is the closest approximation we have for what comes out of this administration… sorry to veer off topic but I couldn’t resist.
Now you know why natural gas has been so cheap as of late!? 😉