The Governors Wrong Move(s)

The Governors Wrong Moves (s) :

An editorial published in today’s Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/05/2051681/wrong-move.html points out that the Governor has turned down two federal grants that would start paving the way for consumer choices as part of the federal healthcare law. Mr. Scott is using a federal judge's recent ruling in Pensacola to make his case that the new law is unconstitutional, and therefore the federal money isn't needed. This includes a $1 million grant that would help consumers comparison shop for health plans and another $1 million grant for consumers to monitor insurance-rate changes to see how their premiums are spent. Our Governor seems to be so blinded by ideology that even reasonable approaches appear unacceptable for him! But he does not stop there! John Dorschner reports in an article published in today’s Miami Herald http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/05/2051426/jackson-funding-cut-likely.html that healthcare advisors to Gov. Rick Scott have recommended that tax dollars, now focused almost entirely on government-own hospitals, include more money for private hospitals that provide care for the poor and uninsured. That may further aggravate the already dire financial conditions of cash-strapped public hospitals. In addition the end of the economic stimulus funds from the Obama administration has reduced payments to the Lower Income Pool, a fund for hospitals that serve large numbers of uninsured patients and those on Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance for the poor. LIP funds are a complicated mechanism in which public hospitals have to transfer tens of millions of dollars to Tallahassee before getting funds back. Now Florida may not be entitled to any LIP funds at all next year because it's in violation of a federal waiver in which it promised to spread Medicaid reform statewide -- something the state has yet to do and Governor Scott continues to resist! The waiver issue jeopardizes the receipt of $1.9 billion in healthcare funds that flow into the state through LIP and a sister program. Is our Governor going to deprive our State of these urgently needed funds too?
I am afraid he is digging in, ready to fight against our own best interests.


Yours