Florida House speaker Will Weatherford: No Medicaid expansion

[steve2470]

Florida GOP House Speaker Will Weatherford declared in an interview that the prospect of Medicaid expansion in his state is “dead” – regardless of any additional lobbying from Gov. Rick Scott.

“I think based on where the membership is today, the votes are not there to expand Medicaid no matter what the governor says,” Weatherford told POLITICO Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Stunning conservatives, Scott came out last month for the expansion of the federal-state health care program for the poor that was part of the Affordable Care Act. But a Republican-led House committee blocked the expansion earlier this month and last week a Senate panel also moved to stop the plan to offer health care to an additional 1 million Floridians.

By rejecting the Medicaid expansion, Florida is estimated to be giving up $51 billion over 10 years to cover low-income residents. Under the law, the federal government would pay for 100 percent of the costs for the first three years of the program and then 90 percent thereafter.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/florida-house-speaker-medicaid-expansion-dead-88945.html#ixzz2NkS0ODxg

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Things like this make me hate my state, the R assholes.

[LonePirate]

1. The pro-fetus party again proves to be anything but pro-life by denying health care to those in need

[bluestate10]

2. Although republicans still hold the House and Senate, democrats picked up seats in both

for the first time in more than a decade. With more and more of the state moderating, that trend should continue to grow stronger election after election. Florida republicans will one day be limited to rural parts of the state. The big cities of southern Florida and Tampa supply most of the democratic office holders in Florida. Orlando is starting to supply more as that part of the state become more liberal. The greater north central part of the state contain some growing cities that are moderating from conservative to moderate-conservative, with the trend seemingly aimed toward even more moderation. Jacksonville in north Florida is moderating, while Tallahassee is solidly blue, but has limited range in north Florida so far, but it's range is growing.

[magellan]

3. What exactly does this mean for FL then?

I'd heard that if the state won't expand Medicaid, the federal government will step in. Is that the case?