Rick Scott refuses to accept badly needed healthcare money

[Divine Discontent]

The New York Times reported on Florida Governor Rick Scott's rejection of millions of dollars in federal grant money aimed at easing the burden of higher health care costs on Floridians. Scott, a former hospital CEO and healthcare profiteer, was made famous by his adamant and vocal campaign against the Health Care Reform Bill which he still refers to as Obamacare. Not alone in his position of power and stance against the new law, Gov. Scott joins Alaska, Oklahoma and Wisconsin Republican governors in refusing to accept or seek government assistance to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. However, Florida is different.

Of all the states, Florida has the fourth-highest unemployment rate, the second-highest rate of people without insurance and a $3.7 billion state budget gap. Given this dire situation, Scott has decided that it is more important to draw a line in the sand than to accept federal funding for a law he opposes. Florida is also unique in its demand for healthcare needs, with a significantly higher percentage of its population being retirement age compared to other states. Florida also has a high rate of insurance-less citizens (nearly 16% of the population is without insurance). According to the Florida Hospital Association, $788.9 billion was spent on hospitals alone last year.

Rick Scott's rejection of available funds for political purposes means that the costs that would have been otherwise covered will be spread to the citizens of Florida through higher insurance premiums and increased out of pocket expenses. There is no indication that the current cost of healthcare in Florida will ever reduce and there is every reason to believe that healthcare costs will continue to rise. This will continue the trend of the last 10 years where Floridians have seen premiums rise three times faster than wages. With crippling unemployment, a service slashing budget and a Governor who refuses to budge, it appears that the people have lost again.

This news comes at the same time as the announcement of Gov. Scott's plan to switch Florida's Medicaid program to a managed care system, a plan that has been submitted to the federal government for approval. This managed care system means private companies would be in control of providing plans and services to the elderly and the working-poor. St. Petersburg Times reporter Stephen Nohlgren explains that these plans, "often run by insurance companies, could make a profit if they treat clients for less cost." Adding, "Critics worry that managed care companies will make money off the backs of the poor by simply skimping on services ... in a decade-old pilot program to deliver home-based services - known as Nursing Home Diversion - managed care turned out to be way more expensive than comparable fee-for-service programs run by nonprofit agencies. In some cases, managed care companies spent only 70 to 80 percent of their stipends on patient care, keeping the rest for overhead and profit."


more at link:

http://peoplesworld.org/rick-scott-refuses-to-accept-badly-needed-healthcare-money/



Scott is focused only on one type of belief (extremist anti-tax pro-corporate viewpoints) and is quite literally - colder than ice about the suffering of human beings. They stole this election in FL. Alex Sink was up until the final week when they created a faux scandal about her 'cheating' in the debate receiving outside help during a commercial break. His approval rating was low at the start of his term, and is much lower even now (around 25%). He has rejected numerous billions from the gov't, including what would have been the USA's first high-speed rail system.