Florida’s Rick Scott Asks Legislature To Accept Affordable Care Act Funds

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Think Progress: Florida’s Rick Scott Asks Legislature To Accept Affordable Care Act Funds

Health care reform foe Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) — who has turned down almost every grant available through the Affordable Care Act — has asked the Joint Legislative Budget Commission to reconsider its rejection of a home visiting grant from the ACA, which, among other things, could be used to prevent child abuse. Scott initially approved the $3.4 million Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting grant, but the legislature “rejected it because the state is in litigation with the federal government over health care reform.” Interestingly, it gave back the money despite reducing funding for Healthy Families Florida — a program that provides home visitation services to both expecting parents and parents with newborn children in order to prevent future instances of abuse — by a staggering 43 percent. As a result, Healthy Families was forced to scale back, dropping services for 5,800 children in 3,500 high-risk families.