Florida Medicare Patients Facing Sweeping Changes
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) – A bill released by lawmakers Thursday proposes moving millions of low-income Floridians to HMO-style health plans and limits how much the state will spend on the program.
It may also cost Florida up to $12 billion per year in federal funds.
Changes will take effect by 2012, according to The News Service of Florida, NSF.
While Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, the chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, had hinted at parts of a comprehensive overall plan two days ago, bill details were not released until Thursday morning.
The bill proposed dividing the state into 19 regions and will force the majority of Medicaid recipients and other managed care plans starting in December.
Negron said the plan will save Florida $4.3 billion over three years if the federal government gives the state the go-ahead.
If federal approval does not come through, Negron proposed Florida run its Medicaid program without Washington's rules – and without Washington's help.
This means the state would lose billions of dollars used to pay the health care costs of the poor.
The federal government has from August 2011 to December 2011 to approve Florida's reforms, Negron said.
"They would have to make a decision of going from being a partner to being a bully, and I don't think they're going to do that," he told NSF.
But the idea of retreating from the federal money has rankled some lawmakers, including House Speaker Dean Cannon, who told the Florida Tribune that the Senate's proposal could be a "hazardous threat" that could jeopardize negotiations with the Obama administration.
Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich estimated that a departure from federal funding could cost Florida up to $12 billion per year in federal funds.
"Unlike you," Rich said to Negron during a hearing on the bill, "I feel there would be a crisis in this state if we were not part of the federal Medicaid program."
The overall proposal contains many smaller additions that may or may not make the final product when the House and Senate work out the differences between their proposals. The House has not yet released a bill on Medicaid reform.
Among the other changes is reducing the amount of money that covers services to senior citizens with high medical expenses, but don't qualify for Medicaid; creating restrictions on the use of psychotropic drugs for children; and extending lawsuit limits to better protect doctors from legal action, according to NSF.
(©2011 News Service of Florida contributed to this report. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
