Florida Democrats on Medicaid
Pasco Democrat Legislative Committee
Working for a Better Pasco

Why Florida Medicaid is in Crisis

Our lawmakers in Tallahassee have failed to keep pace with the growing medical needs of the poor and the elderly in Florida . Despite the fact that 30% of Florida ’s bud g et for the fiscal year 2005 is allocated to Medicaid - w here and h ow those tax dollars are bein g spent have become a source of concern for many Floridians.

Some of the Issues Facing Florida Medicaid:

• Florida ’s Medicaid costs have grown by 88% since 1998, while tax revenues from the state have g rown by only 24%
  
• In the last six years, Medicaid spending has grown on average 13% a year in Florida, more than double the annual growth in state revenue
  
• Governor Jeb Bush is askin g lawmakers to “revamp” the program, which is jointly funded by state and federal bud g ets. He wants “predictable costs and a program that behaves more like private employer-based coverage” (Orlando Sentinel 2/07/05 )
  
• The danger is that, if enacted, Bush’s program would make Florida “the first state to allow private companies to decide the scope and extent of services to the elderly, poor, and disabled” of which half are children. Part of the plan would put an annual cap on per-patient spending . “The goal of the cap” Bush’s aides say, “is to create a financial incentive to private companies to enroll the state’s most vulnerable population into health-care networks” (Mark Hollis of the Sun-Sentinel 1/27/05 )
  
• Despite Bush’s proposal to increase Medicaid spendin g by $707 million, Bush wants cuts to the Medically Needy program, which provides health care to low-income Floridians, as well as significant cuts to hospitals and nursing homes. Bush claims that “sky-rocketing health care costs force the state to look at such things as cutting Medically Needy (Sun-Sentinel 1/19/05 )
  
• House Democratic Leader Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale and Democratic State Sen. Walter “Skip” Campbell predicted that the cuts would result in stiff new caps on what is spent per patient. Under Bush’s proposals participating insurers and HMO’s would be the ones settin g limits on care and coverage, rather than the government making decisions about the level and type of health care patients receive . Private health networks would then be under pressure to cut patients off from medical treatments if what they spend on the patient exceeds the cap (Mark Hollis of the Sun Sentinel 1/12/05 )

*Information provided by the Florida Democratic Party http://www.fladems.com

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