If you haven't already heard, POLITICO broke this news late yesterday:
Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott, one of biggest critics of Obamacare, has agreed to expand Medicaid coverage in his home state, accepting one of the key elements of the health care law, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Scott's move to allow the federal government's expansion of Medicaid is a big win for implementation of Obamacare in one of the biggest health care markets in the country. Scott, a former health care executive, campaigned hard against the law when he ran for governor in 2010.
Let's be blunt: ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion is bad medicine. All around the country, Medicaid is exploding state budgets. And, expanding Medicaid would simply push millions more into a broken system that doesn't serve them well.
A better solution would be Medicaid REFORM, not expansion, to make the program reliable and sustainable for today's Medicaid population. Medicaid Cure is a Medicaid reform pilot program that since 2006 has used the power of choice, competition, innovation, and accountability to achieve remarkable results. Patients are happier and healthier than those in traditional Medicaid (and sometimes even private insurance) — and if the reform is implemented statewide, Florida will save nearly $1 billion per year in Medicaid costs. If replicated nationwide, taxpayers could save up to $66 billion a year.
Florida could be leading the way with innovative reforms like this one, but instead Gov. Scott wants to toe the ObamaCare line and condemn millions of Floridians to a broken program.