The state of Florida finds itself in an enviable position. It’s expecting a $1 billion surplus in the upcoming fiscal-year budget. Gov. Rick Scott’s proposed budget includes increasing public-school spending – but it does not include expanding Florida’s Medicaid program for the uninsured.
Scott, who credits an improving economy for the windfall, said he wants to return some of the money to Floridians in the form of tax cuts.
“People know best how to spend their own money,” he said, “and that’s why now that we have a budget surplus, we are giving back Floridians $673 million in their own money.”
Medicaid expansion would send billions of dollars in federal aid to the state under the Affordable Care Act. But Republicans, who own a super-majority in the Florida Statehouse, remain staunchly opposed to the idea of federally run health care. As a result, said House Minority Leader Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, Florida is leaving another type of windfall on the table that instead is being gobbled up in states that do participate.
“In terms of health care, thus far, we’ve lost upwards of $10 billion to the (other) states,” Pafford said. “That $51 billion figure has been reduced by at least $10 billion.”
Scott, a former hospital executive who once supported the idea of federal Medicaid expansion, now contends the state is doing just fine under a state-run Medicaid program adopted four years ago.
“I continue to feel good about what we accomplished in 2011, where we did historic Medicaid reform,” Scott said. “We now have a plan that our state taxpayers can afford. We have our Medicaid recipients that are getting care.”
Florida is one of 15 states with no current plans to expand Medicaid.
Is Florida No. 2 in the nation for uninsured?
Research ranking the number of uninsured
We found there are a couple of different ways to account for the uninsured among the states.
August 2012 article in the Huffington Post that ranked Florida at No. 2 in its share of uninsured residents based on 2010 U.S. Census data. Texas came in first with 26.3 percent, followed by Florida at 25.3 percent, and Nevada at 25.1 percent.
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation keeps track of state health facts and also draws on research from the U.S. Census Bureau. Kaiser examines state populations up to age 64, since people who are 65 and older can get Medicare.
By that ranking, the states with the highest percentages of uninsured in 2010-11 were Texas (27 percent) followed by Nevada (25 percent). For third, Kaiser showed a tie between New Mexico and Florida, but Florida was a pinch higher at 24.18 percent compared with 23.85 percent for New Mexico.
When looking at only the sheer number of uninsured under the age of 65, Florida was third place with 3.7 million, behind California (7.1 million) and Texas (6.1 million).
Florida’s high uninsured rate raises questions about why it is so high. John Rother, President and CEO, of the National Coalition on Health Care, which supports health care reform, sent us a list of seven reasons:
• The state has many small and low-wage employers who do not offer insurance.
• Florida has many seasonal workers who tend to be uninsured.
• Florida attracts many pre-Medicare retirees who have lost their workplace coverage but are not yet old enough for Medicare.
• Many with pre-existing conditions cannot get coverage.
• South Florida is an especially high-cost area in terms of medical claims.
• The state has relatively weak and underfunded safety net programs for the uninsured.
• Immigrants have a particularly hard time obtaining insurance due to paperwork requirements.