Columbia County Observer

Scott's Medicaid Plan - No good for Florida

(Posted July 14, 2011  08:20 am)

By Marc Ferrulo | Exec Dir Progress Florida

Gov. Rick Scott has a plan for the health care of Florida’s children, seniors, and disabled, and it’s not good. His plan is nothing less than a corporate takeover of Medicaid, with HMOs managing the care of our state’s most vulnerable. The Legislature passed Gov. Scott’s plan, but it requires a number of rules to be waived by the Obama Administration (through the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services). We need your help to protect Florida’s most vulnerable from Gov. Scott.

Florida has already tried privatizing Medicaid, and it didn’t work. Since 2006, five counties have participated in a pilot program where profit-driven HMOs dictated the care Medicaid recipients received. A recent study by researchers at Georgetown University showed the program didn’t work, stating: “There is no clear evidence that the managed care pilot programs are saving money, and if they are whether it is through efficiencies or at the expense of needed care.”*

Medicaid covers our poorest citizens, many of whom are children, disabled, or reside in nursing homes. As a public program accountable to taxpayers, it has also controlled costs far better than corporate insurance companies**. The Obama Administration needs to make sure Florida puts people first, not profits.

In recent weeks, Floridians have spoken out against the corporate takeover of Medicaid at a number of public hearings. Caregivers, doctors, and recipients alike oppose Gov. Scott’s plan. Let’s make sure the Obama Administration hears from all of us.