UNDERSTANDING THE ACA AMENDED MEDICAID PROGRAM FOR SENIORS

We Need it Here in Florida

By Victor M Adamus

Rick Scott

Just when I thought the Supreme Court decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was a big win for all Americans our goofy Governor Rick Scott is first to announce he won’t take the Medicaid money.  Instead he’ll put poor Seniors at risk which is where the greatest costs are here and get a drilling from hospitals, health groups, for him to find $2.2 billion they will lose.  He’s not called “Bat Boy” here for nothing.  And while running for Governor, Scott was fired under a cloud of criminal activity from his health care company for Medicaid fraud but reached a settlement where he walked with $300 million plus, some funds he used to run for Governor.  Here’s a newspaper clip that ran at the time:

By John Davis, WGCU

FORT MYERS (2010-6-18) -

Two whistleblowers say the new front-runner in the Republican race for governor is lying when he says he did not know about fraud in his former company, the Columbia/HCA hospital chain.

In July 1997, FBI agents raided Columbia/HCA accounting offices in seven states, including Florida. Within days, Columbia’s board of directors ousted Scott, but gave him a nearly $10 million severance package, including stock shares worth $300 million and a $1 million a year consulting contract.

The company wound up paying more than $1.7 billion for defrauding the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Scott says he didn’t know about his company’s fraudulent billing practices and if he had, he’d have fired those responsible.

But company whistleblower John Schilling of Naples says Scott must be lying.

So now he wants to kill the Medicaid offer in the new Law which would help Seniors who are indigent in the state.  Other Republican Governors have threatened to do the same but like Perry of Texas will not decide until after the election.  Our guy flat out refused the help.

Here’s what the court Amended Medicaid law says in layman terms:

The Court’s decision on the constitutionality of the Medicaid expansion is divided and complicated.  The bottom line is that: (1) Congress acted constitutionally in offering states funds to expand coverage to millions of new individuals; (2) So states can agree to expand coverage in exchange for those new funds; (3) If the state accepts the expansion funds, it must obey by the new rules and expand coverage; (4) but a state can refuse to participate in the expansion without losing all of its Medicaid funds; instead the state will have the option of continue the its current, unexpanded plan as is.

For Florida it means hospitals and nursing homes can get reimbursed by Medicaid up to $2.2 Billion.  That huge number will not be reduced regardless of who is Governor of Florida.  Scott's refusal matches the Tea Party mentality.  

Scott prefers to play the wingnut games with the new Law.  This is what social programs mean to a person who has no concept of Floridians who are poor, working class people, Seniors in nursing homes, and in need of quality health care.  The new law was amended by the court, see above, but it’s likely to force Governors in all 26 states that sued the Obama Administration to take the money sooner or later.  Health Care groups in those states will demand it.