As a COVID-inspired federal program that allowed otherwise uninsured Americans to remain on Medicaid even if they were no longer eligible gets set to expire, somewhere hundreds of thousands to millions of Floridians will soon rejoin the ranks of the uninsured, despite the fact that our governor could throw them a much-needed lifeline at no cost to taxpayers.
In the early days of COVID-19, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act–signed into law by President Trump in March of 2020–provided states with significant additional federal funding to continue the Medicaid coverage of individuals already enrolled in the program, while preventing states from removing people from Medicaid even if they no longer met the eligibility rules.
As a result, almost a million Floridians who are no longer technically eligible for Medicaid under Florida’s strict criteria, but still cannot afford coverage elsewhere, have maintained access to health care. Under FFCRA, states receiving the increased federal funding were required to maintain this moratorium on terminations until the end of the Public Health Emergency. Although the PHE is still in effect, the continuous Medicaid coverage requirement is set to end on March 31.
Florida’s Department of Children and Families will then begin reviewing the eligibility of 4.9 million Floridians currently on Medicaid. The first terminations of those found to be ineligible or who fail to complete the renewal process are scheduled to occur on April 30. At least 900,000 Floridians are expected to lose their coverage, but that number could be as high as 1.7 million according to some estimates.
In a story of pure political gamesmanship, Florida remains just one of just 11 states that have continued to refuse the federal funding made available to expand Medicaid coverage under the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Currently, a single parent with two children in our state is not eligible for Medicaid unless their annual income is under a paltry $7,000 a year. An adult in Florida who does not have a child cannot get Medicaid coverage at all.
In a special session earlier this month, the Florida Legislature took time to authorize the governor to relocate migrants anywhere in the country in whichever way he "sees fit"–essentially codifying political stunts like the one he pulled last year, spending $615,000 to send 48 refugees from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard–despite having no legal authority to do so. They even set aside $10 million in funding for such efforts.
When Florida Democrats tried to get momentum for Medicaid expansion worked into the special session in time to prevent so many Floridians from losing access to health insurance, they were quickly rebuffed by the ruling party. Simply accepting federal funding to expand Medicaid the way that 39 other states already have is estimated to bring in or keep around 800,000 struggling Floridians in the program, preventing a catastrophic loss of coverage for many of those who received a critical lifeline over these past three years.
But because doing so might be seen by some as capitulating to a Democratic initiative, it is not going to happen. And theFFCRA has already had a demonstrable effect. Pre-COVID, Florida was ranked as the 4th worst state for health care. The same study in 2022 saw our state jump from 47th to 29th, largely because of expanded access through Medicaid. Why would we want to unnecessarily regress in this key metric of a healthy society?
Now, every time I write a column that is critical of our governor, the We Love Ron and Have a Flag to Prove Itcult comes out to say that I am clearly biased against Republicans because DeSantis is somehow infallible. But as someone who writes opinion columns in a state and county that has only had Republican leadership for the past two decades plus, there is not a lot of opportunity to be critical of Democrats–although anyone who has been a long-term reader of my column knows that when it comes to national issues, I have on many occasions aired my grievances with the other party, of which I am equally disenchanted.
And when it comes to health care, Democrats, a party that has long been in the pocket of Big Pharma and Big Insurance, has no shortage of blood on its hands. In fact, the minority of Dems who have supported a public option into Medicare regardless of age or income (something that every other wealthy nation in the world has long had a version of) will tell you that the leadership of their own party has been every bit as obstinate to the effort as those across the aisle. For their part, Republicans–long in the pocket of Big Hospitals–have done nothing but stoke fear through propaganda about "socialized medicine" and then promised to repeal and replace the ACA, despite the fact that the party still hasn't offered an alternative some thirteen years later.
In this particular case, however, it is a relatively simple matter. The money exists to expand Medicaid so that at least some of the working poor who earn far too little to access the most expensive healthcare system in the world might be able to receive baseline primary care for themselves and their children. Nonetheless, 11 Republican governors have continued to resist that option, gambling that their refusal to accept a solution created under a Democratic administration is worth more political points than offering a hand up to some of those in our society who need it most: the working poor.
So, yes, I have a bias, a bias against bad public policy, a bias against bullies, and a bias against those who would allow their fellow Americans to needlessly suffer for the sake of their own ambitions and political agenda. Those biases come into play against both parties. However, here in Florida, and on this issue in particular, there is no lack of clarity as to who and what is to be blamed.
So, to all of those who just shout best governor we could ever ask for! at any critique of DeSantis, without addressing its substance, I would submit that, regardless of party, we could indeed ask for someone who would allow poor children and struggling families to access a lifeline available almost everywhere else in this nation, regardless of who is throwing it to them.
We could ask for someone who prioritizes real solutions to our state’s failed property insurance market over banning books in our schools. We could ask for someone who puts solutions to our clean water crisis over political stunts concerning migrants or gun laws. Or, at the very least, we could ask the man who already has the power to make such changes to stop running for the Republican nomination and start running the state he’s been elected to lead.
Dennis "Mitch" Maley is an editor and columnist for The Bradenton Times. With over two decades of experience as a journalist, he has covered Manatee County governmentsince 2010. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University, where he earned a degree in Government. He later served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Clickherefor his bio. Dennis' latest novel, Sacred Hearts, is availablehere.
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