In the proposed 2012 budget Rick Scott announced last month, one of the more controversial plans is his idea to cut $2.1 billlion in reimbursements for Medicaid, the federal-state hybrid program that provides health care to low-income people and families.
Among the biggest critics of such a plan are representatives from some of the state's biggest hospitals, who say they would lose tens of millions of dollars if federal grants were reduced. In the Bay area, All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg would lose $38.9 million and Tampa General Hospital would lose $32.6 million.
Apparently, hospitals aren't the only ones who don't favor that plan. A Quinnipiac poll released hours before the governor was scheduled to give his State of the State address shows that proposal is overwhelmingly unpopular with the Florida electorate, as voters by a 67-24 percent margin reject the idea, which Scott has said would help free up money for education by a billion dollars (which he cut last year).
This article appears in Jan 5-11, 2012.