Florida Governor Rick Scott remained relatively silent today on whether he will begin implementing parts of the Affordable Care Act, now that it has been declared constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
"My concern is that it's going to be bad for patients, bad for taxpayers and bad for businesses," he said when asked if the state would expand its Medicaid program in order to lower the number of uninsured residents.
"We're going to be looking at that. The issue of exchanges, the issue of whether we can afford to expand Medicaid, but we'll be looking at that over the next few weeks."
The governor absolutely did not say that the state would not do that, despite what was reported online by the Jacksonville Times-Union.
earlier on Friday.
The governor addressed the issue briefly when surrounded by reporters in Tampa at the Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation Center (or CAMLS), after appearing at a news conference promoting a partnership between Bloomberg LP and the Tampa Bay Host Committee for the Republican Convention.
No state in the country has resisted as strongly as Florida in implementing the parts of the Affordable Care Act that have already begun. The state has turned down at least $142 million in grants attached to the law, and esisted as much as $400 million in federal funds that would have increased Medicaid payments to primary care physicians.
Tampa area Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor says it's time for Scott to end his hostility to the controversial legislation, now that's it the law of the land.
This article appears in Jun 28 – Jul 4, 2012.