Well, we can't say we didn't see this coming.
On Tuesday Health News Florida reported a federal funding source, which helps hospitals in Florida cover care for people who can't afford it themselves, is going away at the end of June.
Eliot Fishman, director of the Medicaid division of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said earlier in the day there was "no way" Florida would be receiving the Low Income Pool (LIP) program money, at least "not in its present form."
That could leave Florida in kind of a bind.
It would be a particularly hard hit for Tampa General Hospital, the Tampa Bay Times reports. That facility, which is considered a "safety net" hospital, receives $85.2 million annually to cover caring for the poor. Without LIP money or a replacement funding source, this and other hospitals are estimated to be reimbursed for an average of 62 percent of the costs they face in treating Medicaid patients.
Even though it had been known for at least a year that the money wasn't a sure bet, Governor Rick Scott included $2 billion in LIP funding in the $77 billion budget he unveiled last week. The rest of the LIP funding comes from other federal sources.
His people took an equally rosy view upon hearing Tuesday's view, interpreting "no way" as a big, fat maybe.
Scott spokeswoman Jackie Schutz called Fishman's comments "far from conclusive," the Times reported, and said state officials were meeting with CMS to talk about it Wednesday.
Advocates of expanding Medicaid in Florida through the acceptance of billions in federal dollars available through the Affordable Care Act said Tuesday's news makes it obvious that state lawmakers need to move to expand Medicaid during the upcoming legislative session, which starts in March.
"Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-led Legislature have understood for many years that federal law provided for Medicaid expansion in place of the ‘Low Income Pool’ monies for hospitals," U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL) said in a written statement following the news. "Gov. Scott and the Florida Legislature should not block progress any longer and bring our tax dollars home to Florida. To do otherwise would be fiscally irresponsible, harm our hospitals and our neighbors they serve."
While Democrats and some Republicans in the legislature support expanding Medicaid, there has been reluctance on the part of leadership in the State House of Representatives.
The Tampa Tribune's James Rosica reports some GOP leaders agree with Scott on the notion that the money will be there; after all, that's what happened last year.
So it's touch-and-go from here, we suppose.
This article appears in Feb 5-11, 2015.