Everyone knows that Rick Scott rejected over $2 billion in federal funds for high-speed rail last year — and that other states have been happy to take the rejected money for their own rail projects.
But did you know that Scott apparently is the only governor in the nation who has rejected over $430 million in federal funds to boost reimbursement rates for primary care physicians?
Well, he did, with the approval of the Florida House. That prompted Tampa area Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor to call on the governor Wednesday to rethink that rejection, saying it's hurting doctors who care for Medicaid patients, and ultimately will deleteriously affect everyone else in the state, with private insurers having to make up the difference for those patients shifted to hospitals or emergency rooms.
Ron Pollock, executive director of Families USA, joined Castor in a conference call on Wednesday. He blasted the governor for being "astoundingly shortsighted" in rejecting the funds. Pollock acknowledges there are several states whose governors and/or legislatures have refused to enact so-called exchanges, a set of state-regulated and standardized health care plans. But he believes Scott's "ideological rigidity" makes him the only such governor to reject the physician reimbursement money.
