Florida will get $1 billion from the CMS to fund its supplemental Medicaid payments, reversing the Obama administration's decision to cut payments in June.
The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it will boost Florida's supplemental Medicaid payments to more than $1.5 billion from the $600 million in federal funding the state was granted last year.
In 2015, the Obama administration hesitantly renewed a waiver that funneled $1 billion to Florida's supplemental Medicaid payment pool. The funding dropped to $600 million in June 2016 and was set to expire this June.
In 2015, 3.6 million people in Florida were on Medicaid, or 18% of its population. Last fiscal year, the state's Medicaid spending totaled $26 billion.
The Obama administration was against providing supplemental hospital-care funding for people that could gain coverage through Medicaid expansion available through the Affordable Care Act. Florida sued the administration as a result, arguing the administration was trying to force it to expand Medicaid. Florida eventually dropped the lawsuit.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican and the founder and former CEO of Columbia/HCA, was vehemently opposed to the ACA and Medicaid expansion.
After the CMS announced the bump in supplemental Medicaid payments, Scott released a statement that said, "It is great to have a partner in Washington who is willing to work with us to help our state. Florida was on the frontline of fighting against federal overreach under President Obama and it is refreshing to now have a federal government that treats us fairly and does not attempt to coerce us into expanding Medicaid."
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