A federal judge has rejected Governor Rick Scott’s request for mediation in a fight over a program reimbursing hospitals for treating the uninsured. The Scott administration is suing the federal government.
Governor Rick Scott claims the federal government is trying to coerce the state into expanding Medicaid by reducing the low-income pool program.
Chief U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers’s order notes a hearing on the case is set for next week to hear the Governor’s request for a preliminary injunction. And she says any court-ordered mediation on short notice is, "unduly burdensome, expensive, and not likely to advance the process any faster than the expedited proceeding currently scheduled."
The federal government calls the Governor’s lawsuit baseless. It’s capping the Low-Income pool program at a billion dollars, with plans to phase it out completely in the next few years. Florida lawmakers are currently building a budget using the billion-dollar figure and are trying to find ways to make up the billion-dollar cut to the program.
Copyright 2020 WFSU. To see more, visit . 9(MDAyMTYyMTU5MDEyOTc4NzE4ODNmYWEwYQ004))
