Some healthcare advocates are pushing for Governor Rick Scott to hold public hearings on a key provision of the Affordable Care Act. It would allow states to decide which benefits should be covered by health insurance in 2014.
Under the plan, each state will be able to design what's called an Essential Health Benefits package. It would spell out the bare minimum that insurance companies must cover and is required to include childbirth, hospitalization and preventative care.
Laura Goodhue, executive director of Florida CHAIN says, "We are simply asking that there be a public debate and a public conversation about what those benefit levels might be since it will literally affect millions of Floridians."
Florida CHAIN, an organization that supports initiatives to provide citizens with affordable, quality healthcare, was one of 15 health advocacy groups to send the governor a letter asking him to act on this issue.
If Florida doesn't design its own health benefits package, the federal government will provide one for the state.