January 07, 2004
Jeb! steals $400 million from the tired. the poor, and the huddled masses
Jeb and his Republican cohorts are scheming to take $400 million from the sick, the elderly, and the poor:
To protect Florida in tough economic times, Congress sent more than $400-million in extra Medicaid money last year.Posted by Norwood at January 7, 2004 07:51 AMThe state still has that money, but Gov. Jeb Bush does not want to use it to plug a $113-million deficit in its health care program for the poor.
Instead, he wants to cut Medicaid payments to more than 900 hospitals, nursing homes and group homes for the developmentally disabled.
The $400-million, meanwhile, will be shifted from agencies that serve the poor, the elderly and children to an all-purpose account that can be spent on anything or saved for a rainy day.
Some lawmakers are fuming.
"It's morally wrong," said Senate Democratic leader Ron Klein of Boca Raton.
Klein noted that the state just spent $369-million to lure the Scripps Research Institute to Florida. He said he was comfortable with the Scripps expense as long as the $400-million went to Medicaid.
......Klein said the federal money should go to urgent health care needs, such as paying hospitals what was promised and ending a waiting list for a popular children's health care program.
"These are real expenses right now that affect people's lives right now," Klein said.
