Although Florida Governor Rick Scott recently decided to do an about-face and support the expansion of the state’s Medicaid program under Obamacare, contradicting all of his previous rhetoric on the subject, conservatives in the state House have decided not to go along with his decision.
(Reuters) – Florida Governor Rick Scott’s plan to expand Medicaid coverage to cover about 1 million more poor people suffered a setback on Monday when the proposal failed to make it out of a key state legislative committee hearing.
On the eve of convening of the 2013 session, the House Select Committee on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act rejected the expansion. A Senate counterpart committee postponed consideration of the issue, which is sure to be one of the biggest controversies of the session. [...]
Republican legislative leaders have been openly hostile toward the plan, emphasizing that state lawmakers will make the final decision in drawing up a budget for next fiscal year.
In a situation reminiscent of the debate on immigration reform currently taking place in congress, the establishment has been overruled by the fringe who now has more power than the establishment.
It would be funny if not for the people who may go without access to healthcare because of conservative intransigence.