Statement on behalf of Dr. Bob McClure, president and CEO of The James Madison Institute:”The decision on whether to take federal dollars to expand Medicaid presents a challenging quandary for policymakers. No one on either side, whether in the legislature or the public realm, takes lightly what is at stake — the health and well-being of Floridians. What we do know is that Medicaid is a program that delivers poor health outcomes and the state’s Medicaid rolls are already growing, taking up an ever growing portion of Florida’s budget. We also know that there are reforms that could be put in place to curb heath care costs and create more effective, affordable health care solutions for those in need. JMI has been very vocal about the fact that the federal government is $18 trillion in debt and are bargaining with money that they can’t possibly guarantee will be available in years to come.Gov. Rick Scott made the tough, but wise decision to see the writing on the wall with the political games being played with the Low Income Pool funding. There is no short term solution here, but Gov. Scott and many of Florida’s leaders recognize that the worst thing Florida can do is fall deeper into dependency on the shallow promises of the feds. Like any challenge, Florida’s leaders should focus on the long term and begin to implement reasonable sound reforms that will first and foremost have a positive impact on our strained health care system.Reforms such as the expansion of telemedicine, medical malpractice reform, price transparency and scope of practice expansion, among other common sense policies that JMI has proposed and supported for years. Florida’s leaders should shift focus to implementing these reform measures so we can take control of our state’s needs and show the rest of the nation how it’s done.”
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