Floridas congressional delegation, like the overwhelming majority in the U.S. House, broke on party lines when the new Republican majority voted Wednesday to repeal the federal health care bill enacted in 2010 with the support of President Barack Obama. Those divisions filtered down at the state level as Republicans in Florida praised the repeal measure, while Sunshine State Democrats continued to back Obama and the health care laws.
Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said on Thursday that the U.S. Senate should take up the repeal measure.
Washingtons unfunded mandate has the potential to blow up Floridas budget by nearly doubling the size of those who receive Medicaid in the state, said Haridopolos. One out of every four Floridians will be on Medicaid because of the new federal health care law. Currently Florida spends more than $20 billion out of a $70 billion budget on a federal program that most admit doesnt serve patients well and costs the taxpayers more than it should. Any additional money that goes to Medicaid takes away from spending priorities like education, transportation and economic development. We can do better.
Today, I respectfully ask the U.S. Senate to follow the Houses lead in scrapping this tax-raising, big-government program, added Haridopolos. The solution to solving the health care issue should then be sent to the states, which know best how to meet the needs of their citizens.The federal governments one-size-fits-all approach doesnt work.
Haridopolos' call is likely to fall on deaf ears, as U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has already stated he will not take up the bill.
Haridopolos announced last week he is running for Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's seat in 2012. Nelson announced Wednesday he is seeking re-election. Other potential Republican candidates include former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, U.S. Rep. Dan Webster, former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, and businessman and retired Army officer Mike McCalister who ran for governor in 2010.
While Haridopolos joined Republicans across the nation in praising the repeal measure, Democrats from Florida assailed the U.S. House for backing it.
House Republicans took a vote that can be viewed at best as a partisan gesture to the extreme right wing of their party, and at worst can be considered an affront to millions of middle-class Americans, said former Sen. Rod Smith, the newly installed chairman of the Florida Democratic Party. The repeal of the Affordable Care Act, as approved by House Republicans, would have two primary consequences: Americans would be stripped of patient protections and health insurance would become more unaffordable for families and for America as a whole.
Members of the House Democratic caucus urged the U.S. Senate not to back the repeal measure and attacked congressional Republicans for launching it.
Repealing the Affordable Care Act leaves insurance companies the opportunity to raise rates, said Rep. Betty Reed, D-Tampa. At least 86,000 young people in our state will lose their insurance coverage.Many of our constituents who suffer with diabetes, mental health illness and other serious health issues will find themselves with no coverage.
Rep. Mark Pafford of West Palm Beach, a deputy whip in the Democratic leadership, not only went after Republicans in Washington but also fired away at Republicans in Florida who backed the measure.
The largely symbolic and utterly misguided repeal of the Affordable Care Act by certain members of Congress fails to reflect the wishes of the people of our nation and state, said Pafford. It is further disheartening that certain members of the Florida Legislature and our attorney general are promoting legal action that seeks to unravel the act and to deny crucial services to elders in Florida. I find these actions to be political theatre, at best.
Rep. Perry Thurston of Plantation, who is looking to move up to become House Democratic leader after the 2012 elections, said the repeal would impact mental health care.
As the recent tragic events in Tucson so powerfully showed, mental health care is just as important to ones quality of life as ones physical health, said Thurston, who called the repeal act truly reprehensible.
Before the acts passage, it was difficult, at best, for people with mental health and substance-use disorders to find affordable, quality coverage in the health insurance marketplace, even though estimates show that one-fifth to one-third of the currently uninsured are people with mental and substance-use disorders, insisted Thurston. Reforms contained in the act work to make the health insurance marketplace a more accessible, affordable place for people with mental health and substance-abuse disorders.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com and Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com. They canalso be reached at (850) 727-0859.
