Rick Scott Plans to Sue Feds so Florida Keeps LIP Funds

Gov. Rick Scott rose in politics by opposing President Barack Obamas federal health-care law and he continued his opposition to it on Thursday, announcing that he was going to sue to ensure the state received Low Income Pool (LIP) funds to Florida even as he and the Florida House continue to fight against Medicaid expansion.

It is appalling that President Obama would cut off federal health-care dollars to Florida in an effort to force our state further into Obamacare, Scott said on Thursday. The presidents health-care agency sent us a letter this week saying the future of LIP and Medicaid expansion are linked. But, the Supreme Court has already ruled in NFIB v. Sebelius that the president cannot force Medicaid expansion on states. In fact, the court ruled that the president could not use gun to the head approaches in pushing for Medicaid expansion.

Not only does President Obamas end to LIP funding in Florida violate the law by crossing the line into a coercion tactic for Obamacare, it also threatens poor families access to the safety-net health care services they need, Scott added. The population in Florida served under the LIP program is different from the population that would be covered under any Medicaid expansion, as is well-documented in a recent Urban Institute report that said Florida would still have $1.6 billion in uncompensated care costs with or without an expansion of Medicaid.

We will fight to protect the health care of Floridians, and their right to be free from federal overreach," Scott continued. Our citizens already pay federal taxes that go into the federal LIP program. Now, President Obama has decided that the state must take on a larger Medicaid program, forcing our taxpayers to pay even more to government, before they get their own federal tax dollars back. This is outrageous, and specifically what the Supreme Court warned against.

Our democracy is designed so that state governments can make the decision to not take on federal programs that will ultimately cost state taxpayers billions of dollars, Scott said in conclusion. We will not pass this cost on to our citizens in Florida and we will continue to fight for the federal LIP dollars our citizens already pay for with their federal taxes.