Gov. Rick Scott signed into law Thursday a controversial Medicaid bill, HB 5301, that will require counties to pay more into Medicaid, including 85 percent of what the state claims are years of unpaid bills.
"I respectfully acknowledge the concern this provision may create for some counties," Scott wrote in a letter announcing his signature. " ... To that end, I have pledged to the counties that AHCA and my staff will work diligently with them to certify that any billings for which counties are charged are accurate and valid."
The governor said AHCA officials will visit every county in the state to discuss their problems with the billing system.
Legislators have said the state has been unable to collect full payment for Medicaid bills from counties for residents who receive health care through the state-federal program for low-income and disabled patients. They put the past-due tab near $300 million.
Yet the Florida Association of Counties has countered that the past-due payments are the fault of state accounting errors.
(Video at left is of Gov. Scott from March 20 as he weighed the Medicaid bill)
To say that were disappointed would be an understatement, Doug Smith, Florida Association of Counties esident and Martin County commissioner, stated in a release.
This bill represents the worst kind of body blow to taxpayers. Rather than correcting Tallahassees error-ridden Medicaid billing system, HB 5301 codifies it and leaves local taxpayers with the bill.
(See the attachment below for the county-by-county estimate of impact.)
As part of a coordinated effort to urge Scott to veto the bill, the association sent him letters and a 60-second video contending the payments will further harm cash-strapped county governments and require local taxes to be increased, resulting in increased residential foreclosures.
The formula calls for counties to pay 35 percent of the total billed for day 11 to 45 for hospital stays.
They pay $55 per month for each Medicaid recipient in a nursing home.
Billing to counties is handled by the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
In the letter, Christopher Holley, the association's executive director, called the bill "little more than a backdoor tax hike on Florida taxpayers -- passing the costs of a grossly inefficient billing system onto Floridians in the form of a newly unfunded mandate."
Before the Senate approved the bill, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, disagreed that the 2008 changes in the state billing system have caused the counties to reduce their payments from 90 percent four years ago to 60 percent. He placed the blame on the reduced economy.
Under the bill, the counties will have five years to repay past fees.
The bill also aims to save the state $47 million by limiting nonpregnant Medicaid patients to six emergency room visits a year.Democrats in the Legislature backed the bill after it was amended to allow thousands of children of low-income state employees to participate in the KidCare health insurance program.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
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