TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ The Florida House adjourned its annual session three days early because of budget impasse with the Senate over Medicaid expansion.
House Speaker Steve Crisafulli said Tuesday afternoon that his members had done all they could and felt it was best to return later with a clean slate.
The House has been adamantly opposed to expanding Medicaid to more than 800,000 Floridians, even though the Senate has proposed a plan that would allow the state to eventually privatize Medicaid and require recipients to work or attend school.
Florida’s Medicaid expansion fight also extends to a $1 billion pot of federal money that helps hospitals that treat Medicaid and uninsured patients. The Obama administration has signaled they are unlikely to extend the hospitals funds if the state doesn’t expand Medicaid.
Gov. Rick Scott says he’s suing the federal government over the issue.
