TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida House is rolling out a plan to provide 115,000 uninsured Floridians with health insurance coverage.
The program, however, relies entirely on $237 million in state taxpayer funds and would not tap into billions of federal aid available as part of the federal health care overhaul.
House Republicans plan to expand a health insurance program pushed by former House Speaker Marco Rubio. That plan — known as Florida Health Choices — has had trouble getting off the ground and currently insures no one.
Gov. Rick Scott earlier this year called on lawmakers to use federal aid to expand Medicaid to cover roughly 1 million Floridians. Both the House and Senate rejected that approach.
The Senate has recommended using federal money to offer private health insurance to the state’s poor.
Source: Associated Press
