TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) _ State economists are trying to determine how the federal health care overhaul could affect Florida’s future budgets.
Economists from the Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott’s office are meeting Tuesday to consider the possibilities.
Parts of the Affordable Care Act already have gone into effect.
The most far-reaching elements, including a requirement for nearly everyone to have health care insurance, will not become effective until 2014.
Scott has opposed the federal law, even turning down federal money to help implement it.
Florida also led a group of states that filed a legal challenge, but the U.S. Supreme Court upheld most aspects of the law including the insurance requirement.
The high court, though, said the federal government cannot force states to expand their Medicaid programs. Scott has said Florida won’t do so.
