Sen. Joe Negron (R-Plant City) has released his proposal to cover an additional million low-income people who would have otherwise been eligible for Medicaid under the federal healthcare law.
The proposal will be heard Thursday in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The "Healthy Florida" bill would expand the state's Healthy Kids Corporation to include working adults. It would substitute for an expansion of the Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act, but looks to access the same pool of federal funding that would have gone to pay for the expanded population.
Negron's bill also calls for the establishment of Health Savings Accounts for people to pay for expenses such as co-pays. According to Florida Health News/WUSF, the federal government has signaled it is interested in Florida's alternative to the Medicaid expansion.
