The pro-business Florida Chamber of Commerce has unveiled its health priorities for the upcoming legislative session.
The list includes big battles of years past—like letting some nurses and physician assistants expand their scope-of-practice, revamping the rules regarding medical lawsuits and possibly expanding the state’s Medicaid program for low-income Floridians. But that last part comes with a caveat--like capping how much Medicaid can take up in overall state spending.
“We should not allow Medicaid to consume more and more of our state budget," the Chamber's David Christian said. "So we put a cap of 32 percent. That factors in growth and savings. We think we can get there when you look at our entire plan.”
The Florida Chamber is the latest organization to put Medicaid on the table, though it does not view an expansion as separate from its overall proposal.
A coalition of local business groups and hospitals is also pushing the state to accept federal funding to grow Medicaid, and The Florida Medical Association came out last year in support of expansion.
