Florida is getting a big budget break in the form of one-and-a-half billion dollars in supplemental healthcare payments from the federal government. It amounts to a full restoration of the so-called Low-Income pool.
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The money goes to compensate hospitals and other health providers for the care of uninsured and underinsured patients. Under the Obama Administration the money was phased out after Florida refused to expand Medicaid to more low-income Floridians. The dollars officially ran out last year. But the Senate wrote in $600 million dollars in LIP funding in the hope the federal government would give the money back. The House did not include the funds. Under both proposals, hospitals were slated for big budget cuts.
Wednesday Governor Rick Scott, state and federal hospitals announced Florida would get that, and then some. At its peak in 2014, the Low Income Pool was worth more than $2 billion, with money coming from both the state and federal government.
