The battle over Medicaid expansion in Florida continues to rage, and on Thursday the Gainesville City Commission took some action on the issue.
Gov. Rick Scott previously expressed support for the expansion but has reversed his position on expanding Medicaid to 800,000-or-so Floridians under the controversial Affordable Care Act.
The City Commission on Thursday voted 3-2 with Mayor Ed Braddy and Commissioner Craig Carter in dissent to authorize sending a letter to the local legislative delegation supporting the expansion of Medicaid. Commissioners Todd Chase and Yvonne Hinson-Rawls were absent for the vote.
Diane Dimperio of the League of Women Voters of Alachua County gave a presentation on the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion to the commission before the vote.
“Many or most of the people that are low-income uninsured are either working or are in families where at least one person is working,” she said.
Estimates show that accepting the federal ACA dollars would lead to an infusion of more than $5 billion a year in federal money to provide insurance coverage to those who couldn’t afford it otherwise, according to the city’s Thursday meeting agenda.
“This $5 billion a year is Florida tax dollars that we’re trying to get back,” Dimperio told the commission.
It was clear Thursday that some of the healthcare-related issues that came up during the commission’s discussion about ACA and Medicaid expansion may return to the board for further debate at some point.