Health money to be diverted

[tosh]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/987770.html

Lawmakers' decision to trim the healthcare budget and shift money elsewhere has prompted cries of a `shell game.'
BY MARC CAPUTO
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
TALLAHASSEE -- With billions in new Medicaid money available in federal stimulus dollars, this looked like the year that the poor, sick and elderly might get more services.

But before the federal cash has started flowing to state coffers, legislative leaders have all but decided to divert about $790 million to other areas of next year's deficit-ridden budget. They also plan to cut some healthcare services.

<snip>

The chairman of the Senate's health budget committee, Durell Peaden of Crestview, blasted his fellow Republicans Monday for moving forward with a cigarette tax to be used for healthcare only to subtract the same amount of money -- about $1 billion -- from the health budget.

Add in the $790 million in stimulus money, and that means the Senate is diverting almost $1.8 billion in health money for non-health purposes, such as schools or prisons.

Peaden said he was the victim of a ''bait and switch'' for his support of the cigarette tax.

<snip>

[2Design]

1. if they are allowed to take the money and put it other places then it was intended

then how can the stimulus work - it is dead - they are killing it