Rick Scott (R) .. Refuses Health Care Law Money

[monmouth]

Is Florida wrong to refuse health care law money?
by Opinion Staff

Gov. RIck Scott discusses health care with The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board

Gov. Scott and the GOP-led Legislature have put at risk the physical health of Floridians and the fiscal health of the state by rejecting or declining to pursue more than $106 million in federal grants tied to the Affordable Care Act. Nearly $1 million of that money was for a program that aids in cancer prevention and increases access to quality care for cancer patients.

As usual, though, ideology trumps common sense even though much of the ACA mirrors Gov. Scott’s own prescription for fixing the broken U.S. health care system.
Gov. Scott want’s competition, which he defines as allowing people to buy policies across state lines. He’d also like to see individuals get tax breaks “so they own their policies” and he wants people who don’t smoke, eat right, and exercise to get health insurance discounts “If we did those things, the usage of health care would come down, the cost would come down,” he said. “That would have a dramatic impact on individuals’ ability to buy health care and we would have fewer uninsured.”

The ACA does those things. It allows individuals to buy policies across state lines and it provides tax credits to individuals so they can buy health care policies. The law also offers employers incentives to provide wellness programs that encourage employees to adopt healthier lifestyles and requires that insurers provide counseling to help people quit smoking, overeating and drinking at no out of pocket costs. Florida and 26 other states have challenged the law and the Supreme Court is expected to hear that case next year. If it is upheld, Florida will have to scramble to comply and state taxpayers will have to pay the tab since much of the rejected money was to help Florida implement the measure. Money, by the way, that included federal tax dollars from Floridians. Contrary to what Gov. Scott has said, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, and Florida should start acting like it. What do you think? Click the link below to take our poll.

Is Florida wrong to refuse health-care law money?


http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/opinionzone/2011/11/25/is-florida-wrong-to-refuse-health-care-law-money/

[ngant17]

1. Rick Scott is the least qualified to discuss health care

he made millions for himself ripping off the system.

If he would return, say $100 million or so of his ill-gotten gains back into the health care system, as a good faith gesture, I would start to listen to his opinions, as silly as they might be.

[onethatcares]

2. I'll wait until he starts creating all those jobs he promised.

and with Solantic fleeing the state, I don't think that's gonna happen.

[DirkGently]

3. Scott proves again neither the people of Florida nor even fiscal common sense are even on his radar.

He's a self-congratulating, self-dealing ideologue who made his money ripping off taxpayers. He's the kind of Republican who says government "is the problem," then sets out to prove it by running for office ... and becoming a problem.

[tblue37]

4. Our idiot governor (Sam Brownback) also rejected federal

money for the AHCA.

Kansas was one of the states that qualified for a grant to help it develop its own ways to implement the AHCA, and originally Brownback was going to accept the grant, but when the Teabaggers squawked too loudly, he panicked and rejected it.

The Kansas Insurance Commissioner, Sandy Praeger, who is a Republican, actually criticized his decision to reject the money. He claimed it came with too many strings attached, but she said it did not, and that the federal government was being very flexible and reasonable about how states could use that money to develop their own plans that suited the specific needs of their citizens.

But of course Brownback, like all Right Wingers, always puts ideology ahead of sense, een when it means rejecting millions of dollars that the state desperately needs.

He also vetoed the Kansas Arts Commission funds that were voted for by a very Republican controlled state legislature, even though that meant losing about 3/4 million dollars in federal matching funds, thus causing Kansas to become the only state in the union that does not offer any state support for the arts. That veto has cost Kansas not only a lot of federal matching funds money, but also a lot of jobs.

The Republicans claim their anti-tax agenda is all about increasng the number of jobs available to Americans, but they constantly act to cut jobs.

[Historic NY]

5. Rick Scott is a danger to the health of Floridians.

[lpbk2713]

6. This clown is a thief and a liar.

The asshole has even succeeded in alienating the dumbasses who voted for him.

I haven't checked lately but not too long ago he had the lowest favorable rating of any governor.