Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said his state would support Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s (R) moves against the Obama administration over expanding Medicaid in Florida.
On Thursday, Scott said he planned to sue the Obama administration for, per Scott, threatening to keep over a billion dollars from hospitals in the state if Florida didn’t expand Medicaid through Obamacare.
On Monday, Abbott said that Scott made the right call.
“I commend Governor Rick Scott’s decision to take legal action to protect these important constitutional principles,” Abbott said in a statement. “Texas will support Florida in its litigation against the federal government. Medicaid expansion is wrong for Texas. Florida’s approach should be determined by Floridians, not coerced by federal bureaucrats.”
Florida for weeks had been sparring with the Obama administration over Florida refusing to expand Medicaid. Florida, according to Politico, has continued to argue that the Obama administration should keep giving $1.3 billion to the Low-Income Pool safety net hospital program. That program is slated to run out of funding on June 30.
“It is appalling that President Obama would cut off federal health care dollars to Florida in an effort to force our state further into Obamacare,” Scott said when he announced his pending lawsuit.
But federal healthcare officials have said multiple times that the Low-Income Pool program wouldn’t receive more funding as it exists after the June 30 deadline.
“It’s difficult to explain how somebody would think that their political situation and their political interest is somehow more important than the livelihoods of 800,000 people,” White house press secretary Josh Earnest said.
(H/t: Dylan Scott)
