There seems to be no end to the controversy birthed from health care reform. In the months leading up to the 2010 Affordable Care Act, legislators from many states rallied together to oppose the impending law. This opposition continued after the law’s passage and there are no signs of peace on the horizon. The federal law has quite a few mandates that states are required to adhere to or risk defaulting certain powers to the government, but that has not stopped Florida from rebelling against the health care law.
The federal government has been funneling money to states in order to help them adapt to new laws and regulations. Most states are happy to take the money and use it to establish health insurance exchanges as well as several other services, but Florida has rejected these grants several times. Governor Rick Scott has decried the Affordable Care Act and is adamant that the state should not receive money for what he believes to be an unjust law.
Some of the grants rejected by the Governor thus far would have improved the quality of care for patients with long-term illnesses, expanded the eligibility of the Medicare program and strengthen the insurance industry overall. Scott, however, associates the money with a number of federal programs that do not support state as a whole.
Some other states share Florida’s opposition to the health care law. If states do not adhere to new federal mandates before the Affordable Care Act is fully enacted in 2014, the federal government is ready to take charge.
