State lawmakers have refused to accept federal money to expand coverage to low income Floridians, but Monica Russo with the Service Employees International Union says they’ll try it again.
There are an estimated 800 thousand Floridians in the coverage gap. They make too much to qualify for free care through Medicaid… but not enough to be eligible for premium subsidies through the insurance exchange. Damien Filer (FY-lur) with Progress Florida says it’s time for state lawmakers to stop trying to undermine the law and embrace the Affordable Care Act.
Filer says Florida had more at stake in this case than any other state. If the high court had ruled against the Affordable Care Act, more than one million Floridians would have lost federal subsidies for their health care coverage. Still, top republicans like Governor Rick Scott continued to bash the law and the ruling.
Presidential hopeful Marco Rubio also voiced his opposition.
Despite the high court’s ruling, the GOP Presidential Candidate says he hopes it doesn’t mean Obamacare is here to stay. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion in the six to three ruling upholding the key provision in the Affordable Care Act. The case involved federal subsidies for low-income patients in dozens of states where the federal government runs healthcare exchanges because those states haven’t set up their own exchanges.
