FL Gov. Jeb Bush pushing Medicaid overhaul (for $$$ HMO benefit)

By JIM SAUNDERS
Tallahassee Bureau Chief

Last update: December 04, 2005

TALLAHASSEE -- When Florida lawmakers gather at the Capitol this week, they will be poised to sign off on a massive overhaul of the state's Medicaid system.
Approval would be a major victory for Gov. Jeb Bush, who has crusaded to rein in the costly program that provides health care to Florida's poorest residents.

It also could be a boon to Florida health-maintenance organizations -- some of which are huge political contributors -- that would get an opportunity to expand their businesses.

But for social-service advocates, Bush's plan would be a bitter pill. They fear it will hurt tens of thousands of low-income people who would be pushed into managed-care organizations, such as HMOs, as part of the effort to control costs.

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"Why are they in a rush, and how are they going to do it?" Merrell asked. "Those are two major questions."

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HMOs that likely will take part in the program already have funneled more than $450,000 in contributions to state political parties and candidates this year, according to elections records. Through a maze of affiliated companies and employees, they also contributed more than $1 million in 2003 and 2004.

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Despite the public comments as well as requests by some legislators to wait until March's regular session to fully examine the Medicaid reform proposal, Republican leaders defended the plan to move forward this week.

"I don't think anybody feels as if we're in a rushed mode. To not act on the implementation at this time would actually be contrary to" the bill, the committee chairman, Sen. Lisa Carlton, R-Sarasota.....

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"What's the rush? The rush is, to assume that the current system is working for these people is a very, I think, wrong assumption," Levine said.

If the legislature does not pass the reform package OK'd by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in November, Bush administration officials have said they will not be able to begin to implement the reform program by this summer.

But some legislators say they don't have all the information they need to pass the bill.

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Meanwhile, health-care committees in the House concentrated Monday on a provision that would allow just two legislative committees — and not the full legislature — to speed up the implementation of the Medicaid reform....