Making Medicaid recipients – Florida’s most vulnerable citizens – the scapegoat for budget woes is wrong. The real culprit of a shortfall is the Legislature itself. Lawmakers chose to use “extra” one-time stimulus money to replace longstanding state funding for Medicaid, making it appear that the state needs to increase its investment to keep up with growth. In fact, spending was artificially lowered in 2009 due to disinvestment in Medicaid.

Get 32 million uninsured people covered, including 3 million Floridians, and those who already pay for coverage should gain some financial relief.

With politics and price proving big drivers, the Florida Legislature is poised to overhaul the state’s $19 billion Medicaid program by having managed care serve an even larger share of low-income Floridians.

With the Legislature at the halfway point, its time to catch-up on several issues that we’ve examined at FloridaThinks. Some things that once looked hot – like oil drilling – may be fading. While other measures expected to draw more controversy – like leadership funds – are done and sitting on Gov. Charlie Crist’s desk awaiting approval. Here’s a handicapper’s guide to the session’s home stretch.

By Margaret Lynn Duggar

When the Florida Legislature convenes, our elected officials will have to come up with ways to close a $3 billion deficit. While $100 million in savings wouldn’t be a total answer, it could be a significant step. How could they save at least $100 million?
One way would be to ax [...]

By Richard Morrison
The Florida Medicaid program is not sustainable in its current form, even if it is all handed to managed-care companies as some have proposed. The demand is too great and the revenue base is too small for the program to survive.
Many hospital providers participate in the program essentially because they have [...]

By John Kennedy
Associate Editor
The pie charts might remind you of Pac-Man, the 1980s video game.
Medicaid costs in Florida have been gobbling up a steadily increasing share of the overall cost of running government. They snag 26 percent of the state’s $66.5 billion budget now – and are on track to eat up 31 percent [...]