Medicaid

Medicare Fraud Is Sweetest Crime in South Florida

Medicaid Expansion Bill "NegronCare" Passes in Florida Senate

House Bill 7169, the Florida Senate's alternate legislation to provide 1 million Floridians with needed health coverage, was approved by the Senate on a 38-1 vote. The measure is expected to head back the House, where it was already rejected and probably will be again.

Palm Beach Tea Party Sounds Alarm on Medicaid Expansion; Rep. Mark Pafford Disputes Its Take

Fire Ant tries to be charitable in assessing the Tea Party. Confused, fearful people in a confusing, frightening age, they're mere pawns in the games of the rich and powerful. But when organized stupidity denies medical care to people in need, stupidity must be called to account. Take the Palm Bea ... More >>

Rick Scott Would Lose to Charlie Crist by 16 Points, According to Latest Poll

Rick Scott continues to be unliked by many amounts of people, despite the fact that he's changed his mind about things like Medicaid expansion and despite adding more early voting days and declaring his love for Florida panthers. The latest Quinnipiac University poll, released early Wednesday, ... More >>

Florida Medicaid Expansion Pretty Much Killed By Senate Panel

On Monday afternoon, a Senate select committee rejected moving forward with an expansion of the Medicaid program under the federal Affordable Care Act, even after Gov. Rick Scott expressed a desire to see it expanded, and even though state hospitals and business wanted to see it expanded and even th ... More >>

Five Florida Politicians Who Hate Women: Happy International Women's Day!

Today is National Women's Day! Yes, it's the one day of the year we allow the dames to come out of the kitchen or put the baby down so we can recognize them for all the lady things they do. We love you, ladies. You're real swell. But because it's enough already with asking to be paid the same sala ... More >>

Nine Most Important Bills Being Voted on by Florida Legislature

The Florida Legislative sessions got kicked off this week, and since this is Florida, there's no lack of fodder to get super riled up about and make loud angry noises and be an anonymous tough guy in the comments sections of blogs and on Twitter. Lawmakers will look at and vote on about 2,000 bill ... More >>

Florida House Panel Rejects Medicaid Expansion

Even with Gov. Rick Scott reversing course on the good ship SS Teabaggery and supporting the expansion of Medicaid (even though he wanted to control how it would be privatized), his fellow Florida GOPers stayed the course. See also: -Rick Scott Now Supports Medicaid Expansion And by "stayed the co ... More >>

Rick Scott Now Supports Medicaid Expansion

Rick Scott, GOPer champion of Defiance Toward All Things Obummercare was not, would not, could not, wouldn't, under any circumstances, implement Medicaid if he had anything to say about it. He said Medicaid wouldn't do anyone any good and even went so far as to give out botched math to prove his po ... More >>

29-Year-Old With AIDS Launches Kickstarter-Type Campaign to Pay for Health Care

Valyn Calhoun posted a photo of himself, looking pale and weighing 95 pounds. "I put up a picture of my body," the 29-year-old wrote. "It may scare some, but this is something I see everyday."Calhoun, a photographer who runs in Fort Lauderdale's music and art scenes, contracted HIV and hepatitis C, ... More >>

Rick Scott Is Knowingly Using Bad Math to Avoid Implementing Obamacare

Remember when Rick Scott began to soften his stance against Obamacare and said there should be a conversation about it? Yea, scratch that. Scott did the math and well, the numbers just don't add up. So. No Obamacare for you, Florida! Oh. Sure. He still walks around like he's all hey I'd be totall ... More >>

Tea Party Shows Up to Florida Senate Committee and Vents About Obamacare

Even though a good portion of its candidates were booted out of office in November, and even though Floridians shot down Amendment 1, and even though Obama not only won the election but also won Florida, the Tea Party is still insisting that the government do what it says, because of loud angry reas ... More >>

Rick Scott Will Still Opt Out of Healthcare, Despite What Voters Said

On Tuesday, Floridians went to the polls and voted against the state GOPer Legislature instilled amendment that would have banned government mandated health insurance requirements. Basically, had the amendment passed, it would have exempt Floridians from the Affordable Care Act. But it failed to p ... More >>

Rick Scott's Decision to Opt Out of Medicaid Could Cost Hospitals Billions

Rick Scott's decision to opt out of participating in the expansion of the Medicaid health insurance program in Florida could cost public hospitals billions and billions of dollars. This according to a new study by the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (whom we're sure wil ... More >>

Rick Scott: Expanding Medicaid Is "Not Going to Be Good for Anybody"

Gov. Rick Scott was a guest on CNBC's Squawk Box program this morning, answering questions about everything from Mitt Romney to Florida's unemployment rate. The most interesting discussion, however, occurred when he was asked by the hosts about his announcement that Florida was not going to comply w ... More >>

Imagining a Florida Without Medicaid

See also: Rick Scott's stranger-than-fiction smackdown of Obamacare and his defense of that decison.In 2009, at least 2.45 million people in Florida were enrolled in Medicaid, according to data from government agencies. Another estimate pegs the number at more than 3 million. That's over a tenth of ... More >>

A Guide to Rick Scott's Speech in West Palm Beach

​Gov. Rick Scott will deliver his annual speech at the Forum Club in West Palm Beach tomorrow. In an attempt to appear human, he likely will tout his much-trumpeted $1 billion proposed increase in funding for public schools. But that proposal isn't as rosy as it sounds. Here are a few questions to ... More >>

Anticircumcision Activists Say Trimming a Bit Off the Top Is Too Much

American Academy of Pediatrics to Come Out More Strongly in Favor of Circumcision, Suggests Dr. Doug Diekema, Member of Task Force

Elijah Caleb Tan via Flickr​To circumcise or not to circumcise? That's a question that few people ever ponder -- until their little bundle of joy is about to arrive and it's a boy. For years, the American Academy of Pediatrics has said that "the existing scientific evidence is not sufficient to ... More >>

South Florida's Dirty Dozen: Our Annual List of Our Worst

OCCUPIED Amendment From Ted Deutch "Totally Bans Corporate Money" in Campaigns

maryannaville.com​It looks like all those hippies hanging out in parks may have actually sparked an idea.Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch -- who represents parts of Broward and Palm Beach Counties -- introduced the "Outlawing Corporate Cash Undermining the Public Interest in our Elections and Democr ... More >>

How to Fake Your Own Death, Courtesy of Former Pot Runner John Darrell Boyd

Courtesy of John Darrell BoydBoyd in his heyday.​A promo shows a young bearded guy pulling up to the edge of the Everglades and shooting the windows of his station wagon -- from the inside."He wants the crime scene to convince investigators that he was killed in a hail of bullets," says the voice- ... More >>

A Tour of Gov. Rick Scott's Dirtiest Deeds

Rick Scott Talks About Selling Soda, Muses Nonsensically on the Role of Government

​Rick Scott held a news conference today at the Jacksonville Historic Naval Ship Association in which said organization presented him with a model of the ship he served on from 1972-74.According to the Herald's Naked Politics blog, Scott waxed nostalgic about supplementing his government paycheck ... More >>

Gov. Rick Scott Invents A Scientific Study On Drug Use During Nationally Televised Interview

​Now for Gov. Rick Scott's charade of the day -- making up a scientific study on drug use by welfare recipients on a nationally televised CNN interview.As you know, the governor signed H.B. 353 into law last week, requires Floridians on welfare to pass a drug test before they get their cash.On ... More >>

Florida House: No Public Money For Abortions. Farewell, Low Crime Rate!

​Today, two stories appeared in Floridian media outlets that didn't seem to have much to do with each other, but did.The first: "Florida's Crime Rate The Lowest In 40 Years." The title is a bit misleading -- Florida didn't begin tracking crime rates until 40 years ago, so our historic streak of la ... More >>

Lawmakers Seek to Limit Liability for Foster Care Tragedies, to Protests from Parents

Illustration by Jordin Isip​Sometimes, when you adopt a kid, things go well. Sometimes, they go wrong. And sometimes, they go so horribly, unimaginably wrong that your life becomes an unending battle to hide the wrongness from yourself, to use every available device of legislation, money, and geog ... More >>

While Enabling Pain Clinics, Rick Scott's Team Proposes Eliminating Funding for Real Clinics

​While it may be exaggeration to say he wants Florida's "pill mills" to stay open, Rick Scott has smacked down a whole bunch of rules that would regulate and monitor their activity. First he announced a freeze on new rules that would help the state crack down on fly-by-night clinics, then he disba ... More >>

Rick Scott's Plan: Blame the Unemployed, Cut Drug Oversight, and Other Goodies

​You can't say the guy's not trying. Florida's favorite baldheaded former fraudster, Governor-elect Rick Scott, has been tossing off bits of a new economic plan. Not surprisingly, most of his talking points involve limiting government involvement and letting us little guys pull like mad on our boo ... More >>

Mexican Macro-Economics

Do undocumented migrants steal jobs from American workers?

Whose Dole Is It, Anyway?

Head of Florida Dems Thanks Supporters for "Brighter Future"?

Where were the Dems while this guy won?​Yes, a wave of anti-Obama, pro-Tea Party sentiment swept the country Tuesday. But even considering the national trend, Florida Dems took a beating that can't simply be blamed on the miserable economy or a knee-jerk desire for change.Going into Election Day, ... More >>

Rick Scott Appears to Clinch Governor's Race, Gets Green Light to Abuse State (Updated)

​If your ex-con boyfriend slaps you around when you ask why he emptied out your bank account and then you take him back, everyone knows you've given him permission to rob and hurt you again. That's the message voters gave Republican Rick Scott yesterday when they elected a man to the governor's ma ... More >>

An Immigrant's Heart

To survive the ordeal of escaping Guatemala, Julia needed a big heart. But not this big.

LeMieux's First Bill: Health-Care Fraud Prevention (in Lieu of Health-Care Coverage?)

We can all agree with what Florida's new senator, George LeMieux, says above, that this health-care fraud thing should stop. And he makes it sound so easy!But if you watch the longer version of that speech above, you'll see that LeMieux's debut piece of legislation is part of a larger, grander Repu ... More >>

Tea Party Team Fights Obama, MoveOn on Health Care

RBerteigIf the website NoGovernmentHealthcare.com is any indication, the group of conservative folks who organized the local version of the nationwide "tea parties" have become emboldened by the turnouts they've drawn. Now they are fighting Obama's plan to move toward nationalized health care. If th ... More >>

Joel Steinger and Mutual Benefits Corp. Stole a Billion Dollars by Peddling Bogus Life Insurance Policies

Teabag Gags And Other Important Democratic Functions

All this talk on the news about the right-wing "teabagging" protests is cracking me up. In fact I'm starting to think that the evil liberal media talked the national frustrati into taking on that moniker for their movement as a juvenile prank. (Locally, our own Michael Mooney mixed it up w ... More >>

Fort Lauderdale "Tea Party" Protest on Tax Day

Tania GailBesides gnashing one's teeth or making fun of Timothy Geithner's dweebiness, there is little frustrated taxpayers can do about the spiraling-out-of-control federal deficit. To channel their rage, fed-up conservatives have been organizing "tea parties" around the country, mimicking the Bost ... More >>

Schoolkids, State Workers: You're All Under the Bus for Tax-Shy Legislature

Our Florida legislators have some budget-cutting to do, but they also need to improve the state's education system, which is fast becoming a national embarrassment. This will take some creativity. Republicans, as the majority party, you're up.flhouse.govAdam HasnerAdam Hasner, Republican from Delray ... More >>

Bitter Pill

Families say Hollywood doc is out of control

Letters for November 15-21, 2007

Letters for 8-14, 2007

Burned at Both Ends

A background in hauling pot gives you the skills and chutzpah to become a Medicaid mogul

Head Pounding

A Handicapped Service

Complaints from the mobility-challenged against the AAA Wheelchair Wagon Service are numerous. The company's stance? What's the problem?

Burning Down the House

After the closing of an apartment building for AIDS victims in Fort Lauderdale, the city's ability to oversee a multimillion-dollar, federally funded program is called into question

The Dentist Is Out

The closure of a publicly funded children's dental clinic has low-income patients down in the mouth

Letters

Cutting the Healing

The emotional triage performed by therapists for the severely disabled is being eliminated by budget cutbacks