Florida News

GOP Senator says Florida pays to cover Medicaid costs for blue states like California and New York: “We’ve got to fix this”

Florida – Senator Rick Scott from Florida wants changes to a big federal package called the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” He says it should be modified to protect Floridians from what he calls an unfair burden: paying for Medicaid benefits for people in blue states like California and New York.

The bill, which recently passed the House and is now going through the Senate, has a lot of various proposals in it, such tax cuts, no taxation on tips, immigration rules, and changes to Medicaid. But Scott is just interested in one thing: making sure that Florida taxpayers don’t have to pay for Medicaid programs in other states.

Scott’s main point is based on numbers from the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) that show that in 2024, $56.1 billion in federal Medicaid funds went to individuals who were able-bodied and didn’t have children and worked 20 hours a week or less. This amount is around 11% of all federal Medicaid spending. The CEA says that a large part of that money—more than a third—went to states controlled by Democrats. California got $13.5 billion and New York got $6.4 billion.

Scott says that this system is unfair to Florida taxpayers who are responsible and work hard, while rewarding policies in other states that let benefits go to people who could otherwise work.

“Right now, Floridians and hardworking Americans living in red states are being taken advantage of by California liberals,” Sen. Scott said.

“Last year, California and New York accounted for over a third of the 56 billion federal dollars given to childless, able-bodied adults who refuse to work but take Medicaid benefits rather than preserve them for the most vulnerable populations that the Medicaid system was established to cover. We’ve got to fix this in the Big Beautiful Bill to protect our most vulnerable!”

He says it should be modified to protect Floridians from what he calls an unfair burden: paying for Medicaid benefits for people in blue states like California and New York.
Courtesy of Sen. Rick Scott via Rick Scott official FB

Read also: Out-of-state untested, unqualified illegal immigrants bought CDL and driving licenses for cash in Florida: “We are going to find you”

Scott backs additional changes to the measure that will make it harder for people to qualify for Medicaid. That includes making working-age individuals without dependents work if they are able to. Supporters say the idea is to cut down on fraud and waste while making sure that resources get to the people who really need them first.

The CEA says that in 2024, 44% of childless, able-bodied adults on Medicaid worked less than 20 hours a week, and an amazing 88% didn’t work at all.

The suggested modifications are part of a bigger effort by conservatives to reform the Medicaid system to be more like welfare programs that focus on employment. Scott says that the idea is not to cut safety nets but to make sure that help goes where it is needed and not to support states that he thinks misuse federal funds.

Read also: Florida AG brutally responds to Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar who called Trump ‘a failed dictator’: “Denaturalize and deport”

The Senate will soon talk about what will happen to the bill, and Scott is likely to keep pushing for changes that will stop states like Florida from “bailing out” others with what he calls “reckless spending habits.”

Related Articles