Dive Brief:
- Republican Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday followed through on his announced plans to sue the federal government for allegedly trying to coerce the state into expanding Medicaid by holding back other funding.
- At issue is the state's $2.2 billion Low Income Pool program, which funds hospitals that serve Medicaid patients and the uninsured. The program will expire in June unless a deal can be reached in state and federal negotiations.
- According to the Miami Herald, the federal agency handling the negotiations has stated that any decision on funding the LIP program will be connected to whether the state agrees to expand Medicaid coverage, which Scott rejects.
Dive Insight:
The outcome of the case could set a precedent for whether the federal government will next be able to put pressure on other states holding out against Medicaid expansion.
"President Obama's sudden end to the Low Income Pool (LIP) healthcare program to leverage us for Obamacare is illegal and a blatant overreach of executive power," Scott said in a statement. "This sort of coercion tactic has already been called illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court."
Rick Scott, et al v. HHS was filed in U.S. District Court in Pensacola.