(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . DeSantis budget increases funds for subsidized healthcare for children, stops at Medicaid expansion [1] ['Jackie Llanos', 'More From Author', '- December'] Date: 2023-12-05 Gov. Ron DeSantis’ health budget proposal on Tuesday includes an increase in funding for children’s health care but no overall Medicaid expansion for low-income Floridians. During remarks on the governor’s version of the overall state budget in 2024-25, DeSantis highlighted $46.3 billion in health care funding, which would include money for cancer research, Alzheimer’s programs, child welfare, waivers for Floridians with disabilities and initiatives for elderly folks. But, under DeSantis’, proposal Florida would still be one of the 10 states that haven’t extended Medicaid coverage to people who make up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level per the Affordable Care Act. He outlined the health care budget proposals last during the press conference Tuesday morning. The total is $944 million less than the 2023-2024 budget. Although the governor crafted a smaller budget for the next fiscal year, he wants the state to spend $310 million on the Florida KidCare Program, which subsidizes health care for children until their 19th birthday if the household doesn’t qualify for Medicaid. Earlier this year, DeSantis signed HB 121 into law, increasing the income limits for the program. Following the press conference, the Agency for Health Care Administration touted in a press release the governor’s proposal for a $116.8 million compensation increase for Medicaid providers giving care to children and pregnant and post-partum people. DeSantis didn’t miss the chance to call attention to his immigration policy record when he talked about funding for the opioid crisis, particularly taking a jab at President Joe Biden’s handling of undocumented immigrants. “When you look at what’s happening with the Biden border crisis, we have massive amounts of fentanyl that are coming across that border. That is impacting every community in this country. We’ve done a lot to combat illegal immigration in Florida, and, incidentally, we did legislation this year that was the strongest in the country, and we’ve seen the impact,” DeSantis said at the press conference in Marco Island in Southwest Florida. “When I first sent people to help Texas in the border in 2021, our guys would report that for a lot of the people coming through the border Florida was their intended destination, 30 to 40 percent. Now the reports are very few are saying Florida because they know we are taking the problem seriously.” In November, state lawmakers discussed how the state should spend the $3.1 billion opioid settlement Florida received as part of the nationwide lawsuits against manufacturers of the drug. Elderly care When it comes to Florida’s elderly population, the governor emphasized $190 million for Alzheimer’s programs and to keep older Flordians in their communities. More than $69 million would go toward the Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative, which received almost $65 million in the 2023-2024 budget. This year, the governor is asking for $15 million more for programs that help older folks stay out of nursing homes. However, the budget does include $110 million for nursing homes for veterans, most of it would be set aside for the construction of a ninth veterans’ nursing home in Collier County. DeSantis’ budget also includes $127.4 million for the state’s home and community-based Medicaid waiver program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and a pilot program for care otherwise not provided. More than 22,000 people with disabilities are waiting for the Medicaid waiver, according to previous reporting by the Florida Phoenix. For the pilot approved by the governor this year, AHCA could receive more than $47 million to enroll up to 910 people. While the budget proposal provides $232 million for cancer research, including an extra $40 million for the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund, the research program named after the state First Lady would get $500,000 fewer dollars under the proposal. “With cancer being something that’s near and dear to our family’s heart as Casey having dealt with breast cancer, cancer research is something we’ve been very supportive of,” the governor said. Tomorrow afternoon, the Senate’s Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services will hear a presentation on the healthcare budget items. The governor’s state budget proposal is not the end of process. The Legislature, which comes in on Jan. 9, 2024 and continues for two months, will be crafting a state budget for Florida. [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/12/05/desantis-budget-increases-funds-for-subsidized-healthcare-for-children-stops-at-medicaid-expansion/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/