Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) has come out blaming Republicans for the “thousands of lives” that were lost, alleging that the deaths are tied to the GOP’s refusal to expand Medicaid coverage across the nation.
“Republicans must put people over politics and expand Medicaid and protect the #ACA,” stated Wasserman Schultz “Thousands of lives were lost because they refused, Thousands more could be saved if they do the right thing.”
Rep. Wasserman Schultz’s remarks are based on a recent Miami Herald Editorial Board opinion story accusing both the Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis administrations of refusing to expand Medicaid coverage, which led to numerous deaths.
“Florida’s refusal to expand Medicaid coverage is costing lives, according to data from the nonpartisan National Bureau of Economic Research,” said the board “The study found that states that broadened coverage for low-income residents between 2014 and 2017 saw significant reductions in death rates among adults ages 55 to 64 — enough, essentially, to save an estimated 19,200 people nationwide.”
The story also cited a study conducted by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which found that an estimated 2,2776 Floridians died between 2014 and 2017.
Wasserman Schultz’s fellow House Democratic colleagues, Reps. Kathy Castor, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, and Ted Deutch weighed in on the Miami Herald’s reporting of Medicaid expansion.
Rep. Deutch said that 2,800 Floridians died when “Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis refused federal funding to cover” Medicaid-needing Floridians.
During the 2018 mid-term election cycle, Florida Democrats ran a pro-Medicaid expansion against then-Senate candidate Rick Scott and gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis and lost, failing to convince enough Floridians to support the expansion of the healthcare measure.
