Florida Rep. Alex Andrade, days after pressing the head of the state's healthcare agency over why $10 million was sent to a charity founded by Gov. Ron DeSantis's wife, hopes to question the Hope Florida president next week.
Andrade was unsatisfied with the answers given by Shevaun Harris, the Secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration, when he and his Health Care Budget Subcommittee questioned her on Wednesday, he told The Floridian. The 15-member panel grilled Harris for over two hours on why AHCA diverted $10 million of a $67 million settlement with the state to Hope Florida, First Lady Casey DeSantis's charity, without notifying lawmakers.
Harris and DeSantis insist it was "100% appropriate."
Andrade disagrees.
"I intend to seek answers directly from the Hope Florida Foundation next," he said via text message. "The two biggest concerns I have are the misuse of taxpayer funds and the exposure we as the state may now have from federal fines and sanctions for that misuse."
"I hope [Hope Florida president] Joshua Hay comes to my meeting to discuss the foundation's operations," Andrade added, noting that while he's called Hay, the president didn't answer.
Hay, also the CEO of a management consulting firm, did not respond to a request for comment from The Floridian.
What Happened?
First broken by The Tampa Bay Times, the controversy stems from a $67 million September settlement to the state after health care giant Centene overbilled the state. According to the settlement, $10 million of that was sent to Hope Florida, a non-profit founded by Casey DeSantis to get Floridians off of government assistance.
Under state law, settlements to the state by an agency or officer must be deposited into a trust fund or the general fund, where lawmakers can oversee them.
Lawmakers, including Andrade and Speaker Danny Perez, have speculated that this may be illegal. Supporters of the deal, however, argue that because the money from the out-of-court settlement never entered state accounts, the statute may not apply.
Andrade raised further concerns during a Thursday night appearance on a show hosted by former Rep. Matt Gaetz. He and Gaetz compared the arrangement to "settlement slush funds," which occurs when a settlement requires a donation to a third-party group.
Ironically, Gaetz noted that DeSantis co-sponsored congressional legislation in 2016 to make this illegal.
"Maybe [that's] where he got the creative idea to do this," Andrade said last night.
The Times also reported that Hope Florida hasn't reported any of its tax information, though Hay said it's because they are "in the process" of creating its tax documents. This doesn't explain why the foundation, which has existed since 2023, has yet to produce tax documents.
"I need to understand why they haven't ever reported any revenues or expenses to the state," Andrade said.
He also questioned why the charity changed its registered agent—the person who handles legal documents—from AHCA spokesperson Mallory McManus to Jeff Aaron, who Andrade said is a "low-level personal attorney for the governor," allegedly immediately after Harris testified before the House subcommittee.
According to state documents, the switch happened on Wednesday.
AHCA, the Department of Children and Families, McManus, nor Aaron returned a request for comment.
