The accusations that Florida's Medicare and Medicaid program was denied reauthorization due to political bias are heating up, as several conservative activist organizations have written to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz to escalate the situation.
Several Florida lawmakers previously demanded reauthorization of the Sunshine State's CMS program in early February, citing the potential consequences of hospital closures and unwanted tax hikes if the program is not approved.
Real America's Voice anchor Eric Bolling attributed the issue to the following, stating, "A bureaucrat is sitting somewhere up in D.C., in the swamp, thinking, 'Well, this state voted the wrong way, so let's just go ahead and slow-walk their funding. Doesn't matter if those rural hospitals have to shut down.'"
Several conservative activist groups, including the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, the Center for Individual Freedom, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, and the American Consumer Institute, have written to Dr. Oz, calling the delay "unprecedented and unjustified."
The letter reiterates Florida's fiscal responsibility within the CMS program, noting that it is one of the lowest per-person spenders in the country, yet "Florida has been singled out and unfairly targeted," and "the Trump Administration mustn't allow that destructive Biden legacy to persist."
They point out that eight hospitals in Florida are at risk of closure, many rural hospitals are operating at a loss and are unable to maintain maternity wards, and Florida is already short 20,000 nurses and nearly 5,500 doctors.
"The DPP offers a critical lifeline to partially close that gap," the groups' letter noted, adding that "without it, more closures are inevitable, and Floridians will pay the price."
Florida Hospital Association President and CEO Mary Mayhew previously wrote an op-ed providing additional details, writing that as hospitals are unable to provide services, "Floridians increasingly must turn to emergency departments — the most resource-intensive point of entry into the health care system — raising, not lowering, federal health care spending."
