Following in the steps of fellow Republican Govs. Rick Scott of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is coming out strong against the Obama administration’s attempts to force states to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.
In an op-ed piece published in Friday’s Orlando Sentinel, Jindal accuses the administration of "Mafia-style tactics" by threatening to withhold $1.3 billion in funding to a Sunshine State Medicaid program unless it accepts Obamacare. Florida is one of 21 states that have opted not to expand Medicaid.
The federal funds that Florida stands to lose reimburse hospitals for caring for uninsured patients,
according to the Washington Examiner, which reported last month that Gov. Rick Scott filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration, accusing it of using coercion to pressure Florida into expanding Medicaid.
In a press release about Florida’s lawsuit, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that "the federal government is trying to do precisely what the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Constitution prohibits it from doing — forcing states to expand Medicaid by threatening to cut off funding for unrelated programs."
She accused President Barack Obama of overstepping his authority and maintained that his administration’s "blatant abuse of power" would not be tolerated by Floridians.
"Whether to expand Medicaid is a policy decision for Florida, and the decision should ultimately be made by Floridians, through their elected state officials, not by the federal government through force, and coercion," Bondi said.
Jindal, Abbott and Scott — some of the "staunchest opponents of Medicaid expansion" — argue that threats by the federal government to cut off funding violates a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down mandatory Medicaid expansion,
according to The Hill.
A spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) told The Hill that Florida was not singled out, that the agency applied the same principles to other states that have also been notified that hospital funding is at risk.
Jindal says the administration’s position is "just plain wrong" and that the Congress needs to put a stop to the standard operating procedure of "Chicago-style politics — support the machine or else."
"Regardless of the avenue, Congress should act soon," he wrote. "The citizens of Florida, and other states, deserve more than to have their health-care systems turned upside-down just because Barack Obama cannot countenance the idea of anyone opposing his unpopular health-care law."
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