Another Am-Bush!
Urgent Action Needed for Medicaid

by Rachel Klein
Families USA

We have some important news about Florida's Medicaid program that requires urgent action on your part (see 1 and 2 below).

You may have already heard that Governor Bush is planning to pursue a waiver from the federal government that would block-grant Florida's Medicaid program. In response to the Governor's efforts, the Human Services Coalition of Dade County, Inc. and Florida Legal Services are coordinating a new coalition of advocates working to preserve access to health care for Floridians who rely on Medicaid. This will be an ongoing issue for Florida advocates. We hope you will get involved.

Below, we've listed two steps you can take immediately. For more on the pitfalls of block grants, click here.

1. The coalition groups are seeking sign-ons for an Opinion/Editorial (Op-Ed) piece opposing a Medicaid block grant that will be submitted to a number of papers around the state. If your organization can sign on to the Op-Ed, please contact
Priya Sampath at the Human Services Coalition of Dade County, Inc. at 1-305-576-5001 by 5:00 P.M. on April 29. If you cannot sign on at this time, but wish to be informed and involved in other coalition activities, please call Priya and let her know. Click here to read the Op-Ed.

2. For those of you interested in learning more about what Governor Bush and the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) are planning, AHCA will be holding a meeting in Tallahassee on Thursday, April 29 from 3:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. to explore how Medicaid can be improved while the annual rate of growth in spending is reduced. If you are able to attend the meeting, please call Miriam Harmatz at Florida Legal Services for more information. Miriam's number is 1-305-573-0092. AHCA will also have a meeting-by-phone from 4:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M.
on the 29th, but there are limited lines available for that meeting.

This is a crucial time for Medicaid in Florida, and it's very important to make sure that policy makers in Florida know how important Medicaid is to all Floridians.