TALLAHASSEE, Fla.— LawFuel.com – Attorney General Pam Bondi today filed a complaint against the Obama administration in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida challenging the federal government’s attempt to coerce Florida into expanding Medicaid by withholding Low Income Pool healthcare funding. The complaint was filed on behalf of Governor Rick Scott, the State of Florida and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.
Attorney General Bondi said, “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. The President, once again, is overstepping his authority, this time by trying to force Florida to expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act.
“We will not tolerate this blatant abuse of power by the federal government. Florida has been receiving LIP funding for nearly a decade, and for the President to use LIP funding as a bargaining chip to force the taxpayers of Florida to accept the Medicaid expansion, is not only wrong, but it is also unconstitutional.
“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.”
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