Health Care Decision Has Far-Reaching Impact For Fla.

WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) The state of Florida was turned away by the United States Supreme Court almost completely Thursday morning in the states challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

Florida led the suit against the Health and Human Services Department and was particularly concerned with the expansion of Medicaid under the health care law. As written, the health care law would have expanded the Medicaid provision to 133 percent of the poverty line.

The ACA also said that if states turned down the new money to expand Medicaid; the states entire Medicaid funding would be pulled.

The threatened loss of over 10 percent of a States overall budget is economic dragooning that leaves the States with no real option but to acquiesce in the Medicaid expansion, the Court held.

In other words the Court found, The Medicaid expansion thus violates the Constitution by threatening States with the loss of their existing Medicaid funding if they decline to comply with the expansion.

The Court ruled that the withholding of a states entire Medicaid funding was unconstitutional. However, Justice Ginsburg said the remedy is to bar the withholding found impermissible, not to scrap the expansion altogether.

The Supreme Court found that states could refuse to expand the Medicaid expansion, but the money would still be available to any state willing to participate.

When a court confronts an unconstitutional statue, its endeavor must be to conserve, not destroy, the legislation, Justice Ginsburg said.

The problem for Florida residents, and other states led by Republicans, who would have been covered under the provision is; what do they do now?

States with Republicans in charge could decide not to take part in the expansion, since no penalty is in place for it. If thats the case, then those who would have been covered under the new Medicaid expansion, will be on their own to find health insurance to avoid the tax.

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Health Care Decision Has Far-Reaching Impact For Fla.

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