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FL Leaders' ACA Demands Unreasonable

Senate President Don Gaetz sent a letter in June to federal health officials asking for flexibility in designing a plan to cover the working poor under the Affordable Care Act that would not involve Medicaid.

But the Obama administration should just say no, the Tampa Bay Timessays in an editorial. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has already bent over backward in offering flexibility to recalcitrant states like Florida, Texas and Arkansas. The problem with flexibility is not on the Washington end.

The suggested plan that Florida House Republicans came up with last session would have left out most of those who need coverage and would have required extremely low income workers to make co-pays that would be beyond their ability. There is no reason to think that they would be more generous or sensible if Sebelius yielded ground.

Originally founded in December 2006 as an independent grassroots publication dedicated to coverage of health issues in Florida, Health News Florida was acquired by WUSF Public Media in September 2012.