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Florida Could Get $1B In Health Care Funding For The Poor

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
WMFE
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

A budget standoff in Florida over federal funding for low-income patients could be ending. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent a letter to the Agency for Health Care Administration today.

Federal officials had previously said Florida would not continue to get money for the “Low Income Pool” program unless the state agreed to expand Medicaid, an optional portion of the Affordable Care Act. Now, a letter from a top official says Florida likely will get federal funds for the “LIP” program.

A dispute over the health funding lead to an early shutdown of the legislative session, and lawmakers left without agreeing on a state budget. The special session is expected to start June 1.

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WUSF is a partner with Health News Florida, which receives support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Health News Florida reporter Abe Aboraya works for WMFE in Orlando. He started writing for newspapers in high school. After graduating from the University of Central Florida in 2007, he spent a year traveling and working as a freelance reporter for the Seattle Times and the Seattle Weekly, and working for local news websites in the San Francisco Bay area. Most recently Abe worked as a reporter for the Orlando Business Journal. He comes from a family of health care workers.