Supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment that would expand Medicaid coverage have submitted more than 53,000 valid petition signatures to the state as they get closer to triggering a Florida Supreme Court review of the measure.
The political committee Florida Decides Healthcare, Inc. had submitted 53,258 signatures as of Monday, according to the state Division of Elections website.
That is up from about 21,000 signatures in mid-April. The committee needs to submit 76,632 signatures to trigger a review of the ballot wording by the Florida Supreme Court.
If justices approve the wording, the committee then would need to submit an overall total of 766,200 signatures to get on the November 2020 ballot.
The proposal would expand Medicaid coverage to low-income adults who currently are not eligible. Florida lawmakers have repeatedly rejected such an expansion, which is optional for states under the federal Affordable Care Act.
