HUFFINGTON
02.16.14
JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES
TOO POOR FOR OBAMACARE
program, citing budgetary concerns and resistance to Obamacare itself. The federal government will pay the full cost of the
Medicaid expansion through 2016,
after which its share will be no
less than 90 percent.
These decisions by governors
and legislators essentially consigned a huge swath of the very
poor to a life of extreme insecurity.
“It’s very frustrating,” said Al-
phonse, who last worked as a security guard until being laid off
10 months ago. “It’s kind of odd
where an individual that has an
opportunity to help millions of
people in their own state, and
they just totally refuse to do it.”
Florida’s legislature is poised to
take up the Medicaid expansion
again during this year’s session,
but the political dynamics don’t
appear to have changed much since
last year. Meanwhile, one-quarter
of Florida’s population (under the
age of 65) is without health insur-
Dr. Martha
Perez
examines a
patient in
a room at
Community
Health
of South
Florida in
Miami. Even
copayments
at community
health
centers,
which charge
low-income
patients
on a sliding
scale, are
unaffordable
for some.