Rick Scott on Health Care

Enact law so drug prices in US aren't higher than Europe

Lead plaintiff in lawsuit to overturn healthcare reform

He'd entered politics, after all, as a major funder of anti-Obamacare TV ads. Before and after becoming governor, he rarely missed an opportunity to claim that the Affordable Care Act would kills jobs, bankrupt America, and--who knows?--maybe even cause halitosis. At his direction, the state was a lead plaintiff in a lawsuit trying to overturn the president's reforms. The suit got all the way to the US Supreme Court. And Rick kept popping up on conservative talk shows, warning that expanding Medicaid, a key Obamacare provision, would put too big a strain on Florida taxpayers. At one point, he asserted that the Medicaid expansion would cost $26 billion over the next decade, although the state's health care agency slashed the estimate to $3 billion after the governor's math was challenged.

AdWatch: "Let's Get to Work" opposing ObamaCare

"Charlie Crist stands with Obama," the female narrator says in one of the ads, titled "Charlie Crist Supports ObamaCare."

The Republican Party of Florida and Scott's committee plan a combined six-figure digital buy.

Earlier, Scott's committee had a broadcast and cable buy for "He's an Opportunist," launched the day Crist--a former Republican and former independent--announced.

Supports Florida's lawsuit against Obamacare

A: YES.

Opposes government-run healthcare.

The Christian Coalition voter guide [is] one of the most powerful tools Christians have ever had to impact our society during elections. This simple tool has helped educate tens of millions of citizens across this nation as to where candidates for public office stand on key faith and family issues.

The CC survey summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: "Federal government run health care system"

Defund, repeal, & replace federal care with free market.

The Contract from America, clause 7. Defund, Repeal, & Replace Government-run Health Care:

Defund, repeal and replace the recently passed government-run health care with a system that actually makes health care and insurance more affordable by enabling

Loosen "one-size-fits-all" approach to Medicaid.

As Governors, we are writing to you regarding the excessive constraints placed on us by healthcare-related federal mandates. One of our biggest concerns continues to be the Maintenance of Effort (MOE) provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which prevent states from managing their Medicaid programs for their unique Medicaid populations. We ask for your immediate action to remove these MOE requirements so that states are once again granted the flexibility to control their program costs and make necessary budget decisions.

Every Governor, Republican and Democrat, will face unprecedented budget challenges in the coming months. Efforts to regulate state operations impose greater uncertainty on our budgets for oncoming years and create a perfect storm when coupled with the current state of the economy.

Health and education are the primary cost drivers for most state budgets. Medicaid enrollment is up. Revenues are down. States are unable to afford the current Medicaid program, yet our hands are tied by the MOE requirements. The effect of the federal requirements is unconscionable; the federal requirements force Governors to cut other critical state programs, such as education, in order to fund a `one-size-fits-all` approach to Medicaid. Again, we ask you to lift the MOE requirements so that states may make difficult budget decisions in ways that reflect the needs of their residents.