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Bush tries to ease bill's impact
By ALISA ULFERTS, Times Staff Writer
TALLAHASSEE -- Faced with the possibility of Floridians dying from health care cuts he supported, Gov. Jeb Bush said Friday his office is looking for ways to temporarily help the most vulnerable. Bush said his office hoped to have a plan by next week to take effect May 1 when the cuts occur. The targeted program is called Medically Needy, a $368-million Medicaid option Florida offers for almost 27,000 people who have suffered a catastrophic illness and have exhausted their own medical insurance. Bush offered few specifics, such as how much money he wants to put back into the Medically Needy program and where it would come from. He said he hopes to find a way to help people who are in the most need, such as organ transplant recipients and dialysis patients. Most of the program's budget is devoted to prescription drugs and hospital stays, with participants simply sending their bills to the state. But begining May 1, Medically Needy participants will have to spend all but $450 of their monthly income on their medical care before the state will pick up any part of the tab. Participants say $450 will not cover housing, food, utilities and other expenses. Liver and marrow transplant recipient Mary Ellen Ross of Delray Beach welcomed word that Bush was looking to restore some of the cuts. "We do not want to die," Ross said. Ross heads the Florida Transplant Survivors Coalition, an advocacy group that formed in December 2001, when lawmakers first began targeting the Medically Needy program for cuts. Organ transplant recipients must take costly, anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their lives, Ross said. The changes in the Medically Needy program were adopted by the Legislature and the governor last year, but were put off until May 1. Some have suggested the delay was politically motivated so the cuts would not become an issue in last year's elections. It is becoming increasingly politically charged. The Florida Democratic Party plans a news conference Monday to push for full funding of the Medically Needy program. A Democrat-sponsored bill (SB1010) would do just that, and the party plans a TV ad campaign to persuade lawmakers to vote for the measure. Ross and other Medically Needy participants plan to be in Tallahassee for the news conference. Bush said the changes he is considering would be a stopgap measure to help some participants through June 30. What happens after then is unclear. Bush has proposed eliminating the program entirely and replacing it with a prescription drug benefit but no hospital benefit. The House and Senate have proposed partial funding but disagree on the amount. The Senate's budget would keep the program but require participants to spend down to the $450 level; the House's budget keeps the program but doesn't require the spend-down. Hotline suggests places to go for help with bills Come May 1, people receiving health care under Florida's Medically Needy program must pay a higher percentage of their costs, which many people say they cannot afford. To help them find alternate sources of help, the state has set up a toll-free telephone number, 1-888-419-3456. It is a consumer hotline maintained by the Agency for Health Care Administration. People can get directions in English or Spanish. The agency will refer people to possible alternatives such as federally funded health care centers, county health departments and drug company assistance programs.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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From the Times state desk
From the state wire
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