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Leaders don't want hasty Medicaid overhaul

Top legislators Bense and Lee want further review of a U.S.-approved managed care plan before a special session.

By LUCY MORGAN
Published October 21, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Legislative leaders are wary about having a special session in December to consider sweeping changes in the state's Medicaid program for the poor and elderly.

Gov. Jeb Bush wants speedy action on the plan to overhaul the system, but House Speaker Allan Bense and Senate President Tom Lee said Thursday they may need more time to review the plan and let people know what the state is considering.

That could mean the special session the governor wants could be postponed until January, Bense and Lee suggested. The two leaders said they want to be sure lawmakers have a complete understanding of the changes before voting.

"December seems a little aggressive on the surface," Lee said.

Bush won federal approval Wednesday to start a pilot program in Duval and Broward counties in July, but needs legislative approval. The changes would shift tens of thousands of Medicaid recipients, many of them children, to newly formed doctors networks or managed care plans, which are likely to be controversial.

Bush wants to change the traditional fee-for-service system to one that operates more like a private, profit-based insurance market in an effort to control spiraling costs.

Whenever the special session occurs, it appears likely lawmakers will add other issues to the agenda, including the regulation of slot machines in Broward County. Voters there approved the installation of the machines at horse and dog tracks and jai alai frontons earlier this year, but lawmakers could not agree on regulations during the regular session.

Bense, Lee and Bush all oppose an expansion of gambling in the state, but say they feel bound to comply with the voters' decision. All three want to take the issue back to the voters in an effort to repeal the 2004 constitutional Amendment that allowed the vote in Broward County. Lee said he would be willing to consider the repeal as part of a special session.

In addition, Bush said he wouldn't mind seeing the special session agenda expanded to include new regulations requiring more disclosure from lobbyists and new versions of two bills he vetoed earlier this year that would increase oversight of state contracts and require more advance planning on the budget.

[Last modified October 21, 2005, 02:15:38]