Gaetz takes shot at SCOTUS ruling

June 28, 2012
 
Statement from Senator Don Gaetz
on US Supreme Court’s Decision
to Uphold Obamacare
 
The decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is disappointing.  I respect the decision of the Supreme Court, but I agree with Justice Kennedy and others who found the law unconstitutional in its entirety.  More importantly, I am convinced the law is detrimental to our common goal of affordable quality health care.
 
The court’s 110 page opinion is in some ways as complicated as the law itself.  Like others we will be tweezering through the ruling to fully understand all of the implications for Florida taxpayers, patients, providers and businesses. 
 
While this law remains on the books, states will confront many difficult decisions and in an effort to fully understand all of the implications and costly burdens.  Foremost among these difficult decisions will be the choice the Court appears to have given States regarding participating in the mammoth Medicaid expansion authorized by the federal law.  We have reason to be concerned about the impact of this expansion.  Medicaid enrollment will double in the next few years; the state’s discretion in program design will be further curtailed; and even with a temporary enhancement of federal funds, the state’s financial burden for Medicaid will increase significantly.
 
Other provisions of PPACA raise additional serious questions.  The law undermines the state’s traditional role in regulating insurance.  Unless this law is changed by Congress, the federal government will decide what insurance products may be sold, at what prices, and under what conditions.  Additional requirements of PPACA will affect the state’s purchase of health coverage for its employees—raising costs and limiting choices.
 
I will be working with the Governor, Speaker-Designate Will Weatherford and my colleagues in the Legislature to grapple with these problems even as we support those in Congress who are working to repeal and replace the complicated and costly provisions of this law.
 
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For more information about this or any other issue, please contact Senator Don Gaetz, by e-mail at gaetz.don.web@flsenate.gov, by letter, 4300 Legendary Drive, Suite 230, Destin, FL 32541 or call 1-866-450-4DON toll free from anywhere in Florida.
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