According to the Florida Tribune, Gov. Rick Scott decided to forgo the use of electronic correspondence as part of his daily routine. This means he can dodge pesky public record requests for his emails. However, his administration will still use their computers to communicate.
The Florida Tribune did make a public record request of those emails and found that Scott’s administration was upset about Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour releasing the Scott sisters from prison and the state of Florida might have to pay for the kidney transplant.
Gladys and Jamie Scott had their life prison sentences suspended in January on the condition that Gladys Scott, 36, donate a kidney to Jamie, 38, within one year of their release. The sisters have moved to Pensacola.
Mary Anne Carter, Scott’s chief policy advisor, speculated in an email if Scott or the Agency for Health Care Administration should comment on the release:
“Please read this story below. This is a case and point example of an issue Rick should consider jumping on – or at least having his AHCA secretary do it. These ladies were criminals released from prison in Mississippi because they (Mississippi) determined it was too expensive to keep them in prison due to the dialysis care the patient needed. After being released, the patient moved to Pensacola, where she is now seeking dialysis. AND she needs a transplant, and the NAACP is seeking Medicaid for her. If memory serves, there is a six month creditable coverage clause in Florida medicaid (ie., you can’t just move here and be eligible), but I’m not sure if “prison” is determined to be creditable coverage even though prison provides you with health care.
If they are able to get this person on Florida Medicaid, it will cost Florida hundreds of thousands of dollars for the transplant and even more for the ongoing care after that.
Mississippi medicaid should cover this, and if not, its a great example of how Florida needs to be given more flexibility to protect our taxpayers from unbridled growth in the program. We are not a destination state for people seeking free care, or at least that’s not our goal.â€
Read Florida Tribune article.