We did this podcast before the Tampa Bay Times report that followed $10 million give to First Lady Casey DeSantis’ Hope Florida made its way into PAC funds controlled by Gov. DeSantis and his now Attorney General.
State Rep. Alex Andrade (R-Pensacola), chair of the House Health Care Budget Committee, engaged in a heated exchange with officials from the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) during an April 9 committee meeting regarding a $10 million settlement between a Medicaid managed care operator and the state that was directed to the Hope Florida initiative.
Last year, Centene, which owns Sunshine Health in Florida, agreed to pay AHCA a $67 million out-of-court settlement, with $10 million directed to Hope Florida.
“Instead of taking the settlement money that was paid by this large company and putting it back into the state coffers, they said, $10 million of what you owe us, just give it to the Hope Florida Foundation at DCF, which makes no sense,” Andrade said. “It’s a violation of state law to not take settlement funds and put them back into general revenue.”
After the committee meeting, agency heads, including AHCA Secretary Harris, appeared in a video defending Hope Florida. Harris claimed, “It was clear that it was an ambush, an attack, on Hope Florida.”
Andrade described the video as looking “like a hostage video” with officials “blankly reading a script.”
Photo by Ian Powell on Unsplash