Key Senate Committees Will Look At Medicaid Issues

Two major Florida Senate panels will take up Medicaid issues when lawmakers return to Tallahassee in January for committee meetings, according to agendas posted online.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Jan. 12 is scheduled to receive updates about Medicaid expenditures and the issue of a Medicaid block grant. President-elect Donald Trump has supported the idea of providing block grants that would allow states to have more flexibility in running Medicaid programs.

State Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, said this month he wants to start preparing for the possibility of carrying out such a block-grant system in Florida.

Also, on Jan. 11, the Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee is slated to receive an update on part of the Medicaid program that requires most beneficiaries to enroll in HMOs or other types of managed-care plans. The committee meetings are in advance of the 2017 legislative session, which starts in March.

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