In a further sign that the health-care law is a political football, Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio says he won’t vote for a federal budget unless it removes all funds for the Affordable Care Act, as the Miami Herald reports. A Democrat who chairs the Senate budget committee retorted that failure to pass the budget would strip health care from 25 million Americans, presumably a reference to Medicare.
Meanwhile, Florida’s State Senate President Don Gaetz -- who is also a Republican -- sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius asking that the agency drop or modify its rules for states that want to make changes to Medicaid. As the Lakeland Ledger reports, the push for a special session of the Legislature to accept federal funds for Medicaid expansion has fizzled out.
