90.7 WMFE

Florida may lose more than a billion dollars in annual federal funding that’s been paying for indigent care at public and private hospitals. The money came from a federal program called the Low Income Pool, or LIP. But the LIP is being phased out in favor of the Affordable Care Act, which Florida rejected.

Economic analyst Hank Fishkind tells 90.7’s Nicole Creston there may be an alternative to both LIP and the ACA, but Florida’s hospitals, lawmakers, and business community all have to work together.

Fishkind calls the loss an unintended consequence of the state’s decision to opt out of Obamacare, and to turn down federal dollars that would’ve expanded Medicaid coverage to nearly a million more Floridians.