Washington, DC – Here is a statement from Ethan Rome, executive director of Health Care for America Now, on Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s decision to fully participate in Obamacare’s Medicaid provisions and extend benefits to 1.3 million Floridians:
“People’s heads are probably exploding at tea party headquarters across the country, and that’s because we may have just witnessed a crucial turning point in the Republican’s hyper-partisan opposition to the Affordable Care Act. If there was ever any question that Obamacare would be fully implemented, we got the answer today from one of the leaders of the anti-Obamacare movement.
“Rick Scott has disregarded his own orthodoxy and put responsible governing over reckless partisan politics and extremism. Scott came around to what everyone has known all along: accepting federal funds to extend Medicaid to 1.3 million Floridians is good for hospitals, businesses, state and local governments and, most importantly, the people who need health care. This is a good day for health care and for all Americans who believe solving problems is more important than scoring political points.”
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Health Care for America Now, the nation’s leading grassroots health care coalition, led the fight to win health reform. HCAN works to promote the Affordable Care Act, protect Medicare and Medicaid, and keep Congress from being steamrolled by corporate special interests.