FL lawmakers grapple with healthcare reform

With several dozen Tea Party advocates urging lawmakers to resist the law in a sometimes raucous hearing, a state Senate committee on Monday began examining the new federal Affordable Care Act's impact on the state. The Legislature faces two key questions early next year: Whether the state will set up its own insurance exchange and Whether the state will expand its Medicaid coverage to more low-income Floridians. Sen. Joe Negron, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, said aims in implementing the law will be protecting individual choice, limiting regulations and promoting competition.