FL unions sue to stop prison healthcare privatization plan

Gov. Rick Scott's administration was back in a familiar place Tuesday, the courtroom, where two unions are challenging a plan to save money by privatizing healthcare to the state's 100,000 inmates. The state has already hired two out-of-state firms to do the work at a minimum cost savings of 7 percent a year. But the Florida Nurses Association and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) say the privatization plan is unconstitutional and want Circuit Judge Kevin Carroll to block its implementation. The 2011 Legislature mandated the privatization through the use of budget language known as proviso.