TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Gov. Rick Scott slammed a Florida House proposal Thursday that would pass up billions of federal dollars to provide health care coverage to 115,000 uninsured Floridians in a watered down alternative to expanding Medicaid under the federal health law. The proposal relies entirely on $237 million in state taxpayer funds and would not tap into an estimated $51 billion dollars in federal aid available under the Affordable Care Act over the next decade. It would also offer coverage to thousands fewer residents, covering only those making 100 percent of the federal poverty level as opposed to the roughly 1 million residents that would have been covered through Medicaid expansion.
