Florida Medicaid patients could join pilot project

Medicaid patients living in Tampa or Gainesville, FL, could soon be part of a pilot project that would overhaul how they get healthcare. State lawmakers are considering yet another change to the way the nearly $16 billion state-federal healthcare program for the poor works. Four years ago, legislators agreed to a controversial Medicaid reform pilot program for Broward and Duval counties that forced patients to get their care through a managed care organization. Now a House panel has approved a measure that would steer patients in Alachua and Hillsborough counties into a new network that links medical schools with primary care clinics.