Florida sues Obama to save state’s federal health subsidies

On April 14, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which manages federal funding to the states for health programs, told Florida officials that it plans to let lapse at the end of June the $1.3 billion Florida gets annually to help hospitals cover the cost of treating uninsured patients.

"For the president to use LIP funding as a bargaining chip to force the taxpayers of Florida to accept the Medicaid expansion is not only wrong but it is also unconstitutional," Bondi said.

Florida has relied on the LIP money for nearly a decade, according to the complaint. The money is used to reimburse health care workers who provide services for the uninsured, Scott said. The state has spent months trying to negotiate with the U.S., according to the complaint.

Aaron Albright, a spokesman for CMS, said the program was temporary and had been previously set to expire in June. The pool funding shouldn't be used to pay for costs that would be covered by an expansion of Medicaid, he said.

"The decision to expand Medicaid, or not, is a state decision," Albright said in an e-mailed statement. "We will work with Florida and each state that has an uncompensated care pool regardless of its Medicaid expansion status, to support access to health care for low-income residents that works for individuals, hospitals and taxpayers."

The case is Scott vs. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Case Number 3:15-cv-00193) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (Pensacola).

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