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Florida senator speaks out against state's Medicaid decision

Florida senator speaks out against state's Medicaid decision
Florida senator speaks out against state's Medicaid decision
Posted at 4:48 PM, May 22, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-22 14:44:07-04

(WTXL) - Florida's Democratic Senator Bill Nelson is responding to the state's refusal to expand Medicaid coverage for nearly 800,000 poor and disabled people in the state. 

State officials say, 33 states enacted the Medicaid program which covers insurance policies and Florida was not one of them.

Senator Nelson says there's $5 billion worth of tax payer money in the state of Florida that could be going to health care.

"In my state of Florida, that is 800,000 people, almost a million people, poor people, disabled folks that would be getting health care that otherwise are not getting health care," said Sen. Nelson.

Senator Nelson says, when people with out health coverage do not pay their hospital bills, premiums for people with health insurance goes up.