In war over Medicaid expansion, Senate panel declines to confirm Scott’s pick for surgeon general

TALLAHASSEE —

One day after Gov. Rick Scott came out against a Senate proposal to expand health care coverage to about 800,000 poor Floridians, a Senate panel declined to confirm Scott’s pick for surgeon general.

The Senate Health Policy Committee postponed the vote on Surgeon General John Armstrong Tuesday after he repeatedly declined to give his opinion on the Senate’s proposed alternative to Medicaid expansion.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, later said Armstrong had failed to provide “an adequate answer” on the issue.

“I think members were frustrated, and so, hopefully with temporarily postponing this confirmation, it will give the surgeon general some time to reflect and give us an answer on what the Department of Health’s position is on our health exchange,” Galvano said.

Tensions have been building between the Senate and the governor’s office since President Andy Gardiner sent two senators to Washington last week to discuss the future of a $2.2 billion federal-state program known as the Low Income Pool. The program, which helps hospitals treat low-income patients, will expire in June unless the state and federal government can negotiate a successor program.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article17764658.html