With Florida among the 10 remaining states that have resisted expanding Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act, a new poll suggests that putting it to the people — via ballot referendum — is the way to make it happen.
More than three-fourths of those polled by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy between March 27 and March 30 supported expanding Medicaid, the state’s health insurance for people with low incomes, according to a news release from Florida Decides Healthcare, a labor union-funded political committee based in Tallahassee.
The political committee commissioned the polling firm to ask respondents whether they supported or opposed extending Medicaid to those earning up to 138% of the poverty level. And 76% of the 625 respondents contacted say they would support it — with affirmation from Democrats and Republicans.
Democrats, however, are much more likely to support the idea — with 95% agreeing, compared to 62% of Republicans approving. Among those who identified as independent, 74% support the expansion.
“These numbers clearly demonstrate the growing bipartisan consensus among Floridians on the importance of expanding Medicaid,” said Jake Flaherty, campaign manager for the political committee’s effort to get the question on the ballot. “It’s time for Florida to join the majority of states in providing access to affordable health care for all its residents.”
Currently, Medicaid recipients in Florida are limited to three categories of people and must fall at or below certain income levels — it’s one of the strictest states in its eligibility guidelines.
To be eligible, one must either be one must be younger than 18, in a household earning no more than 133% of the poverty level, pregnant and earning no more than 185% of the poverty level, or elderly or disabled and making no more than 88% of the poverty level.
With a margin error of +/-4 percentage points, the live-dial poll found support for expanding Medicaid is the weakest in Southwest Florida, winning 67% support there, compared to the 82% support the poll found in Southeast Florida.
Those polled were randomly selected from a phone-matched Florida voter registration list with landline and cell phone numbers. Quotas were assigned to reflect voter registration by county.
Recently, red-state holdouts have agreed to the Medicaid expansion the Affordable Care Act envisions. The North Carolina Governor last month signed legislation that expands Medicaid. And South Dakota voters last November went the route Florida Decides Healthcare aims for in this state — via referendum. South Dakotans approved the expansion, with 56% supporting it.
In Florida, the ballot referendum would have to win at least 60% approval. And that seems like the easy part. The group must collect signatures equal to 8% of the number of Floridians that vote in the upcoming presidential election to get the referendum before voters. Taking the number from the last election, which would be about 890,000 signatures from Florida voters, to get the question on the ballot.
Flaherty says it’s an idea for which the time has come, even if most legislative action on health care this Session has been focused on expanding Florida KidCare eligibility.
“It’s time for Florida to join the majority of states in providing access to affordable healthcare for all its residents,” Flaherty said. “Florida’s voters know that Medicaid expansion is a smart choice not only for the health of our people but for the state’s budget and economy as well.”
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