Say Ahhh! is excited to welcome Florida Legal Services to the health policy blogosphere.  The new blog will focus on issues surrounding the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion, and Medicaid Managed Care in Florida.  Contributors include staff members working on health law throughout the state of Florida.  Please check out this fantastic new resource for those who want to make Florida’s health care system work better for Floridians.  Here’s the first post by a friend on the frontlines of the Medicaid debate in Florida – Miriam Harmitz ….

By Miriam Harmitz, Florida Legal Services

It’s not easy explaining the “Coverage Gap.”  Whether you are an “Obamacare” enrollment assister, a reporter, or an advocate, the situation is utterly illogical. Folksabove the federal poverty level (or $11,670/year for single person and $23,850/year for a family of four) and with incomes all the way up to $46,680 and $95,400 can get subsidies for  health insurance in the marketplace–while those whose income falls even a dollar below the poverty line usually get nothing.  So to be clear, what this means is some people make too little money to get help buying insurance on the marketplace.

But this seemingly inexplicable situation is the reality in Florida.

An Orlando investigative TV reporter, Eryka Washington, took on the daunting challenge of explaining this bizarre situation to her viewers.  She interviewed a local legal aid attorney, Larri Thatcher, who explained that  the ACA established two  paths to affordable coverage for low income uninsured Americans: 1) through help in the marketplace; or 2) through a greatly expanded Medicaid program. But the Supreme Court, while upholding the requirement that individuals have insurance, said the decision on Medicaid expansion would be up to each state. Most states jumped at the chance to cover their low income uninsured residents—with mostly federal dollars.  But Florida is one of a minority of states that, so far, has refused federal funding for extending coverage.  The result is that Floridians with incomes below the poverty level have no path to affordable coverage; they fall into the “gap.”

Ms. Washington also interviewed Charlene Caines, a working mom who does not get insurance through her job.  Charlene, who is also going to college, works 6 hour shifts each day as a waitress, but is still below the poverty level. Thus, when she went online and tried to get coverage in the marketplace, she was denied.

Finally, Ms. Washington interviewed local hospital officials and industry leaders who explained the fiscal issues—hospitals are at risk of losing tens of millions of dollars, and the state is leaving $10 million per day in federal funding on the table.

Thanks to Ms. Washington’s story, Orlando area TV viewers better understand this critical issue—which is being debated now in Tallahassee.  While the issue has been reported widely in the written press and on the radio—few local TV reporters have taken on the challenge. Please watch Eryka’s segment and share it widely, including with your elected officials.