Bill Offers Partial Medicaid Reform in Florida

Tallahassee, Fla.

State legislators have proposed a gradual approach to implement portions of Gov. Jeb Bush's Medicaid reform plan. Under legislation introduced by the state House in late March, HMOs and other managed-care networks would take over care for Medicaid patients “in at least one urban and one rural area” beginning in 2006.

Under the new bill, Bush's plan would not be implemented statewide until 2007. The measure also proposes incentives, such as low-interest loans, to draw private companies into the new system.

About a third of the state's 2.3 million Medicaid recipients are already in a managed care organization.