Feds Award Florida $1.5 Billion In Low-Income Pool Funding For Hospital Care For Uninsured

On April 12, 2017, Florida Governor Rick Scott announced that the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had agreed to continue funding Florida’s Low-Income Pool (LIP) at more than $1.5 billion annually. The LIP program is a federal matching program made possible by the state’s 1115 Medicaid waiver; it provides federal funds to Florida safety net hospitals to cover costs of care provided to the Medicaid, underinsured, and uninsured populations. The program makes quarterly, lump-sum payments to Florida’s hospitals, children’s hospitals, medical schools, county health departments, and federally qualified health clinics . . .