President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” will cut $3.8 billion from Florida’s health care system, with that money primarily affecting Florida hospitals.
Brian Meyer, Florida’s Medicaid director, gave an update at the House Health Care Facilities and Systems Subcommittee.
The new law is making cuts to Medicaid, among other reforms. One of the major changes in Florida will be a cap on state-directed payments going to hospitals, with the changes setting that Medicaid cap at 110% of Medicare to more align the two rates, Meyer told lawmakers.
Five Florida programs are over that cap and currently receive $9 billion. That total will drop to $5.2 billion in state-directed payments by 2034-2035, Meyer told the group of lawmakers after facing earlier questions in the week about how children are being disenrolled from the Florida KidCare program for not paying their premiums.
The Hospital Directed Payment Program is currently being paid $8.1 billion for 2025-26. That program will face a $3.5 billion cut by 2034.
Other programs facing decreases by 2034 are the Physician Supplemental Payment Program, with a $234 million cut, the Public Hospital Physician Program, at $9 million, and two Florida Cancer Hospital Programs for $56 million and $17 million.
“What this provision does is any state directed payments that are above 110% of Medicare beginning in 2028 will start stepping down annually 10% a year until you get to the 110% of Medicare threshold. We currently have five state directed payment programs that are above 110% that will need to be stepped out,” Meyer said.
“Depending upon where they are with respect to the percent of Medicare, some will get to that 110% cap sooner. Others will take more years to get there at a 10% annual reduction.”
The House subcommittee, which met as the upcoming Legislative Session’s committee week began, is focused on the access and affordability of health care.
–Gabrielle Russon, Florida Politics
Hooked on phonics says
Big, bad, beautiful, billions, millions… Trumps very limited vocabulary skills…
Atwp says
During the 2028 election, I would like foe a Democrat to win the election and rid the bbb. Time will tell.
Richard Fay says
This is interesting, I do not recall any of our local Representatives in congress bring this to our attention at the time of HR1 passing. Interesting “…how children are being disenrolled from the Florida KidCare program for not paying their premiums.” I do not recall any local Congressional representative discuss the implications of HR1 on health insurance for children, particularly children of the poor and working poor.
Scott Adie says
It’s called balancing the budget and fiscal responsibility BUT, using those precepts doesn’t help sustain SENSATIONALIST EDITORIAL REPORTING. Sorry we can’t call it journalism anymore, it’s actually AGENDAISM designed deliberately to cause division and anger. Don’t fault FlaglerLive for it, they just learned it from the MAINSTREAM MEDIA and puppets aren’t accountable to the audience, only the puppeteers. A genuine article would show the SPECIFIC AREAS BEING CUT by line item and amount with disclosure of why. But hey, let’s not be too honest here.
Deborah Coffey says
@ Scott Adie
1. It doesn’t sound like you’ve read the bill
2. Balance the budget by cutting Medicaid a trillion dollars worth so billionaires can get tax cuts? You’re kidding, right?
3. You don’t seem to know WHO is causing division and angry. Guess you’re not watching daily clips of Donald Trump?
“And, the TRUTH will set you free.”
Pogo says
@scott adie
Dropped the Reverend — did you?
Richard Fay says
Mr. Adie,
I see you took the bait. You failed to identify who your comment was meant for or directed toward. You add nothing to the discussion; kind of a paper tiger doing the work for others. Your ideas do not sound authentic. If I have to lookup words to understand their precise meaning and those words are combined in such a way as to appear jingoistic toward the poor and vulnerable, the war on the poor, you show your agendaism [if agendaism is even a word – it pales in comparison to childism]. My point was clearly that the elected representative in my part of the State of Florida did not come to my community and seek advice, consent or input into the decisions they made on a line by line budget. I would have appreciated one of those elected officials explaining, in plain language, to a small town newspaper the data prior to the passage of the legislation. As it is now there is a hunt and the most damaging aspects of the now law is being discovered and our State Representatives are rightly expressing concern about the impact of HR1 on the State of Florida. Which I believe was the point of the story I read. All this aside – the Trump Administration sent Argentina $20 billion dollars to bail out Argentina’s failed peso. I do not know if US-aid is still functioning, I do not know what levers of government were set in operation to make this charitable donation to Argentina. Twenty billion dollars can go a long way to ensure children have access to adequate health care – if it were “precept” of the current administration magically — it would be done.
Palm Coast Citizen says
To Scott Adie, none of the media nor the legislatures are doing that–the line by line account and potential impact. We have to read the bill, look at the budget, do research and figure out the history and potential consequences or benefits ourselves, and it’s pretty daunting for us lay people–not because we don’t try, but because there’s a lot to unpack and figure out.