Florida Republicans Plan to Cut Medicaid Part 2

The Heritage Foundation is pushing the Florida government to opt out of Medicaid.

To stanch the fiscal hemorrhage, the conservative Heritage Foundation says Florida could save $28 billion over five years by simply opting out of Medicaid. Though that might sound like a radical move, it dovetails philosophically with Attorney General Bill McCollum's lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Obamacare.

Opting out also matches legislators' determination to pass a constitutional amendment to prevent the federal government from compelling people to participate in any health-care system. Both the House and the Senate have listed the resolution -- AJR 1 and SJR 1 respectively -- as their first order of business in 2011.

Medicaid is funded differently than Medicare. States have to provide matching grants to Medicaid. No matching funds from Florida means no federal funding. Florida is facing serious problems funding Medicaid. That is due to Florida's economic problems and the Republican obsession with tax cuts. Republicans have long hated Great Society programs like Medicaid. The best way to kill it is not fund it.