Enact law so drug prices in US aren't higher than Europe
The problem is the cost of health care is too high in this country. That's why I put a bill out that requires transparency and says we're not going to allow pharmaceutical companies to charge us more than what they charge in Europe. I had the same
issue when I ran a large hospital company. I said I had hospitals in Europe. I said I'm not paying more for drugs in Europe than I'm paying in the United States. It's not fair to Americans and that's why I'm going to work hard to get that passed.
Source: CBS Face the Nation interview series for 2019
, Mar 31, 2019
Lead plaintiff in lawsuit to overturn healthcare reform
There was one issue that Rick Scott could never seem to get away from: Obamacare, the president's still controversial plan. He hated it, hated it, hated it!
He'd entered politics, after all, as a major funder of anti-Obamacare TV ads. Before and after
becoming governor, he rarely missed an opportunity to claim that the Affordable Care Act would kills jobs, bankrupt America, and--who knows?--maybe even cause halitosis. At his direction, the state was a lead plaintiff in a lawsuit trying to overturn the
president's reforms. The suit got all the way to the US Supreme Court. And Rick kept popping up on conservative talk shows, warning that expanding Medicaid, a key Obamacare provision, would put too big a strain on Florida taxpayers. At one point, he
asserted that the Medicaid expansion would cost $26 billion over the next decade, although the state's health care agency slashed the estimate to $3 billion after the governor's math was challenged.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's political committee, "Let's Get to Work," launched a round of Web ads hitting Charlie Crist, his Democratic challenger, for supporting ObamaCare.
Republican officials say this shows that it's not just federal candidates who will be tied to President Barack Obama's health plan next year.
"Charlie Crist stands with Obama," the female narrator says in one of the ads, titled "Charlie Crist Supports ObamaCare."
The Republican Party of Florida and Scott's committee plan a combined six-figure digital buy.
Earlier, Scott's committee had a broadcast and cable buy for "He's an Opportunist," launched the day Crist--a former Republican and former independent--announced.
Scott opposes the CC survey question on government-run healthcare
The Christian Coalition voter guide [is] one of the most powerful tools Christians have ever had to impact our society during elections. This simple tool has helped educate tens of millions of citizens across this nation as to where candidates for public office stand on key faith and family issues.
The CC survey summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: "Federal government run health care system"
Source: Christian Coalition Survey 10-CC-q5 on Aug 11, 2010
Defund, repeal, & replace federal care with free market.
Scott signed the Contract From America
The Contract from America, clause 7. Defund, Repeal, & Replace Government-run Health Care:
Defund, repeal and replace the recently passed government-run health care with a system that actually makes health care and insurance more affordable by enabling
Source: The Contract From America 10-CFA07 on Jul 8, 2010
Loosen "one-size-fits-all" approach to Medicaid.
Scott signed Letter to Pres. Obama from 32 Governors
As Governors, we are writing to you regarding the excessive constraints placed on us by healthcare-related federal mandates. One of our biggest concerns continues to be the Maintenance of Effort (MOE) provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which prevent states from managing their Medicaid programs for their unique Medicaid populations. We ask for your immediate action to remove these MOE requirements so that states are once again granted the flexibility to control their program costs and make necessary budget decisions.
Every Governor, Republican and Democrat, will face unprecedented budget challenges in the coming months. Efforts to regulate state operations impose greater uncertainty on our budgets for oncoming years and create a perfect storm when coupled with the current state of the economy.
Health and education are the primary cost drivers for most state budgets. Medicaid enrollment is up. Revenues are down. States are unable to afford the current Medicaid program, yet our hands are tied by the MOE requirements. The effect of the federal requirements is unconscionable; the federal requirements force Governors to cut other critical state programs, such as education, in order to fund a `one-size-fits-all` approach to Medicaid. Again, we ask you to lift the MOE requirements so that states may make difficult budget decisions in ways that reflect the needs of their residents.
Source: Letter to Obama from 32 Governors 110107-Gov on Jan 7, 2011