Post by Logan on Jul 4, 2016 6:55:47 GMT -6
As both sides of a decade-long lawsuit over Florida’s Medicaid program heralded the case's official close last week, state taxpayers also had something to celebrate: the end of a 10-year stream of legal bills they will cover.
In a federal court in Miami, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Adalberto Jordan certified a settlement in the case, which requires the state of Florida to pay $12 million in legal fees to attorneys defending parents and pediatric providers. The state must also work with both groups to correct the problems identified in the lawsuit — namely that the more than 2 million poor children enrolled in Medicaid must have access to health care and administrative hurdles to care need to be addressed.
The $12 million in settlement payments is in addition to the state's own legal fees.
Since the suit was filed in late 2005, Florida’s Medicaid health agencies — the Department of Health, the Agency of Health Care Administration and the Department of Children and Families — have racked up $7.8 million in legal costs, a Herald-Tribune analysis of invoices found.
Read more: www.heraldtribune.com/article/20160703/NEWS/160709870/2416/NEWS?Title=Medicaid-lawsuit-costs-taxpayers-millions
In a federal court in Miami, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Adalberto Jordan certified a settlement in the case, which requires the state of Florida to pay $12 million in legal fees to attorneys defending parents and pediatric providers. The state must also work with both groups to correct the problems identified in the lawsuit — namely that the more than 2 million poor children enrolled in Medicaid must have access to health care and administrative hurdles to care need to be addressed.
The $12 million in settlement payments is in addition to the state's own legal fees.
Since the suit was filed in late 2005, Florida’s Medicaid health agencies — the Department of Health, the Agency of Health Care Administration and the Department of Children and Families — have racked up $7.8 million in legal costs, a Herald-Tribune analysis of invoices found.
Read more: www.heraldtribune.com/article/20160703/NEWS/160709870/2416/NEWS?Title=Medicaid-lawsuit-costs-taxpayers-millions