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There’s an effort going on now to place Medicaid expansion on the 2026 ballot in Florida. This comes as Florida is one of only ten states that haven’t expanded Medicaid.
Jake Flaherty is the campaign manager for the organization Florida Decides Healthcare. He hosted a press conference Thursday announcing the initiative.
“With more than 1.4 million Floridians missing out on essential care this expansion would provide, the need to bring this policy across the finish line has never been greater.”
Eligibility would expand to adults making at or below 138% of the federal poverty level.
59-year-old Alison Holmes is a full-time caretaker for her disabled son JJ.
“My biggest fear is dying from something that would be survivable if I was just able to get typical annual checkups someone of my age gets.”
This isn’t the first effort to put Medicaid on the ballot, according to Holly Bullard of the Florida Policy Institute.
“In 2019, we collected enough signatures to trigger a Supreme Court review of our petition, but COVID shutdowns derailed us, the courts closing and new legislation out of Tallahassee made these initiatives much harder.”
In the Legislature, Republican Senate President Kathleen Passidomo made her stance clear.
“Medicaid expansion is not going to happen in the state of Florida”
The petition needs over one million signatures to make it on the ballot.
