Bill Nelson: “This Senator from Florida wants to thank his neighbor and colleague for his comments and to say how true it is that…”

“This Senator from Florida wants to thank his neighbor and colleague for his comments and to say how true it is that there is an underserved part in healthcare that is not only the underserved in the inner city but, clearly, also in rural America. This Senator wants to thank the Senator from Alabama for coming forward with that piece of legislation. I look forward to discussing it with him. I also wish to thank the Senator for his comments about how shortsighted it is that the government, as he stated, in his State of Alabama, and, certainly, the government in my State of Florida, refuses to expand Medicaid and has so for almost 7 years, when, in fact, in the State of Florida, there is almost $5 billion a year that is sitting on the shelf that is Florida taxpayer money that is going elsewhere if not accessed, and it has not been accessed in my State of Florida. That is 800,000 people--almost 1 million people--poor people and disabled folks who would be getting healthcare, and they otherwise are not getting healthcare. Would the Senator believe that when they don't get healthcare through Medicaid, for which they are eligible under the law, when they get sick, what do they do? They end up going to the emergency room. By not having any preventive care, it is now an emergency. Of course, when treated at the emergency room, it is the most expensive place at the worst time. Lo and behold, it is uncompensated care, and the hospital can't eat all of that uncompensated care.…”