A nonprofit organization is currently collecting signatures to place Medicaid expansion in Florida on the ballot for 2026.
“Our goal is to empower voters to determine whether Florida should expand Medicaid, bringing back billions of our tax dollars, boosting job opportunities, stimulating economic growth, and granting access to healthcare for over one million individuals,” expressed Florida Decides Healthcare, an organization advocating for Medicaid expansion. “By working together, we can transform healthcare into a tangible reality for all residents of Florida.”
The group stated that in order to get the measure on the ballot, 1 million signatures of registered voters in Florida will be required. As of December 31, the state currently has over 13.3 million registered voters.
If Medicaid expansion is approved, Florida would receive billions of tax dollars to fund healthcare. According to the organization, this influx of funding would not only improve access to health services but also stimulate job growth in the state, with an estimated 130,000 new jobs being created.
According to the group, the expansion will benefit working families who currently do not have health insurance despite being employed.
According to the statement, those who earn less than $20,782 per year as an individual or less than $35,631 per year as a family of three would be eligible.
Florida Decides Healthcare emphasized the importance of providing healthcare to individuals in specific vulnerable groups, including near-retirees without benefits, those with chronic medical conditions, and Floridians who currently lack access to affordable medical care.
Florida, like nine other states, does not have expanded Medicaid, which is a healthcare program funded by both the state and federal government.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, along with the Legislature, has been a staunch opponent of Medicaid expansion in the state.
House Speaker Paul Renner has declared that Medicaid expansion is “dead on arrival” in the upcoming 2024 legislative session, according to published reports.
Unfortunately, DeSantis’ office did not provide a comment in response to our request before this article was published.