President Obama's stimulus package may expand health care to Florida's poor children

January 29, 10:25 PMMiami Health ExaminerCharlotte Libov

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If President Barack Obama's present stimulus package is approved, it could mean $4.25 billion to expand medical services to the state's poor, including children, and also translate into more jobs in the health care field, according to a new report. 

In a study released Wednesday by Families USA, a Washington-based healthcare consumer group, the report said that provisions of the House bill could provide $87 million to bolster the state's Medicaid programs, including $4.25 billion for Florida for the period from October through 2010.

Steven F. Marcus, president and CEO of the Health Foundation of South Florida,  a organization that works to expand health care, lauded the proposal. He told the Examiner that the money is critically needed, especially for children whose parents currently do no not have health insurance. It’s estimated that there are 797,000 children in Florida who do not have health insurance – or one out of six. The report also noted that the data was collected between 2005-2007, and does not reflect the state’s worsening economic condition, according to Families USA, a healthcare consumer organization in Washington, which compiled the study.

According to the study,  Obama’s current House bill could provide $87 billion to bolster the hard-hit state Medicaid programs, including $4.25 billion for Florida for the period from October through 2010. 

Another benefit of the proposal would be the creation of jobs, Marcus said. He noted that in addition to benefiting the health of state’s children, expanding the medical programs will also results in job growth. “We’ll need more technicians, nurses and pediatricians. We’ll have to rent more offices, buy more supplies, and probably had have to add more people to track the children’s care.”

Currently, the lawmakers are wrangling over Obama’s proposal. A slightly smaller bill was passed on Wednesday, and now heads to the Senate, which will begin considering it next week. 

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