The Miami Herald has published a deep-dive into that recently settled lawsuit over funding for low-income youth healthcare. The paper backgrounds: “A federal court judge in Miami sided with needy children and their doctors in a 153-page ruling in December 2014, saying state lawmakers had so starved the Florida Medicaid program of funding that it was operating in violation of federal law.
“In the ensuing months, health administrators — at the urging of U.S. Circuit Judge Adalberto Jordan, who presided over the trial — mediated the dispute with lawyers for the children and the state Pediatric Society. The negotiations yielded a settlement with the heads of the state Department of Health, the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Department of Children & Families, all of whom were parties to the litigation.
“Though state leaders had continued the battle even after Jordan’s stunning ruling, healthcare for needy children had become a public relations nightmare for the state.”
It’s a great look into a true crisis and how a lawsuit was the only thing that might have brought everybody to the solution table:
Florida deal could finally improve healthcare for poor children