For weeks, Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., seemed immovable in his opposition to the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Webster said he was unable to vote for the GOP plan because it would hurt Florida’s allocation of Medicaid-funded nursing home beds, which are subject to a per-person cap.
Weeks of negotiations failed to bring Webster into the “yes” column, even after meetings with GOP leaders and Vice President Mike Pence.
“Still a no,” he told the Washington Examiner earlier this week after leaving a meeting with Pence.
But it all changed on Wednesday when Webster secured what he is calling “a pledge” from Republicans and the White House that there would be changes in the federal funding formula that would provide Florida with a larger share of funding to pay for the beds.
Webster represents the district where The Villages, a large retirement community, is located.
Nursing home beds are a critical issue for Florida, where nearly 20 percent of the population is aged 65 or older. According to Pew Research, that’s the highest percentage in the nation.
Medicaid covers the cost of the beds after Medicare funding runs out. The GOP’s initial plan to repeal Obamacare would have calculated funding for Medicaid at the previous year’s number of eligible recipients. But Webster said Florida’s rapidly growing population of seniors would put them behind in funding under that formula.
“I have convinced everyone from the president on down… that this is a real true policy issue that has to be settled and it’s probably close to Florida-specific,” Webster, the former speaker of the Florida House, told the Washington Examiner Thursday.
Webster said he changed his vote to a yes after receiving hard assurances from leaders and the president that the funding problem will be addressed.
“We’ve got sort of a pledge,” Webster said. “It’s going to happen.”
Webster said he was promised a larger share of Medicaid funding, but it could come at a cost to other states.
“We have a million more people on Medicaid in Florida than they do in New York, yet New York gets twice the Medicaid money that Florida gets,” Webster said. “It’s a matter of distribution and that is what is going to be fixed, which I think we deserve.”
