EXCLUSIVE — A coalition of conservative and free-market business organizations is in a rare spat with the Trump administration over Medicaid funding sought by Florida.
A dozen conservative groups, including the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, the Center for Individual Freedom, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, and the American Consumer Institute, say the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are slow-rolling the approval of nearly $8 billion in Medicaid funding for Florida hospitals. In a letter to CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, obtained by the Washington Examiner, the groups say the delay is “unprecedented” and “unjustified.”
The organizations, which are otherwise allies of the administration, accused Oz of allowing Biden-era anti-Florida biases to persist and warned of hospital closures, particularly those in rural areas, if the funding is not approved.
“Disturbingly, CMS’s delay appears to result from a bureaucratic bias against Florida, President Trump’s home state, that began under the Biden Administration,” they wrote. “The Trump administration must not continue this destructive Biden legacy.”
A CMS spokesperson told the Washington Examiner in a statement that the agency “is diligently working through pending [state-directed payments] SDPs submissions and has delivered approvals and preliminary grandfathering decisions on a majority of SDP preprints. While the agency cannot comment on any one specific SDP, staff are in regular communication with Florida [Agency for Healthcare Administration] regarding their SDPs.”
A source familiar with the ongoing dispute between Florida and CMS criticized the right-leaning groups for advocating the use of additional federal funds.
“Floridians should ask if groups with names like the Center for Individual Freedom, the Center for a Free Economy, and ‘Conservatives’ for Property Rights that are advocating for more federal spending in clear contradiction of President Trump’s signature law are bought and paid for by lobbyists and special interests,” they said.
The coalition letter came as Florida officials and lawmakers are stepping up their criticism of the stalled application, including the Sunshine State’s Republican members of Congress. CMS critics say Florida’s request remains pending despite blue states such as Minnesota, New York, and California receiving approval and could stem from a state lawsuit mounted under Biden.
“Because of this ongoing delay, Florida hospitals are increasingly concerned about the potential consequences for their patients, including limited access to essential health care services,” a group of Florida House Republicans recently wrote to the CMS.
Those same lawmakers last year also voted for President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will enact a drawdown in the same Medicaid program in the coming years to offset the cost of extending tax cuts.
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The letter from right-leaning organizations warned that without Florida’s application approval and the nearly $8 billion to subsidize hospitals that treat Medicaid patients, the state “may be forced to increase property taxes on residents” at a time when it seeks to “reduce property taxes even further.”
“Florida has earned that approval through years of responsible governance, and its hospitals, patients, and taxpayers cannot wait any longer,” the letter reads.
