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Florida lawmakers travel to DC to talk health care

ReneWondering why Sens. René García, R-Hialeah, and Garrett Richter, R-Naples, aren't in Tallahassee today?

They are meeting with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The two lawmakers flew to Washington at the request of Senate President Andy Gardiner, spokeswoman Katie Betta said.

The purpose of the trip: to get a better idea of where Florida stands on some key health care issues.

"With tomorrow marking the halfway point of the session, we are nearing the time when the legislature is going to have to start finalizing decisions on the budget," Betta said.

Among the unresolved issues: what the future holds for Florida's Low Income Pool program.

The federal government has said it will not renew the $2.1 billion program, which helps hospitals treat uninsured and Medicaid patients, as it exists today. But the state and federal government have been unable to reach consensus on a successor program. 

The Senate recently recommended a new program would distribute the Low Income Pool funds more broadly than the original program. It was not clear how the idea was received by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The Senate has also been driving a push to expand health care coverage to nearly one million poor Floridians. That, too, would require approval from the federal government, assuming it passed through the resistant House.

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