Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., railed at the Biden administration Tuesday, accusing the White House of “constant lies” about its signature infrastructure measure and a proposed social program and climate spending package.
In an interview on Fox Business Channel, Scott blased “reckless government spending,” a transcript of the exchange showed. “The American public is fed up with Joe Biden and his constant lies,” Scott said.
“Remember how the infrastructure bill was paid for? It wasn’t. Remember how [the Build Back Better plan] was paid for? It’s not. Remember how they’re not going to raise taxes on middle class income? They are.”
According to Scott, there will be tax cuts for the “richest families in California, New York, New Jersey” but “they cut charity care for hospitals in Texas and Florida.”
The Build Back Better plan’s cuts to Florida’s low income pool (LIP) and disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments would amount to $31 million of the current $251 million in funding, Florida Politics reported.
“You can’t make this stuff up,” Scott said. “They are lying about this like they say the border is secure.”
The Congressional Budget Office has determined the cost of the Build Back Better bill is $4.9 trillion, not the $3 trillion cited by the Biden administration. White House press secretary Jen Psaki has pushed back on the CBO scoring, calling it “fake” because it assumed social programs in the plan would be permanent.
But Scott said Psaki is the one faking it, asserting, “I think it’s fake what she says. Because what comes out of her mouth is constantly a lie.”
As governor, Scott resisted Medicaid expansion, Florida Politics noted.
“Think about it. You’re in a hospital, let’s say you’re in inner city Orlando, and Joe Biden says we’re going to give you less money to take care of the poor. How does that make any sense,” Scott said.
“You feel sorry for these people that need to rely on these charity hospitals for care, but you’ve got to make sure they’re funded.”
The senator vowed he would “make sure everybody in this country knows what the Democrats are doing.”
“The cut in charity care is for the poor in red states,” Scott said.
According to Florida Politics, Scott has “for weeks” made the case against the Biden plan, including its impact on hospital care for the poor, warning interest groups like hospital executives about the proposed 12.5% cut in payments to states that didn’t expand Medicaid.
“The Congressional Budget Office … has also estimated that the combined policy of DSH and LIP cuts will cut $34.5 billion over the next 10 years. This means that approximately $30 billion will be cut from Medicaid uncompensated care from four states (Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Kansas). Florida has the second largest UCP (uncompensated care pool) of the four states and the impact to our state will be significant,” Scott warned in a letter last week, Florida Politics reported.
