Millionaire and “Obamacare” basher Governor Rick Scott pays only $360 a year for his health insurance, by taking advantage of Florida’s low-cost program financed by taxpayers.

 

Scott, a former hospital chain executive who once ran Conservatives for Patients’ Rights, which criticized the health care overhaul, is not accepting a gubernatorial salary. But he did decide to enroll in the state’s low-cost health program.

 

Most of Florida’s insured state employees pay $50 a month for health insurance or $180 for family coverage. Scott, however, is one of an elite group of high-ranking officials—including legislators, judges and department heads—who are eligible for “special exempt service” at a lower rate.

 

The governor’s office refused to address questions on why Scott signed up, claiming it was a private matter.

 

Florida has one of the highest uninsured rates in the nation, but Scott contends that President Barack Obama’s health care law was a bad idea and should be overturned.

 

Scott’s own involvement in the health care industry is controversial. He built his business, Columbia/HCA, into the world’s largest health care company. But his aggressive quest for profits rubbed many people wrong, and in 1997 he was kicked out by his own board of directors. Columbia/HCA was forced to plead guilty to overbilling state and federal health programs and paid a fine of $1.7 billion.

-David Wallechinsky, Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Scott Getting Low-Cost Health Insurance from State (by Gary Fineout, Associated Press)

Rick Scott Pays $360 a Year for State Health Insurance (by Adam Weinstein, Mother Jones)

Florida Orders Applicants for Federal Needy Families Program to be Drug Tested…and Pay for It (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Health Critic Brings a Past and a Wallet (by Jim Rutenberg, New York Times)