Last week, 100 of our friends and colleagues from JHS went to Tallahassee to lobby legislators on Medicaid expansion and funding for Jackson.
See coverage here.
They met with dozens of legislators, were recognized in the chamber of the Florida House, held a press conference and delivered personal stories to House Speaker Will Weatherford’s office.
The presence of so many knowledgable healthcare professionals in purple scrubs really had an impact!
To see photos of Local 1991 in action, click here. Check out our Facebook page for video, including a special song we sang to lawmakers urging them to do the right thing.
We still need to take action on this issue in the last two weeks of the session. We are targeting moderate Republicans who might be persuaded to vote for an expansion compromise against the wishes of Weatherford.
In South Florida, the targets include Reps. Erik Fresen and Manny Diaz Jr., but all our legislators need to hear from us. Everything we are doing is moving the debate in the right direction.
Just today, Republicans in the House started talking about compromising with the Senate on expanding healthcare and one House Republican proposed an amendment backed by House Democrats that gets much closer to the Senate plan.
Speaker Weatherford is now in the position of trying to deny that he’s twisting arms to keep his House under control. It’s not enough, but better than where we were last week.
Keep up the pressure!
Call your state legislator right now at (866) 443-1844 and tell them to support Medicaid expansion.
Take a stand for our patients, our hospital and the community. Tell them to take the money and save lives!