Capitol Chatter: July 13

Florida opts out, takes heat like summer
Florida led the legal charge against Obamacare and is now in the vanguard of reacting against one of the law's components after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it constitutional in late June.
In the first fallout of the court's controversial ruling on the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, Florida will opt out of expanding Medicaid coverage to save taxpayers $2 billion annually.

Gov. Rick Scott called the expansion of Medicaid and transfer of more money from the private sector to the public sector “inconsistent with the mission to grow jobs for Floridians.”

The court's ruling upheld the mandate portion of the massive health care law by calling the penalty a tax — a huge political issue in the presidential campaign. But the court also ruled against the law's portion that required states to expand their Medicaid coverage, adding that the feds cannot coerce states into expanding the coverage.