On Monday, May 11, 2015 Governor Rick Scott appointed 9 people to a Commission meant to examine the economics of health care and hospitals in Florida. It has been noted by many in the healthcare industry that none of the 9 appointed individuals are hospital executives. Governor Scott is drawing criticism not only for the lack of healthcare experience in the majority of the appointments but also for the contributions to political campaigns that the appointees have made over the last couple of years. One of the members of the new Commission is Carlos Beruff, a homebuilder who is the president of Medallion homes and will be the Chairman of the new committee. Campaign records show that he donated over $100,000 to Republican candidates including $80,000 that went to Gov. Scott and his Let’s Get to Work committee.
The appointment comes on the heels of a letter sent by Governor Scott to the Florida Hospital Association. In the letter, Governor Scott proposes revenue sharing among Florida hospitals if the Low Income Pool is not extended by the US Department of Health and Human Services. The letter has gained much attention in the media as the Governor likened the sharing of revenue to how large market baseball teams share revenues with small market basketball teams. The Governor has requested that hospitals submit 3 models by May 22 so that the Commission can consider them on May 26.